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152 || AWSAR Awarded Popular Science Stories - 2019
education. I had prepared myself for a life in a hostel continues my education. After two years, I was very excited at the prospect of meeting kaki and my family on my return home. I preferred to meet kaki before meeting with my parents and rushed to her house. It came to me as a surprise when Kaki repeatedly asked my name and did not recognize me. I retreated to my parent’s house with tears in my eyes. My parents pacified and informed me that kaki was unable recognize anybody in the neighborhood now. I wondered what had happened to her and why she failed to recognize me.
This prompted me to join M.Tech. In Cognitive and Neurosciences at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. During my master’s, while studying brain and behavior, I understood that kaki was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In my fourth year of the course, my parents informed me over the phone that kaki had passed away. I could
not stop myself and visited
my village to attend kaki’s
funeral. Apart from this grief
and sorrow, the question that
why the disease happened to
kaki continued to disturb me. I
was inquisitive to understand
the mechanism of AD. During
my six-month internship at
National Brain Research Centre
situated in Manesar in Haryana,
I realized that a lot more
research needs to be done to
have a better understanding
of this disease. I finished my
internship and continuously
sought opportunities to contribute towards research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease.
Subsequently, I joined a neuroimaging project on Alzheimer’s disease at National Institute of Mental Health of Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, where I got a chance
to study structure of brain using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), function of brain using resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI). During this project, my job was to recruit the patients who suffered from forgetfulness from Geriatric Clinic and Services, NIMHANS. I gradually started interviewing these patients and developed deep empathy towards them. I also started noticing “kaki” in everyone who visited the clinic with complaints of forgetfulness. During these interactions and after in-depth study of AD, I became aware that various co-exiting factors, such as reduced brain volumes, altered metabolism, genetic makeup, co-morbid medical illness, diet, sleep, regular physical and mental exercises, education and occupational attainment, play an important role in variable expression and progression of this disease. A transitional phase also exists between healthy ageing and AD called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which
does not interfere with activities of daily life, but the cognitive decline reported is more than expected for the individual’s age and educational level.
Structurally, the patients with mild AD showed volumetric reductions in those regions of the brain, which are involved in memory, attention and concentration in comparison to healthy elderly participants. Patients with mild AD also showed reduced brain volumes in regions responsible for memory in comparison to MCI. We have also reported
differential functional connectivity within and between resting state networks in patients with MCI and mild AD using rsfMRI. These results gave us insights about functional and neuronal processes happening during rest in patients with MCI and mild AD. However, the
   I joined a neuroimaging project on Alzheimer’s disease at National Institute of Mental Health of Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, where I got a chance to study structure of brain using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), function of brain using resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI).
  








































































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