The Department of Neurophysiology, NIMHANS

The Department of Neurophysiology was established in 1975 by Dr. T. Desiraju, who spearheaded research on several fields such as regulation of neurotransmitter release, self-stimulation of brain areas and its effect on behavior and brain plasticity. and its effect on behavior and brain plasticity. It was his vision that was instrumental in initiating “Project consciousness” which raised and attempted to answer questions in the then nascent field of human consciousness, attention and neural mechanisms underlying these phenomena. The Department has since expanded its vista and we are now involved in innovative multidisciplinary research to understand neuronal plasticity, learning and memory mechanisms, neurobiology of sleep, role of resident stem cells in CNS repair and transplantation induced behavioural recovery to name a few. The strength of the Department of neurophysiology lies in our diversity and the ability to translate basic research using in vitro and in vivo animal models to address neurological and mental health disorders.. We explorethe pathophysiology of motor neuron disease,stress, anxiety, depression, epilepsy andParkinson’s disease.The applied human studies encompass: (i)autonomicnervous system function in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders; (ii) sleep impairment in schizophrenic patients and(iii) evaluating the effectiveness of yoga and ayurveda in treating depression, stroke, epilepsy, general anxiety disorders and migraine. The Department also takes pride in providing comprehensive neurophysiology teaching programmes to post graduate students of Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery of NIMHANS and trainees from various institutions across the country.We also offer M.Phil and PhD courses in Neurophysiology and so far,more than 60 Ph.D. and 40M.Phil. Degrees have been awarded. The Department has obtained substantial funding from leading National funding agencies such as ICMR, DST, DBT, CSIR, CCRYN, DRDO, etc. for the Research activity.. The work carried out in the Department has resulted in several International publications. Students have been bestowed with prestigious awards in recognition of their research work. Scholars trained in our Department have found placements in leading laboratories around the world.