Barry Everitt (scientist) facts for kids

Barry John Everitt (born 19 February 1946) is a British neuroscientist. A neuroscientist studies the brain and nervous system. He was the leader, called Master, of Downing College, Cambridge from 2003 to 2013. He was also a Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge during that time.

Professor Everitt is now an emeritus professor, which means he has retired but still holds his title. From 2013 to 2022, he was in charge of the Gates Cambridge Trust at Cambridge University. This trust helps students from around the world study at Cambridge.

Early Life and Learning Journey

Barry Everitt was born on February 19, 1946. He studied zoology (the study of animals) and psychology (the study of the mind) at the University of Hull. He then earned his PhD degree from the University of Birmingham. His PhD research was about how hormones affect behavior.

After his PhD, he did more research at Birmingham. He also worked at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. There, he worked with famous brain scientists Tomas Hökfelt and Kjell Fuxe.

Exploring the Brain: Professor Everitt's Research

Professor Everitt's research has looked at many parts of how the brain works. He studies everything from the brain's structure (neuroanatomy) to how hormones affect it (neuroendocrinology). He also studies how the brain controls behavior (behavioural neuroscience).

He is a behavioural neuroscientist. He combines ideas about how we learn with methods for studying brain systems. This helps him discover how the brain controls actions we are motivated to do.

How the Brain Forms Habits

In his important early work, he showed that a part of the brain called the amygdala is key for learning about rewards. He also explained how the amygdala and another brain area, the striatum, work together. This teamwork helps us learn to seek things that give us a good feeling.

Professor Everitt also studied how strong habits form. He worked with Trevor Robbins on this. They found that actions can change from being voluntary choices to becoming strong habits. These habits can be hard to stop.

Understanding Brain Control

His work helped us understand how different parts of the striatum in the brain balance our actions. Some parts help us make choices based on goals. Other parts help us follow strong habits. He also showed how cues (like certain sights or sounds) can make these habits even stronger.

He also found that problems with the brain's prefrontal cortex can make it harder to control strong urges. This part of the brain helps us make good decisions and stop ourselves from doing things that might have bad results. Many studies on humans, including brain scans, have supported his ideas about how the brain controls these strong habits.

New Discoveries in Brain Science

More recently, Professor Everitt has looked at why some people might be more likely to form strong habits. With David Belin, he found that being impulsive can make someone more likely to develop very strong habits. This helped them describe a "brain pattern" that might show who is more vulnerable.

He also discovered that strong memories linked to habits can be weakened. This can happen by stopping the brain from "re-storing" these memories. This discovery could lead to new ways to help people change very strong habits. Professor Everitt is one of the most often cited researchers in behavioural neuroscience. This means many other scientists use his work in their own studies.

Professor Everitt's Academic Career

In 1974, Professor Everitt joined the Department of Anatomy at the University of Cambridge. He became a Fellow of Downing College in 1976. From 1979 to 1999, he guided students studying medicine at the College.

In 1994, he became a Reader in the Department of Experimental Psychology. Then, in 1997, he was chosen to be a Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Professor Everitt has been part of many important groups around the world. He has been president of several societies, including the British Association for Psychopharmacology. He also led the European Brain and Behaviour Society and the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society. From 2016 to 2018, he was President of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS).

He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation.

He has received honorary D.Sc. degrees from his former universities, Birmingham University and Hull University. In 2015, he received an honorary Doctor of Medicine (MDhc) degree from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

Professor Everitt has been the main editor of the European Journal of Neuroscience. He is also a reviewing editor for Science, a very famous science magazine.

He has received many awards for his scientific work:

• The American Psychological Association "Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award" (2011)
• The European Behavioural Pharmacology Society "Distinguished Achievement Award" (2011)
• The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies European Journal of Neuroscience (FENS-EJN) Award (2012)
• The British Association of Psychopharmacology Lifetime Achievement Award (2012)
• The Fondation Ipsen Neuronal Plasticity Prize (2014)

In 2021, he received the Croonian Medal and Lecture. This is the Royal Society's top award for biological sciences. In 2022, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In October 2019, he became President of the Society for Neuroscience. He was the first president from outside North America in the society's 50-year history.

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