Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Joint research in cognitive sciences

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

HONOUR FOR ACHIEVERS: Governor Surjit Singh Barnala presenting an award to Akira Homma, president of ASAD, after the Fifth MV Arunachalam Endowment Oration in Chennai on Sunday. Recipients of the award (from left) Jacob Roy, chairman of Alzheimer’s Related Disorders Society of India; Jean Marc Orgogozo, chairman of the International Working Group for the Harmonisation of Dementia Drug Guidelines; and Krishnamoorthy Srinivas, chairman of the Institute of Neurological Sciences, VHS, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: The Department of Science and Technology has set up a corpus of Rs. 50 crore to fund inter-disciplinary research in cognitive sciences in an effort to develop a better understanding of how brain functions influence human behaviour, T. Ramasami, Union Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, said on Sunday.

In his keynote address on the concluding day of the Regional Asian Dementia Congress, Mr. Ramasami said the initiative was aimed at bringing together life scientists, technologists, clinicians and, perhaps even philosophers, to translate “what we often feel about the aspects of human behaviour” into a measurable entity.

The congress on the theme, ‘The Frontiers of Dementia Care and Research,’ was hosted by the Neuro Sciences India Group (NSIG) and the Institute of Neurological Sciences attached to the Voluntary Health Services.

The Union Secretary advocated capturing the roles of biofeedback, thought control processes, particularly yoga and meditation, to bridge the gap in the comprehension of traditional wisdom and heritage. “It would also be of great interest to scientifically analyse how cultural factors the differentiated human response to situations more or less the same,” he said.

The outcome of such research that blended the deductive logic of Western science and the inductive thought patterns of Eastern philosophy would immensely benefit the patients suffering cognitive disorders such as dementia. Clinicians could add value to the cognitive sciences initiative that was venturing into complex charts of the brain, he said.

It was initially difficult to get the Government to extend funds for a realm of research that could not advance a precise outcome. Now that the initial corpus had been established, funds would no longer be a constraint, he said.

Later, Governor S. S. Barnala gave away the fifth M.V. Arunachalam Endowment Oration Award to Jean Marc Orgogozo, who chairs the International Working Group for Harmonisation of Dementia Drug Guidelines. He also presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to Alzheimer’s Disease Care in India to Jacob Roy, chairman, Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India, and the first Asian Society Against Dementia (ASAD) Commemoration Award for the first ASAD Congress to ASAD president Akira Homma.

Mr. Barnala called for developing coherent health policy initiatives that would support the elderly population affected by neurological diseases consequent to lifestyle changes.

The Governor said Asia was grappling with an explosion of risk factors for lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and obesity, which aggravated risks for dementia and stroke. Dementia and stroke accounted for a vast majority of chronic disabilities among in elderly persons.

Trustees of the Vellayan Chettiar Trust, M.V. Subbiah and A. Vellayan; Krishnamoorthy Srinivas, chairman of Institute of Neurological Sciences; and E. S. Krishnamoorthy, organising convener of the event and NSIG Director, participated.

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