Neuroscience: A branch of biology

When I look 11 years back, I did not know a thing about neuroscience. To be honest, I did not even know that there is a branch in biology called neuroscience and here I am today, a neuroscientist by training. Following a regular pattern back in Nepal, I wanted to be a medical doctor but was I interested?? Absolutely not!!!

The thing that always intrigued me was “why”, “how” and “when” about the human body, but I did not know how to channelize into my career. Along with that, let’s not forget that I was being scrutinized even by my teachers on if I can pursue the career of my dream. Why? Because of the way I look or to be exact, I am a woman ?. Did that bother me, not at all, because I had a village behind me, my friends, some of my fierce teachers, and my family who encouraged me to do what I enjoy the most?

Rat cortical neurons stained with phalloidin, obtained on Nikon(I) microscope at 40X by Dr. Namrata GR Raut

And my story started. Coming from an affluent medical background, one thing that always motivated and challenged me at the same time was the mystery of the human body.

I remember making my way to the United States to study microbiology but then the path changed. I started my research in the neuroanatomy lab as an undergraduate senior which was again new to me. It not only opened the entire horizon of research but also made me curious about neurons and the nervous system. Until then I thought the human body is a mystery but who would have guessed that the nervous system, one of the human systems is an entire universe.

 In a very basic definition, neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, which includes behavior, perception, psychology, memory along with biological attributes. Neuroscience uses the multidisciplinary approach of anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, physics, and mathematical modeling to study the different aspects of neurons, glia, brain, and other aspects of the nervous system.  As I started my graduate studies; I decipher how ignorant I was. The best thing about pursuing doctoral training is, that you are taught to say no when you don’t know something.

While writing my dissertation, I got to know there are more than 600 documented neurological disorders as per the national institutes of health (NIH). And the etiology and treatment of most of these diseases are unknown, hence the role of basic science is crucial to finding the etiology and possible treatment strategy.

Modern medicine is incorporating the proper amalgamation of medical and basic science for the proper treatment strategy and the welfare of the patients. And as I was always intrigued by neurodegenerative diseases, my doctoral work was focused on the role of protein and its effect on the onset of neurological disorders. I did have my fair amount of learning but as I said, I was more confused on the day of defense when I was titled “Dr.” ? with my more “why” and “how”!

So, it took me solid 10 years to explore and learn about neuroscience. I never stopped thinking about neuroscience in Nepal. Nepal, as a country is a work in progress.  This also set up a dream in the back of my brain of having a neuroanatomy laboratory in Nepal and hopefully, it will come into effect. But then it needs a rigorous awareness program in Nepal to educate people about neuro-disorders.

Like anywhere in the world, most neurodegenerative diseases are stigmatized as being “mentally unstable”, which is wrong on so many grounds. But then I have witnessed so many reforms and seminars on educating people about neuro-disorders. I am so proud of the achievements of the neurologist in Nepal that we have an autism and ADHD center when I went back to Nepal.

I have presented at numerous international and national conferences and was extremely honored to present at the neuroscience society of Nepal (NSN) last fall. I can’t think back and could have imagined being a neuroscientist but then there is a lot to be done in the field. The most important thing right now is to make people aware of neuro-disorders. And we can achieve this by engaging family, doctors, patients, and everyone associated.

The progress in health can be achieved by awareness and I along with some other folks in the field have initiated at the local level and hope to expand it in near future. With all this, I do feel positive about neuro health in Nepal. Also, hopefully by completing my training over here in the USA, I would be able to create some neuro forums hopefully in Nepal. As mental health started to be addressed as a health issue, hopefully in foreseeable future, we can hope for better scope not only in the brain-nervous system but also in other under-investigated systems of the human body.

(Writer Dr. Namrata GR Raut is a Post-doctoral Fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA)

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