IIT Madras 1972 batch to sponsor creation of Parkinson’s Therapeutics Lab

The lab will be a boost to researchers at the Institute Biotechnology Departments’ Laboratory for Computational Neuroscience to develop a computational model of a brain region called basal ganglia where the loss of cells leads to Parkinson’s disease. 

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Class of 1972 is sponsoring the creation of ‘Parkinson’s Therapeutics Lab’ in the Institute to boost efforts towards treating Parkinson’s Disease. 

INR 50 lakh for scholarship fund

The batch has also donated INR 50 lakh towards scholarship fund of IIT Madras. Both these initiatives were to mark the occasion of their Golden Jubilee Reunion. This lab will be a major boost to researchers at the Institute Biotechnology Departments’ Laboratory for Computational Neuroscience (CNS Lab) to develop a computational model of a brain region called ‘Basal Ganglia’ (BG) where the loss of cells leads to Parkinson’s disease. 

The BG system plays vital and diverse roles in all major domains of brain function such as sensory-motor, cognitive, affective and autonomous. The CNS Lab is involved in developing systems-level models of various crucial brain systems. The ultimate goal of the CNS Lab is to create a whole brain model and use it to develop model-based therapeutics for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and other brain disorders. 

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement, often including tremors and/or rigidity of joints. Although Parkinson's disease cannot be cured, medications might significantly improve a patient's condition. The project will be managed by Prof V Srinivasa Chakravarthy, Faculty, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, who heads the CNS Lab at Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras. 

Prof Chakravarthy said, “Researchers have proposed different computational models for different functions of the basal ganglia but there is no consensus among the models. Taking an important departure from the classical, textbook description of the functional anatomy of BG, CNS Lab was able to model a wide range of motor functions and some cognitive functions of BG.” 
Read more: 

• 30% of registered JEE Main 2023 candidates are females 
• SEED 2023 results declared at sid.edu.in 
• JEE Main 2023 Session 1 begins tomorrow, check exam instructions, other details here