Background
Neria grew up in Israel, and spent his childhood in the city of Holon with his younger sister, Nurit, and two parents, Zipora and Jacob Neria.
Neria grew up in Israel, and spent his childhood in the city of Holon with his younger sister, Nurit, and two parents, Zipora and Jacob Neria.
At the age of 18, he joined the Israeli army and subsequently participated in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1982 Lebanon war. He was one of the founders of the Israeli grassroots movement "Peace Now," which sought to facilitate reconciliation between Israel, the Palestinians, and Arab countries., has published a war novel, Fire (Zmora Bitan, 1986) (Esh in Hebrew), based on his painful experiences in the Yom Kippur 1973 War, and was later involved in efforts to improve policies regarding mental health care for returning war veterans and prisoners of war with post trauma psychopathology. Neria completed his studies in philosophy (Bachelor), political science (Bachelor) and clinical psychology (Master of Arts) in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, received his doctorate (Doctor of Philosophy) in psychology from the Haifa University, Israel, in 1994.
He was the recipient of Alon award, and served on the faculty of Tel Aviv University from 1995 to 2001.
Neria’s line of research has been focused on understanding the emotional consequences of extreme traumatic events. While his main focus has been the study of posttraumatic stress disorder (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), its course (development, persistence, remission), psychosocial determinants, and underlying neurobiological basis, his studies have shown that the effects of psychological trauma are not limited to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and are often resulted in other debilitating disorders including bipolar illness, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), substance and alcohol abuse, borderline personality disorder, complicated grief, functional impairment and physical disorders.
Doctor Neria has conducted numerous studies among Israeli veterans and prisoners of war, 9/11 bereaved, low-income primary care patients exposed to 9/11 attacks in New York City, and young adults exposed to ongoing missile and rockets attacks in southern Israel. To date, his lab at Columbia and NYSPI is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (National Institute of Mental Health) to conduct novel research of fear-circuitry in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, using clinical and psychophysiological assessments, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain.
Neria"s political views and body of work were deeply influenced by his war experiences.
