© Department of Biological Science

i

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

ii

From the Co-ordinator “Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination”

-Bertrand Russell

Dr. ANITA VERMA

The pursuit of knowledge is noble, it kindles a fire in the minds of the learners. More so, in the field of Biological Sciences which is a balanced amalgamation of knowledge from different backgrounds into one. As a coordinator of the Department of Biological Science, I take immense pleasure in introducing to you the fifth edition of our annual magazine ‘Verdure’. This year the theme of the magazine is ‘Inside your mind’. The magazine explores the different facets of the human mind, right from cognition to mental health. This year has been an exceptional time, where students have been taught virtually through online platforms. But no situation can stop our dear Biological Science students from achieving their set goals. Despite all odds, the team has come up with a marvel. I congratulate the faculty members and students who have been involved in conceptualization and bringing together of the magazine. The fifth edition of Verdure is the result of your dedication and hard work. My Best Wishes, Dr. Anita Verma Co-ordinator Department of Biological Science

iii

From the Conveners

Dr. ADITI KOTHARI CHHAJER

Dr. PERUMAL JAYARAJ

Dr. MEETA BHARDWAJ

“The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” - Bertrand Russell It gives us immense pleasure and pride to bring forth the fifth edition of our annual magazine ‘Verdure’. The word ‘Verdure’ means ‘the fresh green color of lush vegetation’, and this years’ edition is in the true sense of the word a treat to our senses. When we decided on the theme of the magazine ‘Inside your Mind’, it was all inside our minds and the challenge was to bring it in physical form, which can communicate with every reader’s mind. The Magazine team led by Aparna has done a stupendous job with the theme. While the pandemic made certain tasks more challenging, the team took up the challenge in its own stride crafting out a perfect blend of articles, facts, interviews and art work that together make this magazine a visual treat and an intellectual delight. We hope the readers immerse themselves in this magazine and enjoy reading the magazine as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Happy reading!!

Dr. Aditi Kothari Chhajer Dr. Perumal Jayaraj Dr. Meeta Bhardwaj

iv

E From the

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

APARNA PILLAI Francis Crick once said, “There is no study more vital to man than the study of his own brain. Our entire view of the universe depends on it.” Neuroscience is the key to know the self, to understand how we think, how we learn and how we behave. From explaining an everyday occurrence like sleep, to treating dire neurological conditions, and to enhancing human health and performance by investigating the limits of human brain, the possibilities are endless and ever-growing. In addition, it is important to understand the brain so that we can treat the mind. Millions worldwide are suffering from various mental health issues. Depression is known to be the number one cause of disability across the board. Suicide rates are at all-time highs with no positive end in sight. Drug abuse destroys individuals and communities. Stigma surrounding these issues is prevalent, which further forms a bigger barrier for affected individuals seeking help and treatment. Keeping all this and more in mind, we are proud to present the 5th edition of our annual magazine,

Verdure - “Inside your mind”. In this edition, we are exploring the secrets of your working mind, the ‘how’s and ‘why’s of our brain, in a manner that welcomingly eases you in this exciting world of neurobiology. You will also find many beautifully expressed poems and artworks, aiming to create the much-needed awareness about mental health issues. I express my humble gratitude to our esteemed Principal, Prof. C. Sheela Reddy for her immense support and guidance. I express my gratitude to Dr. Anita Verma, Coordinator, Biological Science and the amazing Verdure teachers’ committee, for being our consistent direction and motivation through the entire process of creation and release of this magazine. Even though this was an unstoppable (and frankly, emotional) roller coaster, this was also a huge learning experience. The task of bringing out this edition would not have been possible without the sincere support of my able team (huge thanks to them!), who spent countless hours breathing life into every word, every design and every page. Come, step into your mind. - Aparna Pillai

v

C From the

chief editor’s message CREATIVE HEADS

creative head’s message AAKRITI SINGH

ANSHU KUMARI

After months and months of brainstorming and racking up a ton of screen time, the magazine has finally come to life and we couldn’t be happier about it. When we first started working on this project, we were skeptical as to how we are going to make the magazine online but thanks to the wonderful teachers, our team and infinite Google meets, here we are. It wouldn’t have been possible without them. We have devoted a lot of time to showcase what’s the best in us and we feel like this magazine has a part of the very best/creative version of each one of us. And we want to thank our team members for making this magazine a reality and hope that everyone enjoys it.

- Anshu Kumari Aakriti Singh

vi

SRASHTI SAHAY

vii

viii

C

O

N

T

Chapter 01 : Neuroscience

07

Get your basics right

15

Important events in neurobiology

22

17

Is ‘the mind’ and ‘the brain’ a single entity?

23

11

Mindfulness- a supra cognitive state of consciousness

18

Brain facts I

25

Book Recommendations

The art of subtle manipulation : Chess

Mastishk Kundali

27

29

31

Institutes to pursue neuroscience

35

Psychological benefits of gardening

43

Interview with Dr. Naho Konoike

ix

09

Delve into your brain: the mysteries in neuroanatomy and neurosciences

The fame of Coca Cola Drink

37

Insights on neuroplasticity

47

Interview with Mr. Venogopal

Blinding affairs

39

Negative effects of internet on our brain’s memorising capacity

49

Undertsanding human behaviour through science and law

13

Virtual Reality in Neurosciences

19

Neuroethology

26

Brain facts II

33

Our hardworking brain seeks the paycheck of happiness

41

Crossword puzzle

51

Brain Maze

E

N

T

S

Chapter 02 : Mental Health

55

My dark abyss: a soliloquy

63

Repeat after me: mental health is potent

69

Habromania

57

Decoding depression

65

My lockdown brain

70

My experience with a depressed friend

73

Crossword puzzle

59

Mirror mirror on my wall

67

Sanitize your brain

71

Please come back my son

61 It’s hard

68

Healing through art

72

Let’s be the one

74

Are you okay-list of helpline numbers

Chapter 03 : The Department

77

Class of 2021

86

Where our seniors are

81

Internships and societies

87

Hall of fame

83

My experience as a foreign student

88

The tales of Limlo and Noi

85

Verdure Release 2020

89

Meet the team

x

LOGO OF VERDURE

Logo design- Shrishtika Konwar, SBS

Biological Science- a coalescence of the fields of biology with botany and zoology serving as its quintessential core, a relation that laid the groundwork for our logo which highlights the fields with an avian and botanical touch. The logo has been carefully yet artistically created to delineate a lotus in order to symbolize what it stands for- knowledge and enlightenment. These are the values that we wish to impart to our readers through Verdure. Water represents the fluid nature of our course and the adaptability it provides us in this competitive world, just like Charles Darwin once said, “It’s not the strongest or smartest that survive, it’s the most adaptable.” The primary colour scheme of green and blue provides the vigour and freshness befitting of the title VERDURE. The leaves on both sides of the wording VERDURE, represent the lush green vegetation as is the literal meaning of the term.

1

LOGO OF CHRYSALIS

Logo design- Srashti Sahay, TBS

The course of biological science has been carefully crafted to blend all aspects of biology to provide an all-inclusive study of the living world. The society logo has been designed to showcase the same principles. The eye signifies how the course gifts its students a new perspective to view the world, to appreciate beauty and complexity alike. The earth being reflected in the iris is a mirror to the multi-disciplinary nature of the course. The two golden rings surrounding the logo reflect the literal meaning of “Chrysalis” – a quiescent insect pupa, particularly of a butterfly, and its hard outer covering. Like a chrysalis, the department has been transforming its students, helping them spread their wings to reach new heights.

2

Miguel A. L. Nicolelis M.D., Ph.D. Duke School of Medicine Professor in Neuroscience Founder of Duke’s Center for Neuroengineering

© Sanidhya Jagdish, SBS

3

Chanabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy MVSC, Ph.D., Exec. M.B.A. University of Nebraska Medical Center Pharmacology Director of UNMC Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility

4

01

NEUROSCIENCE

We are our brain. Without it, we are nothing. Our identity, actions, perception and literally everything else that defines us and the world around us, is governed by our brain. Neuroscience is the multidisciplinary field of study which aims to answer the questions about our brain by researching on the nervous system. Over the last 50  years, the field has seen many discoveries which has greatly increased our understanding of brain’s function and pathologies. This section throws some light on what neuroscience is all about, exploring it’s multidisciplinary nature along with its applications in the modern world.

5

6

This MRI scan looks at blood flow in your brain to see which areas become active when you do

certain tasks.

7

8

DELVE INTO YOUR BRAIN:

THE MYSTERIES IN NEUROANATOMY AND NEUROSCIENCE NANDINI SHARMA (FBS)

“The brain is a tissue. It is a complicated, intricately woven tissue, like nothing else we know of in the universe, but it is composed of cells, as any tissue is. They are, to be sure, highly specialized cells, but they function according to the laws that govern any other cells. Their electrical and chemical signals can be detected, recorded and interpreted and their chemicals can be identified; the connections that constitute the brain's woven feltwork can be mapped. In short, the brain can be studied, just as the kidney can.” - David H. Hubel It is quite empowering and humorous at the same time, to realize that our brain, the citadel of consciousness, the ultimate seat for decision making and the colonel of the army that our body is, can only be understood and decoded by the very same organ, i.e., the brain! The very fact that we literally use our brains to study somebody else’s ‘brain’, is proof itself of how important it is, as a part of our anatomy and how crucial it is for us to understand it. That’s why researchers have always considered neuroscience as ‘The Holy Grail’ of biological sciences (no offense to genetics!). Even then the most esteemed researchers in this field have struggled over the years to unravel the nexus of tissues that the brain is. Why do you think that is? Well one might say that it’s because there is a shortage of them in today’s world (couldn’t disagree on that one!), but on a serious note it is because of the complexity of this 1.5 kg lump of tissues sitting in the cranium of the human body. It is this complexity of the brain, call it neocortex or whatever, but this intricacy in its structure and function has caused the evolution of humans to be the most glorious and efficient. The mysteries involving the brain might seem ever increasing because with every new discovery, there comes the question of its function and its origin, but as disheartening as it seems that is not the case because with every discovery, we learn and update ourselves to combat new problems better. But still, there are some very peculiar mysteries regarding our brain. And we can’t solve them unless we understand the dynamics of the brain.

9

So, here are some major mystical aspects of our brain that we ought to understand1) THE ROSEHIP NEURON:- In 2018, a team of scientists declared the existence of a new cell type, called the “rosehip neuron” since the cells are shaped like the fruit of rose bushes. The discovery of these new cells was first noticed a few years before 2018 when two different teams of scientists, one from University of Szeged in Hungary and the other from Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle found that they both had identified what looked like a new cell type in the brain, and collaborated to conduct a study on the said neuron. The brains used were donated to science by men in mid-fifties and different techniques were applied to investigate the neurons, where the Hungarian team studied its anatomy and mechanism of electrical impulses and the Seattle team worked on identifying its genetics. Trygve Bakken, a molecular neuroscientist at Allen Institute and the lead author of the paper, disclosed that the neuron appeared to be quite “bushy” as the dendrites are compact, giving it a Rosehip like appearance. The paper concluded that this type of neuron exists only in humans, but not in rodents that are frequently used as model species in neuroscience. Therefore, the existence of the Rosehip neuron may explain why so many treatments for brain disorders seem to work in mouse models, but fail when applied to humans. “Our brains are not just enlarged mouse brains,” Bakken said in the release. “People have commented on this for many years, but this study gets at the issue from several angles.” This statement clearly indicates that humanity is very difficult to capture in an animal model! Present in the neocortex of the human brain, this newest neuron’s function is still quite unknown. What the researchers have observed so far is the inhibitory role in impulse transmission but at the same time, its connections with the pyramidal neurons, which by the way are excitatory in nature, muddles up the matter. Scientists seem to believe that rosehip neurons have the potential to manipulate the circuit in a targeted way, but how it influences behavior is still a question they need to answer. The discovery of rosehip neurons has opened numerous pathways for treatment of brain disorders as they seem to be critical in curing such diseases. Let’s see where this rosehip takes us!

2) ENDORESTIFORM NUCLEUS:- Again in 2018, a new region in the brain was discovered by Dr. George Paxinos and his team in Australia which was named the Endorestiform Nucleus or the ‘Restiform Body’. While studying and mapping the human brain, Dr. Paxinos(1990) first noticed what seemed to be a previously unidentified region, within the inferior cerebellar peduncle, that may have been responsible for the integration of sensory and motor information. But he did not raise his suspicions until almost three decades after doing thorough research and confirming that this nucleus is not found in other primates like the rhesus monkey and could be the reason for us being more developed, apart from larger brain size. So far Dr. Paxinos claims that its function can only be guessed as it sits in the freeway of the brain and spinal cord, a.k.a. Brain stem and anticipates that it is involved in fine motor control of posture, balance, running, walking etc. That’s why humans have the dexterity to play instruments and perform intricate surgeries whereas our closest ancestors, chimpanzees cannot. The discovery of the Endorestiform Nucleus – now one of nearly 700 nuclei in the human brain – further demonstrates the dedication and determination of the research community to provide clinicians with new information that could provide groundbreaking achievement in treatment, prevention and cure. Something you first see today may lead to an “aha!” moment in a month, a year…or even thirty years!

3) POSTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX:- This part of the brain is one of the least understood areas and is also termed as the “Dark Energy" because it is known to consume the maximum amount of calories among all parts of the brain, at least all the parts that we know about. The Posterior cingulate Cortex or PCC for short, is indicated to work very hard, given its calorie consumption but no one really knows what exactly its function is, as it is very difficult to study in a test subject. For example, test subjects (humans) put in a brain scanner were asked to perform some pre-designed tasks to study the brain activity, but it was found that the PCC shuts itself “off” i.e. its neurons stop firing while the subject performs the task. And most amazingly between the lag of two tasks, it again switches “on”! It should also be noted that this part of the brain rarely gets affected by diseases and disorders so its effect after being compromised is also not known. However, some scientists associate it with emotional and behavioral control, attention, planning and retrospection while the others say that it might be linked with daydreaming/ mind wandering. Some schizophrenic patients have shown abnormal PCCs but all these are just theories and no one exactly knows what this elusive cortex of brain is actually responsible for!

Now, this list of what we “don’t know” about our brain can be extended to a long length, but what we “do know” is that we once were no better than apes, and that too for a considerable amount of time. It was only in the last 100,000 years that we made the jump from being the lowest in the food chain to being the highest in the entire ecosystem, just by using our “brains”. Although many people have concluded that our brains are the root cause of all evil as this is where all the ideas of mass destruction, genocide, oppression etc. originate. But I find this to be a much narrowed perspective of observing an amazingly large canvas that our brains have painted so far. Yes, ideas do generate in the brain but it cannot make us do things against our will. The idea to blame an organ for bad decisions and evil personalities is downright unacceptable and takes away the credit that our brains deserve. That is why, I find neuroscience and neuroanatomy to be an ode to this supreme organ of our body, a form of respect and validation that we give, by decoding it and understanding its workings and processes. Our brain holds all the keys to unlocking the mysterious aspects about our existence, because after all, as David H. Hubel said, it is just a lump of tissue that can be studied and analyzed, the same way other organs are done and it is our responsibility to do so. Everyday new discoveries about our brain come into highlight, be it the static dark noise that goes in our brains or how our brains can learn to double their function if one half is missing! Thus the quest for the final answer is neverending, and we all are a part of it. What we need to do is realize how we can contribute towards it.

As long as our brain is a mystery, the universe, the reflection of the structure of the brain will also be a mystery. 10

11

12

The Reality of Virtual Reality @ getty images

by Sanidhya Jagdish, SBS

T

echnological advancements in the 21st century and their applications in medical sciences have brought about a lot of changes in the way patients are treated for their respective health issues. Among such technologies, virtual reality is reaching new limits in recent years. Quite popular in the entertainment and gaming industry, virtual reality is now finding its applications in medical sciences as well. VR is a computerized programme, creating simulations of three dimensional environments in which interaction is possible. The relationship between medical science and virtual reality is an

13

upcoming concept and has grabbed quite a lot of deserving attention. It has allowed clinical researchers and medical practitioners to bring one’s imagination to reality. Such technologies provide a large scope for researchers to inculcate them into clinical therapies for various disorders. With advancements in scientific technology, the treatment methodology in medical science should advance as well. Dr. Mayank Mehta, a neuroscientist at the University of California, had recently conducted a study in 2019 on “the effects of VR technology on the brain of rats”, which suggested that 60% of neurons in the hippocampus would shut down due to the effect of VR simulation. Similarity in

human brains as well. Hippocampus, a complex structure of the brain, is primarily responsible for learning and memory. This study suggests that memory can be tampered with, with the help of VR technology. It shows how VR technology can be useful for medical sciences; especially for rehabilitation medicine such as strokes, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease; for behavioral medicine to treat phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autism. Looking through the medical lens, VR has also made its reach into the detection of early stages of Alzhiemer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease has now become a more common term and is mostly associated with dementia, which is a major cause of Alzheimer’s. It is usually associated with old age and develops very suddenly over time. Although there is no cure developed yet to treat Alzheimer’s, there are many therapies and medications which help to suppress symptoms. Virtual Reality has also been proved to be useful in checking for potential future threats of Alzhimers in the younger population. In 2015, German Alzheimer’s care scientists designed a study where they set up a maze with the help of virtual reality and people aged between 18 - 30 were asked to navigate their way through the virtual maze. With this experiment, scientists were able to study the participants’ brain cells while they were taking decisions to move through the maze. By observing their MRI scans, the scientists were able to determine which of the participants were at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, later on in their life. This is a crucial development in the applications of medical technology as an early detection of potentiality to develop Alzhiemer’s could be of immense help in finding an appropriate cure or providing accurate medication. This could progress to find a more effective treatment. Talking about brain related disorders, depression is “trending” in recent times. Depression is a psychological phenomenon where a patient’s morale comes down and they start to feel helpless. Along with that, patients have also been seen to develop disturbed sleep cycles, irregular appetite, sudden changes in weight, lack of energy, feelings of worthlessness, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is also thought of as a state of being when the person is fully surrounded by negativity. Such a disturbed mindset needs to

be treated with the help of medication, such as tranquilizers, which is the current methodology of treatment. VR technology can be used to provide an artificial environment promoting a sense of joy and happiness and accelerating recovery. Michelle Craske, a psychiatrist at the University of California, has discussed how virtual reality can help to reduce the symptoms of depression and how it has the ability to make patients feel a sense of happiness and positivity again. VR calms the brain cells, soothing the mind for some time, which has been found useful in helping patients recover from depression or even anxiety. Furthermore, from a study on VR exercise effect on treatment of depression, it was found that around 80% of the participants felt a sense of positivity after the VR exercise. The results of this experiment itself shows how effective this therapy is and how, with a bit more research, could be used to properly treat patients suffering from depression in hospitals and clinics. Last but not the least; VR has also proved to be effective in helping patients to completely recover from traumatic brain injuries. Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are caused due to sudden external force applied on the brain, such as those due to car accidents, crashes, etc. TBI has many detrimental effects on the brain, such as neuroinflammatory response, accumulation of abnormal proteins, and neurodegeneration. VR technology, having such a wide scope, can be very well incorporated into treatments of brain related diseases as it creates a simultaneous effect in the brain which directly controls and coordinates with other parts of our body. With this brilliant idea and forthcoming innovations, it is not far that VR would give new hopes to patients suffering from brain injuries and traumas. In the coming decades, VR therapy might as well become as common as a flu shot and hopefully recovery of brain related diseases and disorders will also show some exponential increase. Virtual Reality as a technology, is bound by no limits and can be used in medical sciences with having less complications. With advance and in depth work on inculcating such technologies in clinical research, science might just win the race against nature and alleviate the negative impacts of brain related disorders.

14

THE MOST IMPORTANT EV

by Anshu Kumari, TBS

1906

1929:

Charles Sherrington Integrative Action of the Nervous System

400 BCE

Hans Berger invents electroencephalography

1906:

Hippocrates believes brain to be the seat of intelligence

1940

Alois Alzheimer pathology of the neurodegenerative disease

Alan Hodgkin, Andrew Huxley, and Bernard Katz explain electrical activity of neurons

1990

1998 P.S. Erikson and others neurogenesis in adult Brain

Dr. Seiji Ogawa and colleagues develop functional magnetic resonance imaging.

1994

1982

Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran proves the plasticity of the adult human brain

2000 Carlsson, Greengard and Kandel discovers concerning signal transduction in nervous system

Dr. David hubel gives structure and function of mammalian visual cortex

2004

Linda B. Buck and Richard Axel discoveries about odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system.

2004

2004

Prof. Guilio Tononi gives his integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness

Dr. Christof Koch study on Neuronal Correlates of Consciousness (NCC)

2019

Dr. Zvonimir Vrselja demonstrates a mammalian brain have capacity to restore its microcirculation, cellular and molecular activity after postmortem

2020

Elon Musk’s Neuralink developed ultra-thin probes, that will be inserted in the brain and perform operations

15

2016

Prof. Henry Markram creates digital stimulation of neocortex.

2017

Dr. Susumu Tonegawa discovers that memories are formed in the hippocampus and in the cortex simultaneously

2015

Dr. Karim Benchenane demonstrates memory manipulation during sleep

VENTS IN NEUROBIOLOGY 1947

1952:

1930 - 1950

Kacy Cole develops the "voltage clamp" technique

Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley gives first mathematical model of a spiking neuron

chemical nature of synaptic transmission

1952 Paul Maclean discovers the "limbic system"

1949:

Donald Hebb gives Hebb rule.

1962

1978

1953

Dr. Roger Sperry and Prof. Michael Gazzaniga- two hemispheres of the human brain are specialized in different functions

Dr. Gerald Edelman gives theory of neuronal group selection or "Neural Darwinism"

1957

1973

Vernon Mountcastle discoveres the modular organization of the brain

Prof. Edward Hoffman and Prof. Michael Phelps creates PET scans to map brain function

2008

John Eccles gives the Neurophysiological Basis of Mind

2013

2012

Prof. Yoichi Miyawaki's team visuales human perception from brain activity patterns

James Rothman, Randy Schekman, and Thomas Sudhof discovers about the machinery regulating vesicle traffic

Prof. Mark Mayford stores a mouse's memory of a familiar place on a microchip, “hybrid memory”.

2013

2009

Human Brain Project and Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative announced

The Human Connectome Project launched by NIH

2014

2014

2013

Sergiu Pasca creates 3D neural cultures, human cortical spheroids using human pluripotent stem cells (hiPS)

Dr. Yoshiki Sasai developed methods to form neurons from embryonic stem cells

2014

John O’Keefe, Edward Moser and May-Britt Moser discovers cells that constitute positioning system in brain

Dr. Madeline Lancaster and Dr. Juergen Knoblich create cerebral organoids

2013

Kwanghun Chung and Karl Deisseroth develop CLARITY to render brains transparent.

16

© Aakriti Singh, TBS

17

18

19

20

21

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS Must Read! by Aparna Pillai, TBS

Regarded as one of the best compilations of neurological case studies, this book has 4 parts wherein each section contains the case studies pertaining to a particular category of neurological afflictions. Even though the writer sometimes goes into lengthy medical jargon, the narratives are enriched with quotes, theories and experiences of other doctors as well. The patients are represented as interesting human beings, worthy of your respect. This is a perfect starting point for anyone interested in learning about abnormal neurobiology.

Nobel

Prize

Kandel’s

Winner book

Neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives revolutionary insights about sleep, and examines how it affects each aspect of our physical and mental well-being. The book explains how even an hour short of your daily sleep hours can be disastrous (damage to your immune system, negative effects on memory, creativity and increased risk of ADHD and Alzheimer's). Dr. Walker goes as far as to say that lack of sleep is a carcinogen. This book is genuinely terrifying.

Eric offers

enchanting glimpses of his life story,

the

history

of

brain

science and psychology, and a description of the experiments which

are

understanding

moving of

the

our brain

forward at a fantastic pace. This book is for anyone who desires to want to answer big questions by starting to look at smaller things.

Oliver sacks’ books are always easy to understand and yet, compelling enough to give you something to think for weeks. Dr. Sacks gives an analysis of the neurology of hallucinations – visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile – sharing his years of clinical experience, and many of his own experiences with hallucinatory states (most interesting part of the book in my opinion). This book is sure to keep you hooked from the first page itself.

Like Oliver Sacks, Dr. Ramachandran writes about neurological problems, the symptoms expressed as behavior and anecdotes concerned with people suffering from them. Unlike Oliver Sacks, Dr. Ramachandran focuses more on the science part of his experience. That said, this book will blow your mind with its jaw dropping accounts, and then carefully fit it back by explaining what that means for our understanding of the large-scale structure of the brain. His insights are matched by the stunning simplicity of his experiments that used low-tech tools like mirrors, cotton swabs and glasses of water. This particular work of his focuses on some of the strangest, most fascinating and philosophically rich territory of cognitive neuroscience.

The book starts with the colorful history of Psychedelics, moves to recount Dr. Pollan’s own experiences taking these drugs and lastly, looks at current research into the ways these molecules actually affect the brain. The writer shows how seriously beneficial these compounds are (they are not addictive, do not cause any tissue harm, have been shown to treat addictions and therapy resistant depression) and how seriously research scientists take them. The book is easy to read with a compelling, thoughtful and mindful narrative.

Don’t confuse yourself with the name; it's not another self-help book (mostly). But Dr. Haidt chiefly covers what is responsible for making us happy. Dr. Haidt touches on philosophy, psychology, economics, evolution and cognitive science documenting centuries of works and views. This book provides a systematic take on cognition and the evolutionary logic (the best parts) behind it. If you like this, also read “The Righteous Mind” by the same author.

22

THE ART OF SUBTLE MANIPULATION: CHESS SACHIN SHARMA, SBS It's the year 1994. Event: World Blitz Semi-final. The room is densely packed. All cameras focused on the center. The two players –Vishwanathan Anand and Ilya Smirin– began the match. 10 seconds into the game and there’s a long pause. One of the greatest chess players –Vishwanathan Anand– hasn’t played a move in the last 100 seconds. For a game that is judged for the right moves in a limited time, the pause surely is the scale tipper. Three minutes later, the unlikely player– Vishwanathan Anand– walks out of the room as a winner. It's the year 2020. Event: Worldwide lockdown. The rooms are always packed. No one has left their house in months. One of the most famous streaming channels– Netflix has released a miniseries “Queen’s Gambit”. Seemingly illogical moves and incomprehensible strategies has created a genius, Elizabeth Harmon, an invincible chess master and the interest of common people in chess has been revived. The game looks so simple. All you have to do is to defend your king and you have an army!! How hard could it really be?? – I thought when I became one with the masses and gave in to the trend of the year, playing chess. And so began my journey of watching endless youtube videos of chess tournaments, endlessly reading strategy books and am still not a grandmaster. What a shame! “What is it? What do I lack? Is chess playing skill, a god-gifted talent?” –thoughts filled my head. I began frantically looking for an answer. Rigorous research and hair scratching helped me to pinpoint four major neurological differences in a chess player and a normal person.

RECOGNITION You see, the area of the brain associated with recognizing a face or a specific pattern, present in the cortex of inferior temporal lobe of brain, the Fusiform Face Area (FFA) shows activity when a chess player studies a chess board. Although a person who doesn’t play chess shows activity in FFA on a regular basis to recognize and differentiate among many faces he/she comes across with, this region was found to be more developed in chess players because analyzing a chess board or game and developing a strategy requires many patterns which includes the opening game, the middle game and the end game, each with thousands of unique patterns. In fact, we can say that chess is a game built upon pattern recognition. It ultimately results in development of FFA in a chess player, enhancing their critical thinking and puzzle solving capabilities. ‘Practice makes a man better’ has never hit so hard.

23

PERCEPTION AND PLANNING

Chess requires a unique perception of the opponent's style to counter or ‘trap’ the opponent leading to a win. For this a chess player has to plan and choose a certain style to move the pieces and to set a series of different coordination among different pieces to checkmate the opponent. Prefrontal cortex of our brain is responsible for planning, perception and self- control. This part of the brain develops last, usually in our adult years, which is why the prefrontal cortex of the kids who start playing chess at an early age, gets stimulated by the effect of this game and develops much better than those who do not play chess. This helps them to develop planning, reasoning and perception skills much earlier. Yeah, totally so not your fault. How could you have stopped watching Tom and Jerry all day long to play chess instead!!?!!

MEMORY AND CONCENTRATION Implementing your strategy and your style of play with its full effect requires your utmost concentration, otherwise it becomes very difficult to calculate and predict future moves. This is achieved by stimulating the dopamine neurons in the frontal lobe which are released while concentrating. Memory is another important factor for a chess player. It was estimated by some researchers that Grandmasters and International chess masters memorize around 100,000 to 300,000 chess-piece information from the previously played games and around 1000 to 5000 famous matches and plays to study the game more effectively. It was found that the hippocampus region of such players are much more developed than the normal population. I so wish that I had known this earlier. I bet this piece of information would have completely changed my outlook on Mathematics (I am looking at you, multiplication tables). Playing chess could have saved me from countless punishments in my childhood!! Who knew??!!?? CREATIVITY At any instance in a chess match, there are thousands of possible combinations

and moves to play at a single time. A chess player has to find the best one among them in a short period of time. At times, no logical strategy seems to work, that’s where creativity comes into play and takes the lead in the game.Chess involves both, the left and right parts of the brain for analyzing and playing much effectively. Left side is used for analysis and choosing the next best move, while the right part is associated with pattern recognition and solving. An excellent coordination between these two parts is required to bring out the best possible solution position in a chess game. What started out as a mere surface skimming of following the latest trend turned into a full-fledged nosedive of appreciation for the chess players. Who knew my never-again-going-to-befulfilled-desire of becoming a child prodigy could have been a reality only if I had cut short my unnecessary, attention-seeking screams in my childhood and played chess? So next time when someone laughs at your chess playing skill, you know what region of your brain is to be blamed. And in my defense, I firmly stand by the statement that it’s not my fault that I am not a grandmaster yet. It’s just that the others had a head start (quite literally).

"" TT H H EE R R EE A AR R EE TT II M M EE SS W WH H EE N N A A W W EE LL LL PP LL A AC C EE D D PP A AW WN N II SS M MO OR R EE PP O OW W EE R R FF U U LL TT H HA AN N A A Q QU U EE EE N N ""

SAKSHI YADAV,TBS

24

सुना है  बचपन म हमारे �दमाग म �खी सूखी घास भरी थी, और आज वह जगह सेरी�म, से�रबेलम और �ेन �टे म ने ले ली । सुना है, अ�म�डेला रे �स�ल होता है डर के �लए , तो इंतज़ाम करवाइये जनाब बं�क यहां सेमे�टर के बाद तुरंत सेमे�टर लग जाते है। सुना था हमने यक नन �यार होता है �दल से, ले�कन म��त�क �स�टम ने बताया क हम मौजूद है टे ोरल लोब म।

अ�तशय जैन, BS

याददाश के �लए अ�काउ�तेबल होता है �लूटामेट , पर सामने �या आया , �जतना था ही नही उतना �रलीज़ हो गया यह याद करते करते। सोचता था मेरे थॉट् स रे �स�ल ह गे मेरी इस क�वता के �लए , ले�कन पता चला वहां पर भी रे �स�ल �ंटल लोब है । ध�यवाद कहता ं �दल से , ले�कन याद रखना रे �स�ल क�ब�त डोपा�मन ही होगा आपके �यार के�लए ।

© Sakshi Yadav, TBS 25

26

INSTITUTES AND UNIVERSITIES OFFERING NEUROSCIENCES

2. NIMHANS, Bangalore

A premiere place for study of neurosciences and mental health in India. One of the top institute with research in Neurosurgery, Neuropathology, Neuroanaesthesia, NIIR, Neurology Entrance through Nimhans Open entrance test OET

Course: M.Sc. Neuroscience (2 years) offered under self supportive mode. Please refer to the University Admission Notification annually for further details.

M.Sc.'D programmes in India

1. JIWAJI UNIVERSITY 3. NATIONAL BRAIN RESEARCH CENTRE

Course : M.Sc. programme Eligibility - Graduation with 50% marks with one or two of the following subjects: Biology/ Biotechnology/ Biochemistry/ Neurobiology/Neuroscience/ Zoology along with Chemistry. Mode of Selection : On the basis of the Index based on the merit in qualifying examinations.

27

4. UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

Course: M.Sc. (Neuroscience) Eligibility: Bachelor's degree or equivalent in any branch of Science from a recognized Institute / University. Mode of selection: Minimum eligibility criteria for admission to the M.Sc. programme to appear for JGEEBILS.

5. CENTRE FOR NEUROSCIENCE, IISC BANGALORE

The best university in India for scientific studies and research. Course: You can opt for PhD programmes in cutting edge neuroscience research Eligibility: Masters degree in any branch of Science . NOTE: The list is in

1. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA University of California, San Diego & UC San Francisco

Johns Hopkins university One of the best universities in the world for health sciences research. Scholarships available.

Usually considered the best for neuroscience research in us.They provide a variety of scholarships including research fellowships, subject to eligibility and acceptance.

M.Sc./PhD programmes abroad Ma4 Planc) Society It is for those searching for extensive research exposure in neuroscience.

2. UK AND EUROPE University College London

Harvard university It is consistently being one of the world's most premier universities. Scholarships available

Entrance through professor acceptance and/or strong undergrad scores in any of the fields mentioned on their university websites. Scholarships available .

Karolins)a Institute Entrance requirements: Bachelor's degree (equivalent to a Swedish kandidatexamen) from an internationally recognised university.

3. JAPAN O4ford University

MIT Entrance through GRE scores and/or acceptance through relevant department professors based on research proposal, SoP and other academic records. no particular order

Entrance through professor acceptance and/or strong undergrad scores in any of the fields mentioned on their university websites. Scholarships available .

Osa)a University and To)yo University Entrance through professor acceptance of respective departments. Scholarships available: MEXT

28

THE FAME OF COCA COLA

INSIGHTS ON NEUROMARKETING STRATEGIES SHUBHANGI ANTIL, SBS About 400 billion dollars per year are spent by companies in advertising their campaigns. For a long time the makerters have used their conventional methods to understand consumer behaviour, and for the most parts, faced many failures. Taking feedback, surveys, and interviews of the consumer were not fairly reliable mainly due to two reasons. One, the consumer behaviour has proven to have many subconscious components hence people can't explain their decisions which they took subconsciously, and two, factors such as certain intensives, peer pressure or lack of time influenced the feedbacks of the consumers.

chemical compositions, why was Coca Cola drink more cherished than Pepsi? The protocol for the experiment wassimple. The researchers asked the participantsto drink either Pepsi or Coca Cola, but the catch was that there were two case experiments. In the first one, they revealed to the participants the brand of the drink before they were asked to choose, named as the brand-cued experiment. In the second case, they anonymously gave away the drinks without revealing the brand, named as the anonymous experiment. The brains of each candidate in both the cases were scanned in an fMRI machine.

Millions are spent on a product which may only end up landing onto a handful households. It is not at all reasonable to invest such a hefty amount towards something which can lead you to such a loss. With the downfall of convention methods of advertising and the rise in competition amongst brands, a new marketing strategy needed to be adopted in the 21st century.

The scientists reported that two separate systems were involved in generating preferences for their drink of choice. For the anonymous task, a consistent neural response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) was seen which corresponds to the participant's behavioral preferences for the drinks. In the brand-cued experiment, brand awareness for one of the drinks had a phenomenal influence on expressed behavioral preferences and on the measured brain responses. The conclusion hence was that during the brand cued experiment people chose Coca-Cola, whereas in the anonymous one, they mostly preferred Pepsi over CocaCola.

In 2004, Read Montague, a professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, published the very first scholarly piece on neuromarketing research. His team wanted to understand that despite being similar in the

INSTINCTS BRAIN DECISION ADVERTISING BEHAVIOUR

SCIENCE

INSIGHT SAKSHI YADAV,TBS

29

If neuroscience is considered to be the infant in the world of sciences, neuromarketing is the fetus. But just like it's bigger sibling, neuromarketing is developing at a rapid speed. Coming back to the Coca Cola and Pepsi study, we wonder why Coca was chosen over Pepsi in the brand cued experiment? Let's take one of the commercials of Coca Cola to understand this. The Coca-Cola polar bear commercial in 2012, pictured a polar bear on the run to save his bottle of coca cola drink from breaking down as the bottle slid off from his hands, making it look like the bear's life depended on the drink. There were no dialogues, texts or any announcer speaking in the background. Just heightened adventurous music, a couple of hurdles to overcome to grab the bottle back and "boom" the polar bear, after much hard work, saves up his bottle of Coca Cola drink. Similar to this Coca Cola commercial, Thumbs Up and Mountain Dew commercials also showcase similar survival instinctive behaviour. Coca Cola’s neuromarketing expert, in this commercial, applled one of the principles of neuroscience known as, Adversity. Adversity focuses on the reptilian part of our brain, which according to MacLean's triune brain model, is one of the three parts of our brain- the new brain, the middle brain and the reptilian brain. The reptilian part is the basal ganglia and is responsible for our instincts and survival. The main focus of the reptilian part is to avoid pain and hence is the decision-making area. Although it's very difficult to activate this part of our brain, it can be achieved by either tapping into audiences' pain points, appealing them to their innate selfishness or by demonstrating importance through contrast. Everyone is afraid of losing out on something or the other since we have an instinctual fear of loss. This opportunity to appeal the audience to their products, by tapping into their reptilian part of the brain is fairly grabbed by the companies who adopt neuromarketing strategies. Companies such as Carlsberg Beer, Delta, Coca-Cola, Google, ESPN, McDonalds, Procter and Gamble, and Yahoo are presently using neuroscientific methods to improve their product reach. Another principle in neuroscience called Familiarity, focuses on the workings of a middle portion of our brain, known as the limbic system or the emotional brain. The limbic system responds to the heartstrings and prefers quality graphics. Through this, the marketers can gain access into the customer’s limbic system by creating emotional and heart string graphics. The word Familiarity originated from the

Latin word Familia which refers to “family.” Again, taking the Coca Cola company as the model; their polar bear baby and daddy commercial adopted the principle of familiarity. The commercial pictured a little baby polar bear smiling and squealing as he slid across the ice and shared a bottle of Coke with daddy polar bear. This commercial activates the Fusiform Face Area (FFA), which is the part of our brain that triggers face recognition. The FFA corresponds to our limbic emotional brain by forming social bonds. Activating the FFA in the audiences by showing family bonding, the commercial emotionally connected to the audiences. People are bombarded daily by an average of 10,000 sales messages, making marketing tougher than ever. More and more companies are now dropping the conventional methods of marketing and outreach, and adopting neuromarketing strategies to stand out from the mesh and increase the outreach of their products and company.

SAKSHI YADAV,TBS

NEUROMARKETING GIVES INSIGHT INTO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR HELPING COMPANIES IMPROVE THEIR MARKETING EFFORTS 30

Blinding Affairs Muskaan Gupta

C

31

Neha Guliya, SBS

A

n arguable implication on the matters of the brain and the mind is preceding our existing sciences. The two studies of neuroscience and psychology are much in question with its interdisciplinary approaches. Neuroscience studies the chemical and biological processes within the brain, whereas psychology studies the mind and the behaviour. One would wonder how it's related. The thoughts constantly running through your mind, are they just some networking of neurons? Or the emotions and behaviour you showcase, the chemical responses produced by the brain? Or perhaps, the brain has a predetermined personality set out for you as you grow? It is so intriguing and perplexing to understand one without sounding chauvinistic.

The two disciplines share a working relationship where the functions of one act as the emergent properties of the other. For example, it is believed that the emergent properties of psychological constructs such as cognition or memory come from the complicated interactions of the constituent elements of the brain. Cognitive neuroscience uses simulations, imaging and tools to understand neural functions in pain perceptions and how differences in brain structure can affect behaviour, personality and cognitive functioning. Interesting parameters of psychology are set out for neuroscientific explanations examining the subjective perspectives to generate artificial intelligence in humans and animals. Psychologists, Ochsner and Lieberman (2001) introduced the three levels of analysis: a motivational, a cognitive and a neural level, that concerns the brain mechanisms instantiating cognitive-level processes.

An inter level synchronous investigation was proposed by Jong (2002), a physiological psychologist that suggested both top-down and bottom-up influences on theories to promote an accurate approach of understanding required to answer the specific level of assessment. However, some philosophers of science are flustering over the complex relations between the two disciplines, where the analysis of lower-level neural mechanisms could explain or reduce the high-level mental functions one day, giving rise to a reductionist approach. This approach puts the mental notions in jeopardy and believes that consciousness plays no role relative to the brain. Oversimplification views on the human experience and emotion limit the holistic and representative depth of motivation and perception. For neural impulses to understand a particular thought, it would require increasing convolutions and manipulations by abstract concepts. The interwoven mind-brain distinction causes a splurge in the basic human potential to understand, think, interpret and analyze simple yet complicated frameworks that make us more conscious beings by hinging on surface level explanations. Non-reductionists believe that the paradigms and the multitude literature of psychology is unsuitable for an organic level of science. One aspect to consider that challenges the reductive view is the position of embodiment integrating the brain, body and mind. The cognitive neuroscience approach also uses neuroscientific methods formulated at the psychological level to run tentative analyses. As reverse inferences raises questions about reductionism, involving attempts to localize psychological functions, will the researchers be able to sustain the autonomy of Psychology? The answers lie solely on the levels of complexity set out to study by the future prospects.

32

© Aakriti Singh, TBS

33

Inside the bony cavity, there’s sitting a walnut. Working all day long and night as well. Let’s rejuvenate it, give it some rest and make it happier.

Brain is one of the most sensitive organs of our body. It works throughout the day when we are talking, walking, playing and even when we are sleeping at night. While we are asleep, the brain clears itself from ‘all day long toxic dust’ that gets accumulated on it. I must say that it is one of the most hardworking organs of the body. Throughout our lifespan, this ‘fatty walnut’ transports information to our body at an incredible speed of 268 miles per hour. Across ages human brains have evolved unbelievably. We have thoughts, emotions, feelings, we can analyse and calculate, we can do anything we want. But in the blind run of using the maximum potential of our brain, we have forgotten to give it some rest to feel calm and happy. Today, one of the most developed brains of the world, the human brain, has also become the most depressed one. According to a survey by World Health Organisation, more than 264 million people in the world are suffering from depression which, at its worst, leads to suicide. More than 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. Most of the people suffer from anxiety, loneliness, sleep problems and a lot more. People seem to have no time for sleep and calm as they are busy running behind the chase to achieve ‘name, fame and money’. Medicines to cure depression, anxiety and other mental disorders are not a permanent solution. So, just stop for some time, give a break to your brain, just meditate and fill yourself up with happiness and laughter. Researchers have proven that meditation optimises the functioning of our brain. Meditation reduces the activity of our brain by making it rest, so it can wander without a goal. Meditation creates a void where the brain becomes inactive, allowing you to understand yourself, your origin, and also helps you to connect to God. Just a bit of mindfulness, closing our eyes and calmly acknowledging what we have, accepting our feelings, thoughts and sensations and witnessing what is going on around us will rejuvenate the brain by soothing it. We should also engage ourselves in activities that we like and that make us laugh. Hanging out in nature, doing a bit of exercise, enjoying the sunshine and doing whatever you like can make a phenomenal change. These activities activate and release hormones like endorphins, dopamine, serotonin ,etc, which spreads the vibes of happiness around our brain. It also increases the efficacy of our brain. Afterall, living a happy and healthy life is much more important than living a luxurious life with no happiness. So let’s lead the way towards a happier brain and a happier life.

34

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF GARDENING Preetha Chatterjee, FBS

35

© Abhimanyu Madhusudanan,TBS

L

‘A GARDEN IS A TRUE FRIEND YOU CAN VISIT ANYTIME’ -Okakura Kakuzo

Looking out of a window at your green garden feels good, doesn’t it? A slow walk in a place filled with trees automatically lightens mood, right? Apart from providing oxygen and sequestering carbon dioxide, plants also have many psychological benefits. Let’s look into this aspect.

and cures depression. Interacting with nature can reduce anger, improve mood and general psychological well-being. Interacting around nature puts the mind more in touch with the community and human perceptions of emotional, psychological, and social senses.

Interaction with nature is a very important part of our life but it often gets ignored. Dweling around plants improves our mood and makes us feel lighter. In a survey conducted at four San Francisco Bay area hospitals, 79% patients said they felt more relaxed and calm, 19% of them felt positive while 25% felt refreshed after a session of gardening. Flowers also evoke positive emotions. During these activities, the brain secretes SEROTONIN and DOPAMINE which makes us feel good. Working with soil also makes us happy. A bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae is found in soil and triggers SEROTONIN production in humans. The odour of magnolia trees causes our cortisol levels to drop, encouraging a sense of happiness and stress relief. The American Journal of

Our bonds with plants are so important that when these bonds are severed, we suffer, knowingly or unknowingly. We have the ability to mend these bonds and help ourselves grow… so why not? Plants help us in innumerable ways

Public Health reported that dwelling in green impacts ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children and increases their attention span. Also, gardening in many ways boosts our self esteem

but we are always blind to them as they are not something that we feel in our busy day-to-day lives. But people living in greenery can surely, at some point, feel the positive difference. Also what can be better than growing your food on your own?

36

NSIGHTS ON

NEUROPLASTICITY THE ABILITY OF THE BRAIN TO UNDERGO CHANGE

Ambika Singh, SBS

37

© ShristikaKonwar, SBS

In the past decade, ground-breaking research has revolutionized our understanding of the human brain and is continuing to do so. You might not expect it, but the brain is always changing--it is constantly adapting. This is called Neuroplasticity. Basically it's the term used to describe a sequence of processes that take place in your brain in response to incoming stimuli, in other words, your emotions, behaviours, experiences, and thoughts that physically change the way your brain functions (Demarin et al., 2014). We have all known that the brain is a complex structure and guides all the functions in the body but what only few of us know is that the brain is not static and is undergoing constant changes since the day we were born. It is always adapting to all different kinds of situations that we come across in our lives (Sagi et al., 2012). In short we can say that the brain is constantly learning. After you finish reading this article, I guarantee that your brain will be different! Now the question arises: how does neuroplasticity help in learning? A classic study which was conducted by Nobel recipient Eric R. Kandel was the first attempt at identifying “neuronal changes that underlie learning and memory”. Instead of humans, the subject in the study used was sea slugs. Why? Because, despite their small size, they have incredibly large and simple neural circuits, which eventually makes it much easier to observe physical changes in their cells (Balakrishnan, 2001). Kandel and his team discovered that, after using classical conditioning training, he was able to induce changes in the sea slug’s gill- withdrawal reflex and change the structure of its cells! In other words, they discovered that with the help of training, the sea slug’s neurons and synapses changed, and with that, came a new, learned behaviour.

So what can we learn from this experiment? By training our brains in the right manner, we can impart changes in our brain and eventually our lifestyle. Training makes the connections between between neurons grow and get stronger (Dayan & Cohen, 2011). There is an old saying that "neurons that fire together wire together.” You can think of it as the neuroscientific way of saying practice makes a man perfect. The more you think of a specific thought or act in a certain way, the more that becomes entrenched in your brain (Insights | p e r s p e c t i v e S, 2015). And the opposite is also true. The thoughts and actions that are less frequent

become weaker connections. So ask yourself: What kind of behaviours do I want to reinforce? What do I want to do in my lifetime? Now it has been suggested by researchers that learning new things like languages, making art or even working on a musical instrument, our brain creates new synapses which helps in expanding our intellect(Vance & Crowe, 2006). Synapse is the gap between two neuron cells and it is this synapse that carries electrochemical information between neurons. In other words, we can say that synapses are the key to neuroplasticity in learning(Oltea Joja, 2013). Neuroplasticity has been found to be static in adulthood, however the research has suggested that by learning new skills or acquiring new knowledge, neuroplasticity continues to evolve. It is found that while learning a new language, the brain's grey matter grows and also forms new synapses and forces neuroplasticity(Fuchs & Flügge, 2014). Also, it has been found out that the left inferior parietal cortex of a person learning a new language is greater than that of an average person who isn't learning one. It was also found that people who practice more on a particular skill such as learning music have bigger hippocampus and greater grey matter in their brains as compared to those who practice less(Valkanova et al., 2014).Many neuroscientists and neuropsychologists are nowadays researching this new field of Neuroplasticity to gain more insight on the topic. Below is a remarkable quote from a neuropsychologist. “We are in the early stages of a Brain Plasticity Revolution. That revolution begins with a clearer understanding that the brain’s machinery is being continually rewired and functionally revised , substantially under your control, throughout the course of your natural life. You have a remarkable built-in ability to strengthen and grow the person that you are, at any age." Norman Doidge, M.D. (The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science) Conclusion : Our brain is capable of definitive change and growth. Our brains become what our brains do, and so therefore we have a greater impact on what our brains become.We can mould our brains in whatever way we want just by following certain habits. In short, I think Neuroplasticity is a kind of a superpower which we can use to our advantage to achieve greater things in life.

38

©Shristika Konwar, SBS

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF INTERNET ON OUR BRAIN’S MEMORISING CAPACITY Abhirami Sunil, SBS Okay Google, what song is this? Okay Google, how to lose weight in a week? Hey Google, can 2+2 be 5? These are some of the most searched questions in Google. Take a moment and look at these. Do you recall searching for anything similar on Google? How many times have you used Google in the last 24 hours? Now, think about the questions you searched on Google, could any of those questions be answered if you just tried to use your memory?

39

How the growth of Google is affecting us? Google searches have increased from 9800 searches in 1998 to 4.7 trillion searches at present. Every day, Google performs more than 3.5 billion searches and a person with an active internet is prone to use Google at least more than thrice a day. From ‘will it rain today’ to ’how to spell ___’, we have made ourselves subconsciously depended on Google. The thrill of instant information has got us in its clutches.

Every time when we learn a new fact, we withdraw ourselves from memorising it because we subconsciously know that we can always rely on Google again. We believe that all of the facts and information are on our fingertips, thanks to Google. Our brain is slowly learning to disregard the information found online and thus, the more we depend on Google, the less likely we retain what we read. Pre-internet days Back in pre-internet times, the only options to finding some answers were to either ask someone or to dig up some books. People used to spend hours in the libraries before they found the exact information. This exercise simultaneously made them explore a lot more information for future references. During those times, communicating remotely wasn’t easy at all as there weren’t any voice or text messaging facilities. There weren’t any ways to save caller numbers, people had to either memorize the numbers or write them down on a notepad. Going to new places? Then you have to ask strangers for routes and directions. You have to ask the locals about where to visit and about the specialties of that area. But now thanks to the technology around us, we don’t have to sit hours digging for some information. All you have to do is type in what you are looking for and voila, you have all the information. Finding new places is now a cakewalk with GPS. Nowadays we don’t need to memorize things like dates, phone numbers, locations, routes and not even the spellings. How the internet age is changing our brain? I, without a doubt, agree with the fact that the internet has eased our lives to a very good extent, but as we say ‘everything that has pros comes with cons’, so does this reliance on the internet. The system under which we were to remember the types of information like date/day/phone numbers etc. have been put to rest, due to the advanced and frequent use of technology. Each time we search up simple things like these we are losing our ability to transfer the facts from our working memory to our long term memory. Our brain uses long term memories for critical thinking and reasoning. These memories are very much needed in our day-to-day life to interact with the world around us. Your long term memory reasons the way you think and is an essential component that defines you as a person. Many research have been carried out to study this topic and in

the research conducted by two students at AIMS institute of management studies on how internet searches and Google change our mind states that the way our brain saves data has been changed significantly because of our subconscious knowledge that tells us that ‘its ok if we forget, we can always look up online’. Human brains have been impacted by this whole rise of internet use and some of the most common impact on human’s brain is seen on creativity. If we look into the context of creativity, the increasing rate of plagiarism is related to our dependence on the internet. From pre-made templates to scholarly and research work everything is just a click away. Not only has this drastically reduced creative thinking and one’s power of imagination but it's also turning young minds into robots that only feed on what is already provided. The way we have started to rely on the search engine then on our ability to think, research, discuss, think or ponder is alarming. This is affecting our brain by reducing a human's natural ability to ponder, create and reason. Some of the most important gifts that only humans have is being damaged. The inactive lifestyle is directly and indirectly making the memory, intelligence, IQ and other mind ability suffer. We mainly get used to absorbing limited text hastily from our screens and therefore, the ability of mind to read and ponder over detailed texts and longer reads gets compromised. Knowledge gained through this practice of surface absorption of a few lines on Twitter or Facebook doesn’t stay for long and is not that effective. The text is short, thoughts expressed are precise, hence read, swallowed and run further. So these things are contributing to alter stimulation and constant distraction is changing the way we think – and not for good. How the ocia edia is aecting our brain? The report suggests that young minds now-a-days are seeking validations from strangers online. They are constantly judged by peers in this fake race of social media that puts young people under pressure to feel accepted and to fit in the world of trends. This act creates a negative environment on one’s intelligence and wit. It is becoming easier to upload forged images online and get appreciated, but what it really costs is the true natural self. One of the most negative outcomes of internet use is that it prevents a reality to set in,that subsequently, damages one’s mental wellbeing. We are so addicted to the virtual world of social media, that we never realize that the overuse is leading to decline of our mental as well as our physical well being. So, to conclude let’s just say that I’m nowhere in a position to tell you to not use the internet, but yes we can indeed try using our memories more.

THE NEXT TIME YOU OPEN UP GOOGLE FOR AN ANSWER, JUST WAIT A SECOND AND THINK ABOUT THE QUESTION,YOU WILL BE ASTONISHED TO SEE THE POWER OF YOUR BRAIN

40

C R O S S WO R D puzzle by Paruldev Huidrom,

TBS

Solve the crossward by writing suitable synonyms:

39

DOWN

ACROSS

1. multiplicity 3. yoga 4. sense 6. remember your anniversary 8. the post master 9. bridge

2. capabilities 5. growth 7. refreshment drink 10. oblivion 11. slumber 12. introvert

ANSWERS: 1.pleuripotent, 2.neuroplasticity, 3.meditation, 4.perspective, 5.neurogenesis, 6.memory, 7.endorphin, 8.dopamine, 9. synapse, 10, alzheimer, 11.serotonin, 12.autism

41

EXPLORE Insightful Interviews

42

SNEAKPEEK into life of a

Dr. Naho Konoike Kyoto University, Japan

NEUROSCIENTIST What’s better than taking insights on neuroscience from a neuroscientist itself? Keeping that in mind, Team Verdure conducted an interview with Dr. Naho Konoike, who is currently a project specific assistant professor at Primate Research Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Kyoto University, Japan. Dr. Konoike’s research primarily focuses on studying neurophysiology and neurodegenerative diseases using non-human primate models.

43

How would you describe your academic journey?

I was moved by the work of a medical doctor in a documentary film when i was a high school student, and for the first time, I wanted to become a medical doctor. With this desire in my heart, I studied in a medical school. After graduating from the university, I obtained a medical license and worked at a metropolitan hospital as a physician. During my medical training, I was fascinated by the human brain, when I saw neurologists diagnosing various neurological symptoms of patients and finding out the cause of the symptoms, just like a detective. That was why I wanted to learn more about the "brain”. Thus, after working there for three years, I entered the master's program at Kyoto University and knocked on the door of neuroscience research. It is extremely unusual for a doctor to apply for a master's degree in a graduate school of science in Japan. Most of all doctors who want to obtain their Ph.D. go to a graduate school of medicine. However, I entered the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University because I wanted to study the brain using primates as a model for pursuing the brain.

1

What motivates you When I was a master's student to keep your in my second year, I attended research standards the annual meeting of the high along the way? Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. to present the first results of my research. I had trained macaque monkeys to perform a finger-tapping task and showed monkeys’ behavioral data in the poster session. After I finished my presentation, I found a poster that had the same idea as ours, but also, the group showed more behavioral data and they had already recorded neural activity! I discussed this with the presenter and it was clear that the research of the group was more sophisticated and ahead of ours, even though we started the project at about the same time. I was shocked but decided to use this experience as an opportunity to do my research more professionally.

2

Could you describe your past and current research? What possible real-world applications it beholds?

During my master's course, I had started research with non-human primates on the theme of how the "rhythm" of movement is controlled. This research design was originally based on the idea of my supervisor, and i worked on this project with him. Rhythm is one of the most important components of music and language. Not only that, but each movement must be performed at the right time, i.e., "rhythm" is essential for smooth movement. We found that macaque monkeys can perform repetitive tapping if the intervals are sub-second, probably depending on the automatic timing system. However, the conscious timing system for supra-second intervals is not well developed in monkeys, unlike humans. (Konoike et al., 2012). We developed this research and revealed the neural substrates underlying rhythm perception and production in humans by fMRI experiments (Konoike et al., 2012, 2015). After I got my Ph.D., I had engaged in a research project to investigate the neural substrate underlying emotion. We focused on two brain areas; the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala, which are thought to be involved in emotional regulation. I recorded the activity of the ACC neurons from awake monkeys during which the monkeys are explored by emotional stimuli. We found that a part of ACC in addition to the amygdala processes emotional information, especially negative life-and-death information such as conspecifics’ faces and snakes (Kuraoka, Konoike, and Nakamura, 2015; Konoike et al., 2020).

3

The ACC and amygdala are regions critical for emotional control implicated in the pathogenesis of the psychiatric disease. Patients with depression show abnormalities in volume and activity in the ACC and amygdala. Furthermore, depressive patients display a negative bias in the perception of emotional stimuli such as facial expressions. We investigated the ACC responses based on these findings suggesting that the ACC functions in the processing of facial information, and that malfunction leads to the negative bias of the emotion of others in depressive patients. Recently, we have developed psychiatry disease models using small primates native to South America, common marmosets. We believe that the establishment of appropriate primate models will lead to dramatic advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of human psychiatric disorders.

44

4

What kind of research Our institute has an international opportunities does collaboration facility and many international Japan offer? How is students from all over the world have been Japan as a study enrolled. We also have students from India. destination for Indian Please visit our CICASP website students? http://www.cicasp.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/# In Japan, it is relatively tolerant for animal research using nonhuman primates than in Europe and the United States. English is spoken in the laboratory, but on the other hand, many Japanese can only speak Japanese. You will need to learn some Japanese in your daily life.

Marmoset fami) As a neuroscientist, what is The number of patients suffering your vision for the next 30 from neuropsychiatric disorders years, in terms of research such as depression and dementia advancements and clinical is increasing all over the world, and applications in this field? it is becoming a major problem that threatens our lives. On the other hand, there are still many unknowns about the causes and pathogenesis of these diseases. Animal models are a powerful tool to explore the pathogenesis of these diseases. However, rodent models are still the mainstream of research, and breakthroughs in creating appropriate nonhuman primate models have yet to occur. Psychiatric disorders, in particular, have many symptoms unique to humans, making it difficult to make an appropriate diagnosis in animal models. As a neuroscientist, I hope to create appropriate primate models, especially for schizophrenia and depression, in the next 30 years to promote early diagnosis and treatment of diseases, elucidation of pathogenesis, and the development of novel therapies.

5

45

MRI ROOM - To acquire MRI d with stereotaxic co-ordinate.

Continuity is the

継続は

(

Marmoset babies

What is your message for undergraduate students who have interest in making a career in the field of neurobiology?

data of the marmoset brain

father of success

は⼒なり

)

When I started my life as a researcher, there were no female researchers around to learn as role models. Many female researchers of the same generation abandon their research jobs after getting married and having children. On the other hand, famous female researchers in Japan are superwomen who achieve brilliant success at their jobs, have perfect private lives, which made me wonder when they slept. But I felt that it was wrong to have an environment where only such superwomen could become researchers. Now, I am a researcher while raising two children. I sleep well. I want to continue this work because I love to research. Many years have passed since then, and various kinds of support have increased, such as grants for researchers returning from maternity leave, and childcare during conferences can now be paid from research funds. I hope that the world will become a place where not only female researchers, but also male researchers who participate in child-rearing, researchers who want to balance their research with elderly care, and researchers who work with illnesses can engage in research. It is also very important to "keep going. There are times when it is hard. It's okay to take a break for a while. But please start again. In the long run, not many people can keep doing one thing for a long time. I have taken many breaks, but each time I came back to my research. I think the fact that I did not quit has led me to my current career. In Japanese, there is a saying, "continuity is the father of success ( )”. With these words in mind, I am continuing my experiments today.

6

継続は⼒なり

46

Exploring the field of Con Consciousness studies being one of the most exciting realms of the neuroscientific world is rapidly developing in recent years. To discuss the concept of consciousness, brain function, and the future of neuroscience research, Team Verdure held an engaging discussion session with Mr. Rahul Venugopal , a PhD Scholar at Centre for Consciousness Studies, NIMHANS, Bangalore. Mr Venugopal’s work focuses on understanding working memory in humans and developing methods to improve the same. QUESTION: As there are multiple definitions and interpretations of the term Consciousness, how will you define consciousness? ANSWER : It's a million dollar question indeed. In the field of neurosciences, the word consciousness is commonly used in varied forms yet there is no agreed upon, proper, definition. So taking that anticipatory bail, I will tell you how I will define the concept. Consciousness is that subjective feeling which is very private and individual specific. It is very difficult to put into a particular set of words, as it is very subject specific experience. Like, for example you all might have seen the ambiguous image of a rabbit-duck in which some people see a duck and some people see a rabbit. How is that possible? Their perception is very subjective, and it lies at the core of consciousness.

QUESTION: Can we quantitatively define Consciousness? ANSWER: A lot of labs around the world, including my lab, are attempting this problem. It all started with Giulio Tononi, Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine. He was interested in coming upwith a consciousness meter to quantity consciousness. The meter worked on a principle in which you acquire any electrophysiological data from the sensors placed on a person's head. Then you measure the data by passing it on to a bunch of mathematical algorithms. At the end of the algorithms there will be an end value which will quantify the consciousness of that person. Tononi's work is well respected in the community and there are some parts of it already in place. Dr. Steven Laureys of the University of Liège, Belgium, worked on the same concept. His group developed a conscientiousness meter in which a person who's mathematical value in meters is large is able to recover faster from the state of unconsciousness, such as a comma, before a person who has lesser value.

QUESTION: If we are able to simulate the whole of the brain in the future, how much of a new horizon would open up for neuroscience? ANSWER: In human genome sequencing, what scientists thought was that if we could understand the human gene, it would unravel the zenith of our understanding. But what happened was the discovery of junk codes/DNA left us without an answer.. Even if we figure out the entire synapse, there would be unknown puzzles. I believe that it is a never ending process. One answer leads to another question.

QUESTION: Can you tell us a bit about your field of research and it's prospects? ANSWER: My PhD goal is to understand working memory and how we can enhance it. I'm primarily interested in understanding mechanisms of working memory and understanding the brain from a consciousness angle. I'm also interested in training future scientists.

47

QUESTION: How important is the concept of consciousness and how it affects our brain functions,like, cognition and memory? ANSWER: There are certain levels of consciousness. Level 1 is the condition of coma , where the subject is alive , the functions like respiration and beating of heart are intact, but there is no sensory response at all. Almost zero level of consciousness. Next is locked-in syndrome or being in a vegetative state. The input of sensory information in this case is received but the patient can't respond to the sensory stimulus. The major challenge faced by the health faculties is to decide whether the patient diagonsed with coma or locked-in syndrome will ever come back to consciousness or not, and in such cases, consciousness research is very impactful.It can be used to determine at what point the patient can be withdrawn from the life support system provided by the hospitals. With improved medical technology, a person can now reach upto the age of 90 or 100 as opposed to the times when only max 80-85 was possible. The problem is that with the increase in reliance on external support such as heart or lung replacement, cardiac support for your bodily functions, we will reach a point where due to the replacement of the bulk organs of our body we enter the realms of ethics. Studying consciousness with play a key role there through neuroethics. If you're going to reach the age of 200 years, what all changes will happen to you. You can upload your memory into a computer and become immortal. Core of consciousness research lies in such futuristic inventions and development of neuroethics.

nsciousness Neuroscience QUESTION: Could you brief us about trans cranial alternating currents and it's effect on learning the brain function? ANSWER: The field of my study is on a simple concept "working memory" (better explained as the way your brain processes your OTP). We are trying to improve our working memory capability. Can you alter the cognition levels of the brain using electric signals? Electro convulsive therapy and pharmacological routes are the answers. The brain is an electrochemical chamber. So, we use external technologies to manipulate the current framework using AC current of suitable mild frequency through battery devices. Brain communicates through neural oscillations. When we administer certain external frequencies through electrical signals we can push the neural oscillations to a resonant frequency. This way, we are trying to find an effective oscillation frequency that enhances the brain working memory and derives neural patterns through machine learning.

QUESTION: Is curiosity a part of consciousness? ANSWER: Curiosity is generally considered as a higher cognitive aspect. Non primates such as rats and mice are also curious. Yes, curiosity is a part of consciousness but a very minimal part of consciousness research.

QUESTION: What aspect does a visual perception play in consciousness? Answer : It is a well researched area. So firstly I want to differentiate between sensation and perception. So sensation is more real, to speak, so that is the information that is coming through your senses. It can be auditory information, visual information, touch, smell, taste etc. So that is more real and which your receptors actually perceive at different frequency levels. Perception is the actual consciousness part of sensation. It is what you are actually feeling when you are sensing something. Whenever we talk about perception, there is a bottom-up processing. The brain tries to figure out what the sensation is, and it is always based on your memory and your visual previous experiences. There’s a top down aspect to the visual perception also. Magicians cheat your visual perception, you know that it is an illusion but even so your brain can be tricked by the tricks of the magician. So that’s where the whole point of perception, deception and consciousness comes into the picture. There’s a famous quote in neuroscience “ You do not see what your eyes see, you see what your brain wants to see”. Already there is a talk down processing which is biasing your perception. Companies such as Facebook, Google, Youtube are very good in tackling this aspect. A field of neuroscience called neuromarketing is where the companies target their customers using perception and cognitive neuroscience research. It is proven that if you place a product from different companies on a supermarket shelf, the right handed customer is more likely to pick up the brand placed on the right side of the shelf than the brand placed on the left side of the shelf. The marketers get a short window of 10 seconds where the people are going to make a decision whether to buy the product or not. So it’s about how best the knowledge of neuroscience can be utilized to alter, influence, change, modulate, and control the decision of people.

QUESTION: What are the challenges of pursuing neuroscience in India? ANSWER: Neuroscience is highly interdisciplinary. It involves collaboration of multiple subjects. India lacks interdisciplinary training programs. Neuroscientists need to be trained in multiple domains but there is minimum collaboration among the different institutes in India. India also lacks job opportunities in the field of neuroscience. We do not lack anything in terms of skills and knowledge and I feel like we are slowly catching up. There has been an emergence of new training labs here and there also. Challenges will always be there and it is just a matter of time for India to come up the ladder.

48

Q

1

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR THROUGH SCIENCE AND THE LAW The law has been defined as the “Science and the Art of Justice”. To understand better the relationship between scientific research and law, the Verdure team interviewed Sanchit Singh, a third year BBA- LLB student of VIPS, GGSIPU, Delhi, to gain some insights into the importance of human brain sciences and sciences in general, in the field of law. In this interview he tells us about the relations between law and sciences, how they both co-exist and how scientific methods are effectively being incorporated with the legal proceedings.

As a student of law school, where would you place Science in the embodiment of the laws while framing the Constitution of our country?

The Preamble of our Constitution candidly lays down the ideals of justice as the basic structure, forming the basis for adjudication in the Indian Courts of Law. Even though legal scholars like to define law-making, interpretation of legal rules and principles as a social practice that inherently does not know Science, the evolution of Sciences has had a substantial influence in shaping legal practices, evidently seen in the application of the Evidence Law and its procedural and substantive role in the proceedings of courts. This school of thought does not necessarily divest from acknowledging the significant partnership that the Law has had with the evolution of Sciences, depicting the importance that Science has had in achieving the ideals of our founding fathers during the formation of our Constitution.

2

Could you tell us more about scientific methods incorporated with legal proceedings ?

Such collaborations have led to three popular tests that aid investigations – polygraph test, narco-analysis and brain-mapping. Criminal jurisprudence has adjusted to incorporate scientific methods with doctrinal principles of the law that Science alone cannot help the court draw its conclusions, for example under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872 direct evidence from an involuntary polygraph test is

49

inadmissible in a court of law, with the proviso being that such a test be substantiated with other relevant evidence. Similar is the case for the other two tests. Even if Science is able to develop an accurate method of conducting such kinds of tests, as already being deliberated upon by legal scholars, Article 20(3) and 21 of the Indian Constitution that deals with rights against selfincrimination and right to life and personal liberty respectively, would prevent the courts of law from adopting such methods keeping citizens’ fundamental rights in consideration. As stated in the Section 27 of IEA example, voluntary undertaking of any of the methods is essential without which the methods are useless in court proceedings.

C

3

And what developments have we seen so far in regards to legitimacy of these methods from the general public as well as the legal fraternity?

While legal scholars remain divided on the issue, it can be accepted that there is a lot of research that needs to be done in normative and pathological populations. Research should be focused in light of the constitutional guarantees and the Supreme Court judgement in Smt. Selvi & Ors. V. State of Karnataka 2004 that provided that involuntary deception detection tests (DDTs) have no place in the judicial process. This indeed has significant challenges and hurdles but the unfortunate reality is that voluntary acceptance of the previously mentioned methods is rare for suspects who are undergoing trial. With this, a growing distrust has been observed

Neha

&

by the legal fraternity over forensic scientists over matters of inaccuracy of the methods that disrupts proceedings, causes delays and sometimes even further complicates the case, diminishing faith in the proposed methods in the evidence collection and presentation process.

4

Could you give us some more insights on the varying views on legal prosecutions subordinated by human brain studies?

The science of the human brain has also played an important role in understanding capital punishment and the psyche of convicts of heinous crimes. Within an Indian context, capital punishment is justified by claiming that the crimes committed are so heinous that a convict cannot be corrected through reform with the intention of re-introduction into society. The debate on this issue can be seen with two perspectives based on time period. Initial deliberations by our Supreme Court include the mode in which capital punishment is presently given and efforts to explore alternative more humane approaches; and further the deliberation over the elimination of the practice entirely. Comparative studies have concluded on many occasions that capital punishment does not necessarily deter homicide cases, however at the same time these comparative studies deal with demographically different societies. While Scandinavian countries like Finland believe that convicts can be reintroduced in society, there are many countries that are yet to become state parties to the ICCPR Optional Protocol II dealing with death penalty. Scientific research is what has helped answer complex and sensitive questions of the law in the past and it is this science that will help guide our judiciary towards maintaining our commitment of protecting human rights enshrined in both domestic and international conventions.

Guliya,SBS

5

Any final concluding notes?

For an effective participative and collaborative democracy to function, trust in science and fact is crucial as the current American President Joe Biden has reminded his citizens time and again. With the great strides achieved in cooperative efforts between science and technology, there is faith that science will be able to support Indian courts in ensuring speedy justice for victims through the development of tests and methods based on reason and logic. And finally I quote Robin Feldman, “…law‘s attraction to science reaches almost back to the time when science separated itself out from other types of thought. What unites all of these attempts to reach for science is the view that science, in whatever form it takes, can solve the problems of law. Science stands on a pedestal as the ―other that will help law find itself”-

A

50

BRAIN MAZE Exit 2

Exit 1

Given here is a maze having multiple paths which means it has one entry point at the center and as you move towards the outer cortex, you will find that six pathways are leading to the six different exit points.

51

Exit 6

Exit 3

Exit 1 - TEMPORAL LOBE memory and hearing Exit 2 - FRONTAL LOBE problem solving, judgment and motor function Exit 3 - PARIETAL LOBE sensation, handwriting and body position

Exit 4

Exit 4 - OCCIPITAL LOBE visual processing system Exit 5 - CEREBELLUM coordination and balance

Exit 5

Exit 6 - BRAIN STEM regulation of breathing, consciousness and body temperature

© Eshita Jain, TBS

52

02

How is your mental health ? According to WHO, it was estimated that mental illness makes up 15% of the total disease conditions around the world and further refers to India as one of the largest populations affected from mental disorders . In fact, our society is crippled by the wounds from the varying personas of mental illness. And the repercussions can be quite detrimental. So, there arises a need for dismantling the social stigma against mental disorders and evaluate the importance of mental well-being. This section opens up the readers to realities of mental health from real life stories to poems and articles subordinated by research articles and makes a noble effort to throw some light on the subject.

53

© Sonali Kumari, Shrishtika Konwar, SBS

54

My Dark Abyss: A Soliloquy

By Nandini Sharma, FBS

© Eshita Jain, TBS Why do  always have to conform myself and my priorities every time? To perform according to their meaningless meanderings into satisfying big egos; to transform my whims & wishes, my interests and my dreams, into something “appropriate”; to reform my ideas, my mindset, my experiences to fit their dingy chauvinistic narratives; to deform my learnings, my values & my morals ust so  could become acceptable to their “crowd”; to inform myself constantly that my soul was never mine, but theirs to control.

55

MY, oh my, Why? Why should I have to believe that my identity is limited to, MY, oh my, Why? only my gender, race & nationality? Why can’t I just break ties, To leave, from everybody and run away? and pass up opportunities, Just wake from this never-ending nightmare and fly away; so they can live “carefree”; just take back my soul, heart and mind, to weave that they stole on the way; the threads of my soul into just make myself realize, my potential a fabric through which I can’t breathe; and never let my determination sway; to receive just unmake this insipid ghost of a person, hatred, judgement in return of, that I’ve turned into voicing my opinions and ideas; just forsake those demons that, to achieve snatched away everything in their wild pursuit. laurels that light up their pride and darken my mind; to retrieve every single thought that they find “somehow” offensive, in their diabolical minds.

MY, oh my, Why? But, I won’t. I won’t let them discard thousands like me, who search for purpose and stand up for truth; disregard the sacrifices of people; before now & after, for the purpose of a new change, bombard the foundations of things, that I believe in. You ask why? But you know why, I try to create a world where there is no lie, where every child can fly, wherever they want, however they want.

© Eshita Jain, TBS 56

DECODING Sadness touches lives at times, be it a loss of a loved one or down on one’s luck at the workplace. Depression, in contrast, has enormous depth and usually persists for a long time. WHO defines depression as “a mental disorder that presents loss of interest, pleasure, feeling of guilt, low self-esteem and poor concentration.” However, to diagnose the symptoms of depression is not easy, for we could see contrasting responses to similar conditions - one might be feeling low on a foggy dusky winter day due to low light or short-day conditions (as seen in seasonal depression) while someone else may be absolutely fine and feeling nothing as such. It becomes even more difficult to diagnose depression simply because “ mind reading” still remains a fiction. The only way researchers or psychiatrists rely to know about someone’s mental health is when people themselves open up their feelings; and even then, it’s not as simple as it looks for two very obvious reasons: -

Firstly, the existing social stigma against therapy; And secondly, lack of awareness of their own mental health. In fact, most people misunderstanding depression is way more common than one realizes.

SAKSHI YADAV,TBS

Though very little is known or understood about depression till date, we can all agree to a common conclusion that there generally occurs some trigger that can lead someone to depression like suffering a loss in one’s life (a breakup or a loss of loved ones). Continued prolonged medications generally observed in people unable to recover from a life threatening event, can cause a condition called Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Generally, PTSD is very common among individuals who served in the military with a significant amount of time on the battlefield.

Not only these, recent studies have found depression can be hereditary . In fact, suicidal tendencies in a person whose family had a history of such anomalies can be high as indicated by an experiment conducted by Lieb et al (2005),who carried out a prospective study to examine the risk of suicidal attempts in the offspring of a depressed mother who had attempted or contemplated suicide. They found higher risk for suicidal ideation or attempt to such individuals as compared to an offspring whose mother had never attempted suicide.

57

NORMAL BRAIN

DEPRESSION

VINOD YADAV, TBS

There can be different degrees of depression broadly classified as: Major depression or full-blown depression, which is long lasting. Persistent depression disorder / minor depression or also called dysthymia: - Low mood occurring for at-least two years persistently and continuously . Bipolar depression: - Display cycles of mood swings, from depressive low to maniac high. Postpartum depression :-Irritability and mood swings seen in women after childbirth. Psychotic depression: - Causes perception, hallucination and the person loses touch with reality. All that might be a description of depression as a medical condition but a biologist or more particularly a biochemist, would translate depression as a condition of the body where it experiences a low level of neurotransmitters (molecules that bear the responsibility to coordinate the signals in the nervous system) in the body. For example, the dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, a low level of production of these neurotransmitters or a problem in their receptors will, for sure, hinder proper coordination of the nervous system; a hormonal imbalance might also be responsible for the same, which is a major cause of mood swings in women associated with puberty, menarche, pregnancy or menopause. Antidepressants are generally beneficial for the patients suffering from depression and might work miracles in some cases, however results might not be that solid with everyone, also some people might develop allergic reactions to antidepressant medications. In that aspect of treatment of depression,psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, etc. have proved to be very effective.However, there is no sure shot treatment method for depression .Exercise, meditation, healthy living and good diet, can be beneficial to increase the body's ability to resist falling into depression.

SAKSHI YADAV,TBS

DEPRESSED BRAIN

58

Mirror Mirror On My Wall.. by Sanidhya Jagdish, SBS

Mirror mirror on my wall, How many likes have I in all? “Around six hundred”, it said. That is what I recall; but is that all? What has life become these days, Full of apps and filled with haze I gave myself a glare, and resolved a life without fanfare Wanting to change my life, I stabbed the internet off with a knife. At breakfast I ate some fruits too, then I recalled that Apple was one too Life was getting to be boring sans my phone. There must be something to do in this silent zone, I used to swipe through my Instagram feed, And try those creepy filters as I pleased. What lovely emojis were they, The heart, the sun, so many faces to say Not keeping track of time,

59

..

I’ve spent hours on Amazon Prime. I really miss those days with lots of pings. Now even the doorbell doesn’t sound its ring. People I used to call my friends, were merely an illusion in a sense. The struggle was hard, But I triumphed at last. And the stressful day finally passed. Happy to have achieved my goal, I marched on to the internet’s shore “Got to tweet this”, I exclaimed Oh! There I go again. This was a cycle of silent death, to be fought with a lot of strength. I decided to find true peace from within and enjoy the sunset with a grin. And asked the mirror once again … How’s my painting overall?, Mirror Mirror on my wall …

© Sandhiya Jagdish, SBS

60

It’s hard to breathe at night, for hours I sit, in my favorite corner not a paper flaps, yet it’s so noisy (inside my head) It’s hard to be okay, pretend, to wear the same smile and lie about being fine but inside, in the box by my bedside are the pieces of me hidden, from your eyes. It’s hard to trust anyone, to help me climb, through the mountains I’m afraid, afraid of the dark half of them, who might push me into the abyss. It’s hard to move forward, strings holding me, piercing my heart like an icy dart It’s less painful now, more out of habit Normal, it hadn’t felt normal for ages, I’m trapped in a loop. It’s hard to remember, small things “Did I eat already?” Yes they say. “I am sorry I forgot.” I apologized, not for the first time. Am I lazy? Maybe (No) Because every day, I wake up to do it all over again.

61

It’s Hard by Anshu Kumari, TBS

© Shrishtika Konwar, SBS

62

w

REPEAT AFTER ME : “MENTAL HEALTH IS POTENT” by Jaanvi, SBS

M

ENTAL HEALTH - The most trending yet misunderstood issue in the nation. Yes, we exist in an environment where the mere talking of mental health issues relates to the chords to retardations and mental disabilities.

oraphobia often have a hard time feeling safe in any public place, especially where crowds gather. You may feel that you need a companion, such as a relative or friend, to go with you to public places. The fear can be so overwhelming that you may feel unable to leave your home.

Since the pandemImagine the state of ic occurred across Mental Health Is Not A mind of such a person. the world, each one Destination, But A Process. It’s They are frightened to of us, at least once, know people, to interhas gone through About How You Drive, Not Where act with them or to just the trail of emobe around them. How tions, be it strength, Are You Going would such people gear concerns, boredom, up their lives – both perfear of losing loved sonal and professional? ones and many more. Instead of taking mental health for granted, This roller coaster of emotions has affectwe should reach out to the people in need. ed our mental health at catastrophic cost. The need of the hour is to NOT TO NEGLECT this aspect of health. It is absolutely normal to feel down, to need someone to talk to, to want someone who can just buck you up and drop you to life back again !! For example, if we take the example of Agoraphobia- a disorder where a person might feel uncomfortable, suffers anxiety, is frightened interacting with people and visiting places, and feeling trapped, helpless or embarrassed. People with ag-

63

Ways we can help • Reach out if some one needs to talk to you • Ask out if you notice behavioural changes in your loved ones • Stop relating the mental health issues to mental disabilities • Be vocal if you are suffering from one. Because the world needs more positivity and understanding. The pandemic has taught us the value of little things we took for granted and, we should definitely know the worth of our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

©

Eshita Jain, TBS

64

My lockdown mind SHUBHANGI ANTIL, SBS

A collection of short poems composed during Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The poems represent the consecutive phases my mental health went through during the lockdown period.

EVERYDAY IS THE SAME It’s a loop, everyday is the same, these white walls, the same these posters on them, the same these faces around me, the same the voices I hear, the same It’s a loop, everyday is the same, but, the dates on the calendar, change the colour of the sky, change the thoughts in my mind, change the beliefs I once cherished, change Yes, it’s a loop, but an illusion, governed by isolation things aren’t the same, even if they seem same, the reality is change.

65

INSOMNIA AND ANXIETY Lied down but can’t sleep. this pulsating head, circling through me this ravishing pain, seeping through me Oh please, let me be. this utter darkness, mocking me this unrest mind, searches for peace I can’t breathe, I'm trapped inside of me Oh please, let me be.

HOLDING ON Darkness encloses, no sign of light stomach churns, what a state of plight Holding onto, those sweet memories of past those happy days that didn’t last Holding onto, the faith once so strong the hope, I hope is not wrong Holding onto, the good old days to come again dark storm to end, peace to hail again

COUNTLESS STARS Gazing up the night sky I let out a deep sigh Did I ascend and win the fight? Or is the dream still out of sight? Is the path I’m on, still right? all I feel is my flickering might Gazing up the night sky I look up to the stars and cry The twinkle blinds my eye, suddenly a thought passes by The countless stars sing to me, “Endless opportunities await thee” Abhimanyu Madhusudanan TBS

66

67

Healing Through Art

©Nandini Sharma,FBS

©Sonali Kumari , SBS

© Sanidhya Jagdish, SBS

© Shristika Konwar, SBS

© Sanidhya Jagdish, SBS

©Sanah Kumar, FBS

©Sakshi Yadav, TBS

©Sakshi Yadav, TBS

68

H A B R O M A N I A

Be practical, they say; for the heart chooses, vice over the virtues but who defines the vices, the one who has lost all virtues? If humans can be replaceable, then why not their brains? It’s okay to be a “habromaniac”, if that’s what they call it And anyway; who makes decisions. from the heart or the brain, it’s the gut which owns , the veto power, so don’t forget to feed it

by Diva Singh, SBS

© Sakshi Yadav, TBS

69

MY EXPERIENCE WITH MY DEPRESSED FRIEND By Bivishitha Naisamudhin, FBS It was a very fine day. We students were

mother to come over to the hostel and started

returning from our school to the hostel in the

consoling her. Considering that I did not know

school bus. While in the bus, I was talking to a

the

close friend of mine. For some reason she had

difficult. Suddenly she started telling me

not been in a good mood lately and it was no

some of her problems, which, surprisingly, I

longer inconspicuous. I thought I would try to

found were very small issues but to her they

cheer her up. Despite my constant trials, I

were erupting volcanoes! An hour later, her

failed to even get her attention. I grabbed her

parents came and took her to see a doctor.

hand and to my shock she literally screamed

She occasionally came to school, missed

and pulled her hand away. That's when I saw

many

the mark. Huge line on the inside of her wrist

treatment. During the lockdown, I kept con-

problem,

exams

counselling

and

her

continued

was

with

quite

her

© Shristika Kanwar, SBS

THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIMPLY BEING A TOURIST AND BEING A TRUE WORLD TRAVELER

where I could see the blood clots. I just kept

ntact with her because I knew, as a friend I

staring at her and then tore my gaze away to

should stand with her and support her. I

look out of the window. She became tense at

realised anyone could have been caught in

that and started calling for me. Initially I

this mess.

ignored her but then I asked her, "Why, just why?". She didn't utter a word. Since she was not sharing anything I thought I would call her mother and had her picked up from the hostel.Once we reached the hostel, we were lucky enough to find that the phone room was unlocked and free. I quickly grabbed a phone, dialed her mother's number and narrated everything. Her mother got tense and asked me to hand over the phone. Beside

If today was her, tomorrow it might be me.

Helping her to cope up with the trauma taught me to look at life in a different perspective. It also gave me a way of finding happiness in small things. I feel blessed and thankful to God in many ways. Today after a year of treatment, she is doing great! This shows that with continuous help, support and hope, a depressed person can 42come out

me, she was crying her head off and didn't

of their cocoon and find their wings to fly in

want to talk. I had to ask her

this colourful world.

70

Please come back my son Bivishitha Naisamudhin Naisamudhin, ,FBS byby -Bivishitha FBS

Dear Son , Hope you are doing well so far there! Today , while cleaning your empty room I found your letters for me .

I'm still in shock and state of trauma. I could never tolerate your departure. Now, knowing that it's because of me, kills me inside. How can you do this to me ? Mothers scold their children for good! Your mamma want you to be raised having good values Mamma and pappa loved you more than anyone else Why did you do this to me ? Did mamma's scolding tempt you to take your life? I am sorry, I apologise I take back my words. Mamma and papa love you so much. I beg you, Please, please do come back my son.

- With lots of love Your Mamma 71

©Sonali Kumari, SBS

© Eshita Jain, TBS

Let’s be the one; whom we all needed, When the world seemed too crowded, but we felt completely stranded in an island of our thoughts and struggled to find the shore; When we couldn’t find the light, and even shadows left our side, when darkness swallowed all our hopes, and we fell deeper into the abyss of prisons that our minds created. Let’s be the one; we all needed, someone who lends their hand, and someone who could’ve helped us stand. Someone to listen to our silence, and cries alike, without any judgement or hate. Let’s be the one; we all needed, and do what we expected from that someone, to believe in us, untangle the knots when we just could not.

Let's Be Let's Be The One The One

When our minds pulled us down, And we couldn’t see the way. Let’s be the one; we all needed in those strenuous times, To be the light, that guided us back to a world with some hope, where we don’t need to find the shore. Someone who could bring out that inner light which we always had inside.

By Ayushi Sharma, SBS 72

CROSSWORD PU UZ ZZ ZL LE E P

Let's see how much you know about mental health

ACROSS

byby Paruldev Paruldev Huidrom Huidrom, TBS TBS

DOWN 1. I don't do well with people 4. I can't but sleep 6. I see a shrink 7. to become oblivious

2. fear of public places 3. stealing is my habit 5. I see what you can't see 8. first antipsychotic drug 9. mental health awareness month 10. dirt is tasty ANSWERS:

1.autism , 2.agoraphobia, 3.kleptomania, 4.narcolepsy, 5.schizophrenia, 6.psychotherapy, 7.dementia, 8.chloropromazine, 9.may, 10.pica

73

A R E Y O U OKAY? If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone. There are many support services that are here to help. 1. Jeevan Aastha Helpline: 1800 233 3330

5. SUMAITRI Helpline: 011-23389090

2. AASRA Helpline: 09820466726

6. FORTIS STRESS HELPLINE: +91-8376804102

3. COOJ Mental Health Foundation: 0832-2252525

7. VANDREVALA FOUNDATION: 18602662345

4.One Life Foundation: 7893078930

8. KIRAN MENTAL HEALTH: 18005990019 © Aakriti Singh, TBS

74

03 THE DEPARTMENT

75

© Aakriti Singh, TBS

separator

© Aakriti Singh, TBS

76

77

78

79

80

Nandini Sharma FBS Research- Chapter and 2 reviews under Dr. Sanjay Kumar and Dr. Shikha Gulati.

Shradha Jain, FBS Bismuth Ferrite Nanohybrid For Degradation Of Environmental Pollutant. Toxicological Risks And Environmental Risks Of Consumer Nanoproducts.

Atharv Kapoor SBS

SRI-VIPRA Dr. Nimisha

under Sinha.

Cheshte Varshney SBS

Parul FBS

Preetha Chaterjee FBS

Research-Bismuth ferrite nanohybrids for degradation of environmental pollutants. underDr.Sanjay & Dr.Sikha gulati

Research Nanotechnology in modern textiles under the guidance of Dr. Shikha Gulati.

Atishay Kumar Jain, FBS

Vidhi Wadhawan FBS

Abhirami Sunil SBS

Research journal on ic with the Batra and

for international the specific tophelp of Dr. Sanjay Dr. Shikha Gulati

Reseach - Starch Bio-nanocomposites as food packaging material, under Dr. Sanjay Batra & Dr. Shikha Gulati

Diva Singh, SBS

Cluster Manager at Writefully Yours, under Mr. Karan Chugh. Digital marketing intern at Prepjunction H.R. Intern at Acelot Innovations Pvt. Ltd. 5. COO at UnMa

Neha Guliya SBS

SRI VIPRA- Study of regulatory mechanisms in glioma stem cells,an integrated Omics approach.

Chalcone Scaffolds as Anticancer Drugs: A Review on Molecular Insight in Action of Mechanisms and Anticancer Properties

Shubhangi Antil SBS

Vaidehi Sharma SBS

Position - Science Communicator atSciRiobroadcastingknowledge Work descriptionCreating comic series

Aastha TBS

SRI VIPRA-Deriving a metabolic index to evaluate the metabolic status of an individual under Dr. Nandita narayanasamy

81

Wrinkle-Resistant Fabrics: Nanotechnology in Modern Textiles Under guidance of Dr. Shikha Gulati

Sanah Kumar FBS

SRI VIPRA -Role of medicinal plants in combating pathogens with special reference to COVID -19.

I N T E R N SHIPS Vishnu Narayanan Verma SBS

Anshu Kumari TBS

2020 Ambika Singh SBS

Anantpreet Kaur Sood, SBS

SRI VIPRA- Study of regulatory mechanisms in glioma stem cells,an integrated Omics approach.

SRI VIPRABotany under Dr. Pamil Tayal

Sachin Sharma SBS

Jayanti Chhillar SBS

SRI-VIPRA- Role of Medicinal Plants in combating diseases (with special emphasis on COVID-19) under Dr Pamil Tayal .

SRI-VIPRA-project under Dr. Pamil Tayal on potential uses of medicinal plants to combat against COVID-19.

Dravie Bansal SBS

Ayushi Sharma SBS

SRI-VIPRAHereditary Diseases- Genetic and Environmental Aspects under Dr Kameshwar Sharma.

SRI-VIPRA - An online survey based research article on topic Diet, lifestyle and obesity under Dr. Kameshwar Sir.

Aparna Pillai TBS

Eshita Jain TBS

SRI-VIPRA-Carbon Sequestration under Dr. Abhishek Chandra

SRI-VIPRA- Aspects of Scientific Writing - a survey based approach under Dr. Kameshwar Sharma

SRI VIPRA- Study of regulatory mechanisms in glioma stem cells. Grip your life- worked on factors resposible for mood changes.

SRI-VIPRA- Study of knowledge and popularity of alternate strategies for boosting immunity during COVID19 times.

SRI-VIPRA- Applications of Bioinformatics in Cardiovascular Disorders for Novel Therapeutics Design under the supervision of Dr. Latha Narayanan

Aakriti Singh TBS

Sagar Chauhan TBS

Sohini Saha TBS

Sonam Rawal TBS

Yashmita Choudhary, TBS

SRI VIPRA- Study of regulatory mechanisms in glioma stem cells,an integrated Omics approach.

SRI-VIPRA - Carbon Sequestration under Dr.Abhishek Chandra

SRI VIPRA- Study of regulatory mechanisms in glioma stem cells,an integrated Omics approach under Dr.

SRI VIPRA-Analysis of raw sequencing data of cancer specific genes associated with eyelid tumors and their gene networking

SRI VIPRA - Signaling networks of mycobacterium tuberculosis under the supervision of Dr. Vandana Malhotra

- 2021 Radhika FBS

Verve dance crew

Atishay Kumar Jain, FBS Equal opportunity cell (EOC)

Ambika Singh SBS

Atharv Kapoor SBS

Boolean- Technological society

TED x SVC

Jayanti Chhillar SBS

Neha Guliya SBS

Nrityangana-The Indian Dance Society and NSS-SVC

Shubhangi Antil SBS Equal opportunity cell

Paruldev Huidrom TBS North East Society Joint Secretary)

Vimarsh, Hindi debating society

Vaidehi Sharma SBS Vimarsh (hindi debating society), Conquiztador

Aakriti Singh TBS Leonci Art Society

Aparna Kumari FBS Feedopedia

member

and

Equal opportunity cell volunteer

Shradha Jain FBS Eco club SVC

Avantika FBS

Nandini Sharma FBS

Equal opportunity cell (EOC)

Nrityangana- The Indian Dance Society and NSSSVC

Vidhi Wadhawan FBS

Abhirami Sunil SBS

Anantpreet Kaur Sood, SBS

National Service Scheme(NSS)

Nrityangna-T h e I n d i a n Dance Society and NSS-SVC

Diva Singh SBS

Dravie Bansal SBS

Crescendo - Western Music Society

S O C I E T I E S

Verbum - English Dramatics Society

Rabsang Lhamo SBS

Sachin Sharma SBS

Verce western dance crew 2019-2020

Srashti Sahay TBS

Anshu Kumari TBS

Effulgence - The photography society

Eco Clubo SVC

National Service Scheme Women development cell Spirit of youth Foundation

Riya Sharma TBS

Sohini Saha TBS

Subiksha.S TBS

Leonci Art Society

Crescendo WMS

Anubhuti - The Hindi Dramatics Society , Ascend - The Entrepreneurship Cell of SVC, Equal Opportunity Cell , Volunteer at Enactus, Ex-member of Conquistador - The Qui soc

Vishnu Narayanan Verma, SBS

Anubhuti, the dramatics society

Prishita Sharma FBS

Fine Arts Association

National Service Scheme (NSS)

Eshita Jain TBS Leonci Art Society

Harsh Kumar Nagar, TBS Archangels Exordium

© Aakriti Singh, TBS

82

South Sudan

MY EXPERIENCES AS A FOREIGN STUDENT IN INDIA Michael Nhial, TBS

G

rowing up in East Africa, in the world’s youngest country, South Sudan, furthering my education in a quality and prestigious university like the University of Delhi has been my dream since childhood. After finishing my high school, this dream came into reality when I was awarded a merit based scholarship to study in India by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), received and awarded to me by His Excellency the Indian Ambassador to South Sudan, Mr. S.D. Moorthy. On my arrival to Indira Gandhi International Airport, I came out of the plane with much desire to see how the environment of the country of which I have been seeing its beauty on TV screens looks like. My first impression about India started the very first time I stepped out of the airport; I met an honest Indian that gave me a ride to the hotel. As a foreigner I thought he was going to charge me highly because in some other countries, foreign nationals easily get cheated especially on their first days of arrival but that wasn’t the case for me. I took admission to one of the best hostels of Delhi University, International Students’ House, where I have met andw interacted with students from over 30 different countries and some native Indian students. I have lived with them for 3 years and I have learnt cultures of many countries and tasted different cuisines of various regions. This experience gave me a good amount of cultural exposure and it helped me to increase my global awareness and exposure. My beautiful experience at Sri Venkateswara College was introduced when I met Randip Singh, the former president of the Sri Ven-

83

kateswara College Students Union, who dedicated much of his time in following up my admission process and walked me around the whole college and also taught me some Hindi short phrases. Second experience was how my classmates welcomed me in the class. I was so humbled to have met such amazing classmates who made me feel at home. They have played a vital role in my life as colleagues. When I go back to my country, I will always remember India because of them. I recommend the international students who will come to India for studies to make sure they travel to various cities and towns of India. You will be much impressed by many things as you travel to new places, it will gives you beautiful memories and educate you about what the media portrayed negatively

as

Martin

Luther

King

said

“Education must enable on to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” My trip to Manali, Himachal Pradesh was one of the most exciting moments of my life as I travelled on the sloppy Himala yas Mountains, I had a great moment seeing beautiful sceneries, playing games in the snow, skiing and parachuting. What I do like about India are magnificent architecture, food from different regions, its culture and tradition, and festivals like Diwali,

Holi among others. I am now also a fan of Bollywood films. But what I like most about India is the people. Of course there are good and bad people everywhere but for Indians, once you become their friends, they are your true friends. They treat you like one of their own. Generally my stay in India has enhanced me in many different aspects of life, starting from the people I met, travelling to various states across India, visiting historical sites and more importantly the education system that I have got here, it has given a knowledge of understanding of the world around me in a better picture as Nelson Mandela said

ter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of a farm worker can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

Delhi

“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daugh-

84

VERDURE RELEASE 2020

Please scan his QR r code o iew he whole agazine

85

Where OUR

SENIORS

ARE...

Oass Yaduvanshi Niyeti Qazi

Friedrich-Alexander University 'FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Australian National University; anberra, Australia

Mahima Pandey

University of Bristol, Bristol, England

Vani Srinivasan

Riya Vats

Ludwig Maximilian University 'LMU), Munich, Germany

University of Leeds, Leeds, England

Lovlesh Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg, Germany Mohit Araa Avneesh Bishnoi

Jiwaji University 'JU), India

Rajasthan University 'RU), India

86

HALL OF FAME 2020-2021 NAME

Jaanvi*, Neha*, Shubhangi*, Srashti**, Aastha**, Subiksha**

Riya Sharma**

Shubhangi*, Vishnu Narayanan*, Devika*

Abhimanyu Madhusudanan**

Diva Singh*

Neha*, Jaanvi*

Cheshte*, Neha*, Sonali Kumari*, Athrav*

Jayanti Chhillar*

Shristika Konwar*

NAME OF COMPETITION

Tug of war, Group

'Bol dil se' a monologue event, Individual

Treasure Hunt, Group

1. Quick Pick - Photography competition, Individual 2. Brain Fury - Zoology Quiz, Individual

Group Stage and Street Play Competitions

NAME OF ORGANISING INSTITUTION

Sri Venkateswara College

Annual folk dance competitions, Group

Western group dance competitions (Stage and Street)

First and Cash Prize

Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Online

Sri Venkateswara College

Third

Second and Cash Prize

1. Kirori Mal College 2. Sri Venkateswara College, Online

First First

1. Maitreyi College 2. Swami Shraddhanan 3. St. Stephen's College College 4. ARSD 5. Satyawati College

Second Second Third Second First

Sri Venkateswara College

First

Dumb Charades, Group

Mindspar 3.0, Group

PRIZE/POSITION

Sri Venkateswara College; Online

Selected in Top 12

1. Swami shraddhanand 2. Ram Lal anand 3. Deshbandhu 4. Janki Devi memorial

5. ISOMES 6. Janki Devi memorial, Online 7. JMC, Online 8. SRCC, Online

First Second Second Third

Third Second Third Third

1. IIT,DELHI 2. JMC 3. LSR 4. IGDTUW 5. IIT, DELHI

6. AIIMS 7. PGDAV 8. Hansraj 9. Gargi 10. SPM

First First First First First

Second Second Second Third Third

*SBS, **TBS Photograph by Abhimanyu Madhusudanan, TBS

87

THE TALES OF

L MLO & NO

by Shubhangi Antil, SBS

88

89

CORE TEAM

APARNA PILLAI Editor-in-chief

PARULDEV HUIDROM Editor

AAKRITI SINGH

ANSHU KUMARI

SHUBHANGI ANTIL

ABHIMANYU MADHUSUDANAN

Creative Head

Editor

Creative Head

Photographer

90

CREATIVE TEAM

ESHITA JAIN Member

SANIDHYA JAGDISH

91

Member

SAKSHI YADAV Member

SHRISTIKA KONWAR Member

NEHA GULIYA Member

SONALI KUMARI Member

101 GNITEEM ENILNO P.S. This magazine is brought to you b y c o u n t l e s s G o o g l e M e e t c a l l s . 92

REFERENCES Neuroscience section 1. Delve into your brain: The mysteries in neuroanatomy and neurosciences Jason Daley, “Meet the Rosehip Neuron: A Newly Discovered Cell in the Human Brain,” Smithsonian Magazine, accessed February 6, 2021, https:// www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-rosehip-neuron-newestcell-human-brain-180970152/. “Renowned Elsevier Author and Editor Details Discovery of Brain Region | SciTech Connect,” accessed February 6, 2021, http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/renowned-elsevier-author-and-editor-details-discovery/ 2. Mindfulness - a supra-cognitive state of consciousness Burgstahler, M. S., & Stenson, M. C. (2020). Effects of guided mindfulness meditation on anxiety and stress in a pre-healthcare college student population: a pilot study. Journal of American college health : J of ACH, 68(6), 666–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2019.1590371 Tolle, E. (2001). The Power of Now. Yogi Impressions (IBD) Mindful Staff (2019, January11). Jon Kabat-Zinn. Defining Mindfulness. https://www.mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-defining-mindfulness/ Amy Leonard ( Jul 31 2020).Root to Rise: Following the History of Mindfulness Back to its Source. https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/history-of-mindfulness 3. The Reality of Virtual Reality Bardi, J. (2020, September 21). What is virtual reality? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.marxentlabs.com/what-is-virtual-reality/ Guillette, S. (2019, December 03). Virtual reality changes your brain. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://www.verizon.com/about/ our-company/fourth-industrial-revolution/virtual-reality-changes-your-brain NIH. (2017, May 16). What is Alzheimer’s disease? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-alzheimers-disease Virtual reality maze ‘predicts alzheimer’s disease’. (2015, October 23). Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/ health-34607267 Zeng, N., Pope, Z., Lee, J., & Gao, Z. (2018, March 4). Virtual reality exercise for anxiety and depression: A preliminary review of current research in an emerging field. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5867568/#B6-jcm-07-0004 Flavia. (2020, August 14). Virtual reality to treat depression. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://psious.com/virtual-reality-to-treat-depression/ Zanier, E., Zoerle, T., Di Lernia, D., & Riva, G. (2018, May 16). Virtual reality for traumatic brain injury. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5964310/ 4. Is ‘The Mind’ and ‘The Brain’ a single entity? Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 4). Mind. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind Wikipedia contributors. (2021b, April 5). Mind–body problem. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_problem 5. Neuroethology Zupanc, G. K. H. (2010, October 12). Neuroethology - Scholarpedia. Neuroethology. http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neuroethology Neuroethology of Toads. (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B65C3A7110CFAD2 Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. (n.d.). What Is Neuroethology. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-neuroethology-definition-examples.html 6. The Art of Subtle Manipulation: Chess Unterrainer JM, Kaller CP, Halsband U, Rahm B. Planning abilities and chess: a comparison of chess and non-chess players on the Tower of London task. Br J Psychol. 2006 Aug;97(Pt 3):299-311. doi: 10.1348/000712605X71407. PMID: 16848944. Aciego R, García L, Betancort M. The benefits of chess for the intellectual and social-emotional enrichment in schoolchildren. Span J Psychol. 2012 Jul;15(2):551-9. doi: 10.5209/rev_sjop.2012.v15.n2.38866. PMID: 22774429. Gao Q, Chen W, Wang Z, Lin D. Secret of the Masters: Young Chess Players Show Advanced Visual Perspective Taking. Front Psychol. 2019;10:2407. Published 2019 Oct 24. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02407 Fattahi F, Geshani A, Jafari Z, Jalaie S, Salman Mahini M. Auditory memory function in expert chess players. Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2015;29:275. Published 2015 Oct 6 Sala G, Gobet F. Does Far Transfer Exist? Negative Evidence From Chess, Music, and Working Memory Training. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2017;26(6):515-520. doi:10.1177/0963721417712760

93

7. The fame of Coca Cola drink - Insights on neuromarketing strategies Morin, Christophe. (2011). Neuromarketing: The New Science of Consumer Behavior. Society. 48. 131-135. 10.1007/s12115-010-9408-1 Kumar, Sunita. (2015). Neuromarketing: The New Science of Advertising. Universal Journal of Management. 3. 524-531. 10.13189/ujm.2015.031208. McClure, S. M., Li, J., Tomlin, D., Cypert, K. S., Montague, L. M., & Montague, P. R. (2004). Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. Neuron, 44(2), 379–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. neuron.2004.09.01 Avinash, Tandle & Lal, Dikshant & Seema, Shah. (2018). Methods of Neuromarketing and Implication of the Frontal Theta Asymmetry induced due to musical stimulus as choice modeling. Procedia Computer Science. 132. 55-67. 10.1016/j.procs.2018.05.059. Renvoise, P. (2007). Neuromarketing: Understanding the Buy Buttons in Your Customer’s Brain (Rev. and Updated ed.). Thomas Nelson Inc. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-3-neuromarketing-principles-can-supercharge-your-reed 8. Blinding Affairs Berridge, K. C. (2009). Wanting and liking: Observations from the neuroscience and psychology laboratory. Inquiry, 52(4), 378-398. Block, N. (2007). Consciousness, accessibility, and the mesh between psychology and neuroscience. Behavioral and brain sciences, 30(5-6), 481. De Jong, H. L. (2002). Levels of explanation in biological psychology. Philosophical Psychology, 15(4), 441-462. Marshall, P. J. (2009). Relating Psychology and Neuroscience: Taking Up the Challenges. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(2), 113–125 Miller, G. A., & Keller, J. (2000). Psychology and Neuroscience: Making Peace. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(6), 212–215. Ochsner, K. N., & Lieberman, M. D. (2001). The emergence of social cognitive neuroscience. American Psychologist, 56(9), 717–734 Passer, M. W., Smith, R. E., Atkinson, M. L., & Mitchell, J. B. (2017). Psychology: Frontiers and applications. Sciolino, N. (2011, December). Brain-centric: A role for neuroscience in psychology. Psychological Science Agenda. http://www.apa.org/science/ about/psa/2011/12/neuroscience The Matter of the Mind: Philosophical Essays on Psychology, Neuroscience and Reduction. (2012). United Kingdom: Wiley. Tommerdahl, J. (2010). A model for bridging the gap between neuroscience and education. Oxford Review of education, 36(1), 97-109. 9. Our Hard-working Brain seeks for the paycheck of Happiness Nield, D., Seo, H., Cerf, E., Cataneo/Undark, E., Cerf, E., Montanari, S., Amir, N., Reisman, L. D. A. H., Verger, R., Blue, V., Horaczek, S., Horaczek, S., Seo, H., Wood, C., Rao, R., Sapunar, L., Levasseur, J., Bajuelo, N., Nield, D., . . . Gourgey, B. (2021, March 31). Homepage. Popular Science. https:// www.popsci.com/ Home. (2021b, April 8). World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int BrainFacts. (n.d.). Brainfacts. https://www.brainfacts.org/ Healthline. (2021b, April 8) https://www.healthline.com/ 10. Psychological benefits of gardening How plants improve your mental and physical health. (2019, April 5). Hillside Atlanta. https://hside.org/plants-improve-mental-physical-health/ 11. Insights on neuroplasticity Balakrishnan, R. (2001). Learning from a sea snail: Eric kandel. Resonance, 6(6), 86–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02907370 Dayan, E., & Cohen, L. G. (2011). Neuroplasticity subserving motor skill learning. Neuron, 72(3), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.10.008 Demarin, V., Morović, S., & Béné, R. (2014). Demarin. Periodicum Biologorum, 116(2), 209–211. Fuchs, E., & Flügge, G. (2014). Adult neuroplasticity: More than 40 years of research. Neural Plasticity, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/541870 Grafman, J. (2000). Conceptualizing functional neuroplasticity. Journal of Communication Disorders, 33(4), 345–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/S00219924(00)00030-7 Insights | p e r s p e c t i v e s. (2015). 129, 2015–2017. Oltea Joja, D. (2013). Learning Experience and Neuroplasticity – a Shifting Paradigm. Sagi, Y., Tavor, I., Hofstetter, S., Tzur-Moryosef, S., Blumenfeld-Katzir, T., & Assaf, Y. (2012). Learning in the Fast Lane: New Insights into Neuroplasticity. Neuron, 73(6), 1195–1203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.01.025 Valkanova, V., Eguia Rodriguez, R., & Ebmeier, K. P. (2014). Mind over matter - What do we know about neuroplasticity in adults? International Psychogeriatrics, 26(6), 891–909. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610213002482 Vance, D. E., & Crowe, M. (2006). A proposed model of neuroplasticity

and cognitive reserve in older adults. Activities, Adaptation and Aging, 30(3), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1300/J016v30n03_04 Also you can check out these amazing videosConversations in Science with Dan Rather and Eric Kandel - YouTube After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TEDxVancouver - YouTube 12. Negative effects of Internet on our Brain’s memorising capacity IRE Journals | Volume 3 Issue 10 on ‘Internet Affect: Google Search Affecting Our Intelligence’ by MRIDUL KODOLIKAR 1 and PRATHAMESH CHIPADE2 1, AIMS Institute of Management Studies, Pune A Different Version. (2019, July 25). A Different Version | Money Making, Technology, Health, Fact. https://www.adifferentversion.com/ The Most In-Demand Online Colleges. (2019, December 19). OnlineCollege.Org. https://www.onlinecollege.org/ The Shallows- What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brain – By Nicholas Carr ‘Eye-Opening and Optimistic’ The Economist, Books of The Year – By Clive Thompson. The “Online Brain”: How The Internet May Be Changing Our Cognition –By Joseph Firth, John Torous, Brendon Stubbs, Josh A. Firth, Genevieve Z. Steiner, Lee Smith, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez, Christopher J. Armitage, Jeromi Sarris [6] The research, conducted by psychologists of Columbia and Harvard Universities Mental Health Section 1. Decoding Depression Anisman, H. H. (2018). Chapter 8- Depressive Disorders. In S. H. Hymie Anisman, The Immune System and Mental Health (pp. 259-308). The Academic Press. Harvard Health. (n.d.). Depression. Retrieved January 2021, from Harvard

Health Publishing- Harvard health School: https://www.health.harvard. edu/topics/depression Wright, R. (2020, November 26). Our brains explain the season’s sadness. Retrieved January 2021, from The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker. com/news/our-columnists/our-brains-explain-the-seasons-sadness Lieb, R., Bronisch, T., Höfler, M., Schreier, A., & Wittchen, H. U. (2005). Maternal suicidality and risk of suicidality in offspring: findings from a community study. The American journal of psychiatry, 162(9), 1665–1671. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.9.1665 2. Repeat after me : “Mental Health is potent” American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn (text revision). Barlow, DH (2007) Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders. New York: The Guilford Press. Bienvenu OJ, Wuyek LA, Stein MB. Anxiety disorders diagnosis: some history and controversies. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2010;2:3-19. Boyd JH, Crump T. Westphal’s agoraphobia. J Anx Disord. 1991;5(1):77-86. 3.Sanitize your Brain Cohen, M. A. (2018, July 10). Creativity and Recovery: The Mental Health Benefits of Art Therapy. Retrieved January 2021, from rtor.org: https:// www.rtor.org/2018/07/10/benefits-of-art-therapy/ Martin, B. H. (2020, June 9). Brain research shows the arts promote mental health. Retrieved January 2021, from The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/amp/brain-research-shows-the-arts-promote-mentalhealth-136668 Mental Health Foundation. (2019, June 25). How arts can help improve your mental health. Retrieved January 2021, from Mental Health Foundation: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/blog/how-arts-can-help-improveyour-mental-health Stuckey, H. &. (2010). The connection between art, healing,and public health: a review of current literature. American journal of public health , 254-263. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497

ABOUT THE BACKCOVER Cover design - Aakriti Singh, TBS A human being is the amalgamatio n of all the experiences and knowledge gained during the cou rse of his lifetime. The small snippets of such experiences sha pe the mind, the brain and the self. As the years go by, the min d continues to evolve and become more complex. This is the very idea that the cover represents. by Anshu Kumari, TBS

94

© Department of Biological Science