How the Society was founded
The Cognitive Neuroscience Society of India was formed by clinicians, scientists and engineers who held that the brain and the mind can only be understood together. It was registered in Bengaluru in 2015 and inaugurated at NIMHANS on 21 June 2015.
Why a society for brain and mind
In his message in the Inaugural Souvenir, Founder President Prof. C.R. Mukundan described cognitive neuroscience as the pursuit of understanding how mental processing emerges from the biological substrate of the brain. Attending to sensory input and retrieved information, recognising it, acting on it, and interpreting all of this under the influence of emotional arousal are the processes the Society set out to study.
These questions cross many disciplines, and the founders held that only integrated, multidisciplinary work could make real progress. The Society was their answer: one place where neurophysiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, pharmacologists, speech and language scientists and engineers could share their work, and open the same pursuit to students entering the field.
The message also looked ahead to a Society website and a new journal through which members would share their work with others.
“We have no doubt that the mind or mental processing capabilities have emerged from the limited neural cells of the brain, but what can be mentally created is infinite!”
Registration and founding documents
- Act
- Registered in Bengaluru in 2015 under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960 (Karnataka Act 17 of 1960).
- Registration number
- JNR S474-2014-15/JNRS21
- Registered office
- 85-13, 4th Cross, Bhavani Layout, Christ School Road, Off Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru 560029, Karnataka.
- Memorandum of Society
- Sets out the objectives, and provides that any profits are used to improve the functioning of the Society and are never distributed among its members. The objectives.
- Bye-laws
- Govern membership, office bearers, meetings, elections and accounts, and extend the Society’s activities to the whole of India. How the Society is run.
- First office bearers
- Prof. C.R. Mukundan as President and Dr John P. John as General Secretary, with sixteen other members of the first Executive Committee.
The inaugural meeting, 21 June 2015
The Society was inaugurated at NIMHANS, Bengaluru, on 21 June 2015. The chief guest, Prof. P. Satishchandra, Director and Vice-Chancellor of NIMHANS, lit the lamp and gave the inaugural address, and Prof. G.N.N. Reddy, former Director of NIMHANS, released the Inaugural Souvenir and Abstracts.
The rest of the day was given to talks that showed the breadth of the new Society, from Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of mind to glial cells, evolutionary psychology, blood pressure and cognition, hypnosis, meditation, language and cognitive reserve.
Programme
9:00 am
Welcome address
Dr John P. John, General Secretary
9:05 am
Introduction of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society of India
Prof. C.R. Mukundan, President
9:20 am
Lighting of the lamp and inaugural address
Prof. P. Satishchandra, Director and Vice-Chancellor, NIMHANS, chief guest
9:40 am
Release of the souvenir
Prof. G.N.N. Reddy, former Director, NIMHANS
10:15 am
Mind in the perspectives of Sri Aurobindo
Prof. G.N.N. Reddy, former Director, NIMHANS
10:40 am
From consciousness to Savitri: demystifying Sri Aurobindo
Prof. T. Ramakrishna, Professor Emeritus, University of Calicut
11:05 am
Brain to mind and mind to brain
Prof. C.R. Mukundan, Institute of Behavioural Science, GFSU
11:30 am
Can glial cells also make you clever?
Prof. T.R. Raju, NIMHANS
11:55 am
Consciousness and self
Prof. Sangeetha Menon, NIAS, Bengaluru
12:15 pm
A case for evolutionary psychology
Prof. Unnikrishnan M., Manipal University
12:35 pm
Low blood pressure and cognitive function
Dr Prabha Adhikari, KMC, Manipal
2:00 pm
Hypnotic alteration of brain functions
Dr Priyanka Kacker, Institute of Behavioural Science, GFSU
2:15 pm
Meditation, neurogenesis and positive cognitive development
Dr Kiranmai S. Rai, KMC, Manipal
2:30 pm
The linguistic interface of the cognitive brain
Dr Gopee Krishnan, Manipal University
2:45 pm
Brain and cognitive reserve
Dr Bindu M. Kutty, NIMHANS
3:00 pm
Vote of thanks
Dr Keshav Kumar, NIMHANS
Founding Executive Committee, 2015
Eighteen members from eight institutions, as recorded in the Inaugural Souvenir of 21 June 2015. Designations and institutions are as listed at the time.
| No. | Member | Speciality and designation | Institution | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. Mukundan C.R. | Neuropsychology, Professor Emeritus | IBS, GFSU, Gandhinagar | President |
| 2 | Dr. John P. John | Psychiatry, Additional Professor | NIMHANS, Bengaluru | General Secretary |
| 3 | Dr. Alex Johnson | Neuropsychology, Associate Professor | KMC, Manipal University | Executive Secretary |
| 4 | Dr. Roopesh B.N. | Child Neuropsychology, Assistant Professor | NIMHANS, Bengaluru | Executive Secretary |
| 5 | Dr. Keshav Kumar | Neuropsychology, Additional Professor | NIMHANS, Bengaluru | Treasurer |
| 6 | Dr. Radhakrishnan K. | Neurology, Professor | KMC, Manipal University | EC Member |
| 7 | Dr. Bindu M. Kutty | Neurophysiology, Professor | NIMHANS, Bengaluru | EC Member |
| 8 | Dr. Rajashekhar B. | Audiology and Language, Dean and Professor | KMC, Manipal University | EC Member |
| 9 | Dr. Indramani Singh | Neuropsychology, Professor and Director | CSL, BHU, Varanasi | EC Member |
| 10 | Dr. Prabha Adhikari | Medicine, Professor | KMC, Manipal University | EC Member |
| 11 | Dr. Harsha Halahalli | Neurophysiology, Professor | KSHEMA, Nitte University, Mangaluru | EC Member |
| 12 | Dr. Unnikrishnan M. | Psychopharmacology, Professor | KMC, Manipal University | EC Member |
| 13 | Dr. Kiranmai S. Rai | Neurophysiology, Professor | KMC, Manipal University | EC Member |
| 14 | Dr. Ashima Nehra | Neuropsychology, Associate Professor | AIIMS, New Delhi | EC Member |
| 15 | Dr. Suvarna Alladi | Neurology, Additional Professor | NIMS, Hyderabad | EC Member |
| 16 | Dr. Priyanka Kacker | Neuropsychology, Assistant Professor | IBS, GFSU, Gandhinagar | EC Member |
| 17 | Dr. Gopee Krishnan | Speech–Language, Associate Professor | SAHS, Manipal University | EC Member |
| 18 | Mr. Chetan S. Mukundan | Director | Axxonet System Technologies, Bengaluru | EC Member |
Since the founding
-
4–5 April 2016
1st National Conference of CNSI
“Envisioning the BrainMind: A Multidisciplinary Approach”, at the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar.
-
January – August 2017
Cognitive Neuroscience Forums
Seven evening lectures at NIMHANS, Bengaluru.
-
19 January 2018
Cognitive Confluence Symposium 01
Current Approaches in EEG Analysis, the first symposium of the CNSI–NIMHANS lecture series.
-
August 2018
Understanding Cognition from Neuro-behavioural Perspectives
A workshop at the Department of Neurophysiology, NIMHANS.
-
2018
The Founder President’s term ends
Prof. C.R. Mukundan, Founder President from 2014 to 2018, continues with the Society as Honorary President.
-
19–21 December 2019
Sleep Workshop
Three days on sleep science and its measurement at NIMHANS.
-
20–22 January 2020
CNSI-2020 International Conference
Emerging Trends in Cognitive Neuroscience, Forensics and Clinical Applications, at GFSU, Gandhinagar.