It’s because neurologist Dr Shamsher Dwivedee, Chairman at PSRI Institute of Neuro Sciences, is a good orator that a lecture on the human brain, despite liberal sprinklings of scientific jargon, held an audience of lay people with rapt attention for two hours.
This was his monthly lecture series at the India Habitat Centre (IHC), titled The Mysteries of the Brain and Mind Series, on July 2.
This time, he spoke about how medical professionals are tinkering with the nervous system and the brain, using the help of technology to cure diseases and augment functionality. ‘Neuromodulation’ as the initiated call it.
He elaborated about technical aids like cochlear implants that help the individual develop a new set of syllables over time to exactly comprehend what is being spoken to them.
So from hearing a ‘wooo’ for water, within a month they can actually progress to ‘water’. There are technologies like a pair of goggles fitted with a small camera connected to a small chip inserted on the tongue, which in turn is connected to the optic nerve of the blind person.
Every time he senses an object in front of him, he’ll experience a tingling metallic taste. Another technology that involves wearing a ‘watch-like’ device on your wrist, will enable your ‘skin’ to bombard you with news items in a way your intuition is activated.
“Like while driving, you see clouds gathering overheard and somehow know it’s going to rain even before tuning into the weather report,” said Dr Dwivedee, at the lecture.
“Your skin will develop the art of hearing.”
In between, the concept of aches and pains were also treaded upon. Right from phantom pain to diseases that don’t give you the sensation of pain – “like if you put a pencil in the eye they won’t feel the pain” – as quipped by an enthusiastic audience member, were discussed.
This peppered with juicy anecdotes like how Sigmund Freud, as a neurologist before choosing psychology, in one of his experiments encouraged his friend’s cocaine addiction to study the drug’s pain relieving properties.
“In another 25 years, at this rate, [living for] 125 years would be achievable,” concluded Dr Dwivedee.
Getting attention
The lecture was peppered with juicy ancedotes like how before he chose to become a psychologist, Sigmund Freud, encouraged his friend’s cocain addiction as part of a study his was conducting on the drug’s pain relieving properties