Neuroscience India Group



	Prof. Dinesh Bhugra (19th K. Gopalakrishna Endowment Lecturer) with the family of Shri. K. Gopalakrishna Left to Right : Ms. Gayathri, Mrs. Kailash, Mr. Muthukrishnan, Prof. Sarada Menon (Chief Guest), Mrs. Uma Narayanan, Mr. Karthik Narayanan, Prof. Krishnamoorthy Srinivas & Prof. ES Krishnamoorthy (Kneeling)
	The second annual symposium of the prestigious International Neuropsychiatric Association India branch took place in Chennai. The scientific meet was jointly organised by the Neurosciences India group and International Neuropsychiatric Association. Eminent psychiatrists, neurologists, neuroscientists and psychologists from all over the globe attended and shared their expertise with young brains.

	The organisers made a milestone mark by arranging a teleconferencing session with the Prof. Perminder Sachdev, President, International Neuropsychiatric Association. He enumerated on the uses of brain stimulation in the treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions. Prof.Sachdev also gave a detailed update on vagal nerve stimulation during his lecture. The lecture was immediately followed by Q&A session via-satellite link. Prof.Sachdev, based at Sydney was kind enough to take up all the questions and answered them in great detail. This novel innovative session was followed by demonstration of neuropsychiatric examination at the bedside. Prof.E.S.Krishnamoorthy, Director, The Institute of Neurological Sciences VHS Medical Centre explained the techniques to be adopted in a neuropsychiatric examination. This lecture was interactive throughout its course. Prof.C.Andrade, an eminent neuroscientist who delivered the Prof.A.Venkoba Rao lecture elaborated the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), an emerging frontier in the field of neuropsychiatric research. Prof.C.Andrade, NIMHANS threw light on the physics of ECT and then went on to discuss in depth the effective manipulation of current in combating seizures. He shared his expertise in the neurobiology of seizure control using ECT as a therapeutic modality. The audience was all attention as Prof.Andrade explained the methodology that was followed in standardising the ECT in rats and then went on to compare its role in humans.

	Ludger Tebartz van Elst, University of Freiburg gave a lecture that clearly brought out the transcultural differences in neuropsychiatricphenomenology. The topic of the day was focused on schizophrenia. The lecture began with some debatable facts on the variedmanifestations of schizophrenia across the world. For example Indian subjects were more prone to develop affective symptoms, incomparison to Nigerians who are known to develop more paranoid, bizarre and anxiety states. Possible characteristics of Western lifestyle that contribute to this high prevalence of schizophrenia were taken up next. The question 'Does culture have a direct bearing onthe causation of psychiatric symptoms or does it contribute to the extent of jolting such symptoms through predetermined aberrantneurobiological mechanisms in the individual patient' raised much audience interest.

	Following this, the lecture went into some of the fascinating depths of neuroscience! The neurobiology of fronto-striato-thalamo circuitsand the limbic system; the neuropharmacological interactions of the basal forebrain nuclei, and other sub-cortical nuclei in the development of positive and negative symptoms.

	The interaction of glutamate and dopamine in the development of schizophrenia was discussed. It was a research observation that acombined dysfunction of glutaminergic and dopaminergic pathways resulted in the development of the positive and negative symptoms in the schizophrenic patients. An interesting definition of culture as a network property of predominantly cortical association networks was proposed. With this concept as the basis further insight on the transcultural neurobiology of schizophrenia was provided to the fascinated scientific community present by Prof.Tebartz.

	This scientific forum that extended over two days also proved to be an opportunity for young scientists to share their findings and interact with senior neuroscientists during poster presentation.

	The forum on 'Mental health of women' attracted large audience Participation. Prof.M.Sarada Menon and Dr.Thara

	The second annual symposium of the prestigious International Neuropsychiatric Association India branch took place in Chennai. The scientific meet was jointly organised by the Neurosciences India group and International Neuropsychiatric Association. Eminent psychiatrists, neurologists, neuroscientists and psychologists from all over the globe attended and shared their expertise with young brains.

	The organisers made a milestone mark by arranging a teleconferencing session with the Prof. Perminder Sachdev, President, International Neuropsychiatric Association. He enumerated on the uses of brain stimulation in the treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions. Prof.Sachdev also gave a detailed update on vagal nerve stimulation during his lecture. The lecture was immediately followed by Q&A session via-satellite link. Prof.Sachdev, based at Sydney was kind enough to take up all the questions and answered them in great detail. This novel innovative session was followed by demonstration of neuropsychiatric examination at the bedside. Prof.E.S.Krishnamoorthy, Director, The Institute of Neurological Sciences VHS Medical Centre explained the techniques to be adopted in a neuropsychiatric examination. This lecture was interactive throughout its course. Prof.C.Andrade, an eminent neuroscientist who delivered the Prof.A.Venkoba Rao lecture elaborated the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), an emerging frontier in the field of neuropsychiatric research. Prof.C.Andrade, NIMHANS threw light on the physics of ECT and then went on to discuss in depth the effective manipulation of current in combating seizures. He shared his expertise in the neurobiology of seizure control using ECT as a therapeutic modality. The audience was all attention as Prof.Andrade explained the methodology that was followed in standardising the ECT in rats and then went on to compare its role in humans.

	Ludger Tebartz van Elst, University of Freiburg gave a lecture that clearly brought out the transcultural differences in neuropsychiatric phenomenology. The topic of the day was focused on schizophrenia. The lecture began with some debatable facts on the varied manifestations of schizophrenia across the world. For example Indian subjects were more prone to develop affective symptoms, in comparison to Nigerians who are known to develop more paranoid, bizarre and anxiety states. Possible characteristics of Western lifestyle that contribute to this high prevalence of schizophrenia were taken up next. The question 'Does culture have a direct bearing on the causation of psychiatric symptoms or does it contribute to the extent of jolting such symptoms through predetermined aberrant neurobiological mechanisms in the individual patient' raised much audience interest.

	Following this, the lecture went into some of the fascinating depths of neuroscience! The neurobiology of fronto-striato-thalamo circuits and the limbic system; the neuropharmacological interactions of the basal forebrain nuclei, and other sub-cortical nuclei in the development of positive and negative symptoms.

	The interaction of glutamate and dopamine in the development of schizophrenia was discussed. It was a research observation that a combined dysfunction of glutaminergic and dopaminergic pathways resulted in the development of the positive and negative symptoms in the schizophrenic patients. An interesting definition of culture as a network property of predominantly cortical association networks was proposed. With this concept as the basis further insight on the transcultural neurobiology of schizophrenia was provided to the fascinated scientific community present by Prof.Tebartz.

	This scientific forum that extended over two days also proved to be an opportunity for young scientists to share their findings and interact with senior neuroscientists during poster presentation.

	The forum on 'Mental health of women' attracted large audience Participation. Prof.M.Sarada Menon and Dr.Thara organized this session with the Indian Psychiatric Task Force. The Goa study on economic consequences of common health problems in women was highlighted by Dr.Vikram Patel, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr.Vikram Patel delivered the 2nd Dr.A.Lakshminarayana Lecture .Comparing two cultures, African and Indian, he described his own studies and those conducted by other experts, on the mental health of women in these two cultures.

	He pointed out that depression was a very common and serious cause of disability across the world. However it was not a priority area for intervention by Governments, which tended to focus on physical illness such as anaemia. Depression affected over 30% of women studied and was strongly associated with physical abuse and poverty. Depression also caused considerable economic burden in terms of treatment, workdays lost and other economic indicators of health. However, medical professionals tended to misconstrue physical symptoms as having physical causes and did not recognise depression as being responsible in many cases.

	Dr. Patel pointed out that depression often presented with physical symptoms such as fatigue, aches and pains, lack of appetite, poor sleep and was perceived as a result of ongoing stress (more common in India) or as a result of evil spirits (more common in Africa).However, in both settings women did not see depression as a medical issue; rather as a consequence of their difficult psychological and social circumstances. Unfortunately, a purely medical approach to these problems resulted in alienating women from the healthcare systems. He concluded by saying that one could be stressed in Asia, depressed in the West and bewitched in Africa, with depression being the common underlying thread.


	Prof. E.S. Krishnamoorthy, Secretary General INA-INDIA and Prof. SP Thyagarajan, Vice-Chancellor, Madras University Flanked by the recipients of Honarary membership from the Prof. Sarada Menon, Prof. Krishnamoorthy Srinivas and Prof. Dinesh Bhugra.
	A psychologist's perspective on the changing role of women in families with emphasis on mental health was given by Dr.Anisha Shah of NIMHANS. The scientific forum also witnessed the lecture updates on issues regarding mental health and society perspectives across cultures delivered by Prof. Dinesh Bhugra, Dean Royal College of Psychiatrist and the K.Gopalakrishna Endowment orator.

	Prof.Bhugra,delivered the 19th Shri.K.Gopalakrishna endowment lectureon 19th November 2006. He highlighted the recent updates on mental health and its impact on the society across cultures. Some of the key areas touched upon were current trends in the assessment and management of psychiatric ailments.The brunt of globalisation, industrialisation and urbanisation on mental health were discussed in depth.Prof.Bhugra emphasised on the need to have ecological studies to identify ethnic diversity and individual traits in the context of charecteristics of the culture people come from and cultures they settle in.

	Dr.Prabha Chandra and Dr.K.S.Shaji were some of the other eminent scholars who shared their experience at the INA-India symposium.

	The convocation of the Indian Chapter of the International Neuropsychiatry association was held in Chennai on 20th November 2005, concluding the two day Second INA-India symposium .Three distinguished professionals nominated by the international Executive council of INA, Prof.Sarada Menon, Prof. Krishnamoorthy Srinivas and Prof. Dinesh Bhugra received certificates of honorary membership from the vice-chancellor of the University of Madras, Prof.SP.Thyagarajan.Delivering the convocation address Prof.Thyagarajan stressed the importance of HIV as an interdisciplinary area for those interested in neuropsychiatry.

	Over 100 multidisciplinary professionals from around India: neurologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, psychologists and social scientists took the INAIndia pledge dedicating themselves to the Indian Neuropsychiatry movement and received certificates of inaugural membership from Prof.SP.Thyagarajan.