biology

Henri Begleiter

Henri Begleiter is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Henri Begleiter rather than just read about it. In short: Henri Begleiter (September 11, 1935 in Nimes, France – April 6, 2006 in Long Island, NY) was a neurophysiologist and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was a leader in the nascent field of biomedical alcohol research in the 1970s, postulating alcoholism as a brain disorder.

Key takeaways

Henri Begleiter belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Henri Begleiter to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Henri Begleiter from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Henri Begleiter (September 11, 1935 in Nimes, France – April 6, 2006 in Long Island, NY) was a neurophysiologist and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was a leader in the nascent field of biomedical alcohol research in the 1970s, postulating alcoholism as a brain disorder. He founded and headed the world-renowned Neurodynamics Laboratory at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, which has been renamed in 2007 into the 'Henri Begleiter Neurodynamics Laboratory'. The highlights of Begleiter’s career include the ground breaking finding published in Science that some neurophysiological anomalies in alcoholics were already present in their young offspring before any exposure to alcohol and drugs. These seminal findings led Henri to propose a model that changed the thinking in the field: namely, that rather than being a consequence of alcoholism, this underlying neural hyperexcitability was a predisposing factor leading to the development of alcoholism and related disorders. This innovative study was replicated throughout the world and launched him on a systematic search to elucidate the genetic vulnerability underlying a predisposition toward alcoholism and related disorders. In 1990, with his foresight and charismatic leadership, Henri Begleiter was instrumental in assembling scientists in various domains to organize the large Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism — COGA, which he has led since its inception. Under his leadership, with a strong emphasis on novel approaches such as using brain oscillations as endophenotypes, COGA has successfully identified several genes involved in the predisposition to develop alcoholism and related disorders, and this approach is still state-of-the-art today.

Books The Biology of Alcoholism, edited by Kissin and Begleiter, Volumes 1-7. 1971-1983 Alcohol and Alcoholism, edited by Begleiter and Kissin, Volumes 1-2. 1995-1996 Evoked Brain Potentials and Behavior (The Downstate Series of Research in Psychiatry and Psychology, Volume 2), edited by Begleiter, 1979. Biological Effects of Alcohol, 1980.

References

External links

Henri Begleiter biography at SUNY Downstate

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Henri Begleiter

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Henri Begleiter claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Henri Begleiter before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Henri Begleiter ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Henri Begleiter

In research: Henri Begleiter appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Henri Begleiter in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Henri Begleiter is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1935 births, 2006 deaths, American neuroscientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Henri Begleiter outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Henri Begleiter in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Henri Begleiter means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Henri Begleiter out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Henri Begleiter in simple terms?

Why does Henri Begleiter matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Henri Begleiter?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Henri Begleiter.