Kasturirangan calls for greater research in cognitive science

Bangalore, Dec 16 (UNI) Describing Cognitive Science as a bridge between biology and physics on the one hand and psychology and social sciences on the other, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) Director K Kasturirangan today gave a call for treating the discipline as a major area of research in the country.

Delivering the 11th convocation address of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) here, he said that as India could not offord to miss the cognitive revolution being witnessed across the world, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and NIAS have taken the initiative to chalk out directions for research in this discipline.

They have identified four thrust areas for development -- Foundations of Cognitive Science from the point of view of Indian traditions, Language and Cognition, Computational Intelligence, and Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. It was also decided to encourage collaborative research within and across institutions.

Dr Kasturirangan said cognitive science was the application of computational models to mental and neural processes with the underlying scientific intuition that the mind and the brain were information processing systems. Certain neurons in the visual system have a 'centre-surround' receptive field related to their function in visul perception. The goal of scientific inquiry was to model the information processing taking place in a neural circuit.

Using computational models, cognitive scientists have been successful in modelling such diverse systems as language and vision in humans to eye tracking in goldfish.

The fundamental contribution of cognitive science to biology in general and neuroscience in particular was the realisation that brain processes could be modelled fruitfully in terms of information processing rather than as purely physical processes.

Cognitive science promised tremendous benefits in the realms of mental health, social engineering, education and computer technology, he further added.

''Cognitive science brings its own fresh perspective to ancient problems, both theoretical and therapeutic, which is why India needs to invest in this domain,'' he added.

Terming neuroscience as a multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional subject, the former ISRO chief called upon the young graduates to engage themselves in constantly updating new developments in each of the component disciplines.

Earlier, over 64 candidates were conferred degrees, including 33 in-absentia, and awards and medals were presented to eleven candidates for their excellent performances.

UNI MV GD DKA KN2114