The study of human cognition includes aspects of thinking, memory, decision-making, learning, problem-solving, as well as other basic and executive functions. Such research can include experiments with the general population, to understand how such cognitive functions operate, as well as with clinical samples, to understand how disruptions in normal cognition can facilitate our understanding of the same.

Children with developmental disabilities including Cerebral Palsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder frequently have speech impairments. Based on the 2011 census, there are around 1.9 million individuals with speech disability in India, of which around 80% completely lack speech or have unintelligible speech. Lack of a functional mode of communication can impede children’s overall social communication, emotional, and cognitive development.

Cortical visual impairment (CVI) is defined as visual impairment due to damage to either the visual pathways or the visual centers of the brain. CVI is commonly associated with prematurity as well as insult to the developing brain at the time of birth or even thereafter. It is in fact an emerging cause of visual impairment among children in developed and developing countries.

The Jaipur Foot, developed by R.C. Sharma and Dr. P.K. Sethiat Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Jaipur in 1968, has benefitted over half million lower-limb amputees around the world. The process relies on low-cost materials and manual skills, and has remained relatively unchanged over the last five decades.

Heart and lung diseases have become the top causes of death in India, and require effective auscultation (listening to chest sounds) for correct diagnosis. Conventional stethoscopes used by doctors require considerable training and concentration to identify the relevant sound patterns, especially in noisy environment.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have developed a new life-saving device that can detect heart attacks early on using a smartphone. The innovative sensor, conceptualised by students Debasmita Mondal and Sourabh Agrawal, and guided by Prof. Soumyo Mukherji, won the recently presented 2018 Gandhian Young Technological Innovation award recently.

The fact that Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes the deadly tuberculosis, has developed resistance to most of the antibiotics we have today, is not news anymore. Many bacteria are developing resistance to common antibiotics faster than the number of effective drugs being discovered to fight them. The need of the hour is not just a “new” drug, but possibly a new method of treatment that can fight drug resistant bacteria. Now, a study by Prof.

IITB has developed a potentially minimally invasive cartilage regeneration technique which could be a painless, inexpensive, and non-toxic method to cure osteoarthritis.

“Can we get a 3D model from 2D X-ray images of a bone from a patient’s body?” asked a top surgeon from Hinduja hospital, who wanted an alternative to the current practice. The OrthoCAD lab’s software can do this within a minute, with atmost two X-ray images.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a transparent sunscreen lotion and yet protect your skin from harmful UV ? Engineered nanoparticles can now provide the right kind of mask.