Neurologist seeks reduction in mental health

The Director, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Adefolarin Malomo, has reiterated the need to identify the link between the mind and the brain to reduce mental health complications.

Malomo said this at a two-day maiden scientific conference organised by the institute in partnership with the College of Medicine and the Department of Philosophy, UI, on Thursday in Ibadan.

Our correspondent reports that the theme of the conference was: “Interrogating the Question of Reality (Mind and /or Matter).”

Malomo said that the conference was organised for scholars from multiple disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, religion and others to discuss the relationship between the mind and the brain.

He noted that if the link between mind and matter, mind and brain was properly identified, it would improve how to use one for the other.

This, he said, would definitely reduce the mental complications or even prior mental weakness which would make the healing of a patient to be comprehensive.

“When patients come to the hospital, we use drugs for mental diseases and sometimes we use counseling – psychotherapy for physical diseases and there are complications.

“Apart from that, when we know the relationship between the mind and the brain, we might not only help with education but with innovation and even technology.

“This conference, therefore, brings together people from all kinds of disciples, we have an expert to speak on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the mind, a priest to speak on spiritual angle on the link between mind, soul and spirit, a philosopher and experts from other disciplines.

“Although these issues are not new, there are questions on it that are not yet answered anywhere in the world,” he said.

Malomo noted that there had been unwarranted skepticism about Nigeria’s belief in spirit, soul, mind and spirituality as a whole.

“We should identify what works and what does not work, not based on our individual thinking but based on the current understanding in the world to guide if it works, to what extent, how can it be harmful, were there other things, was it enough, does it need to be supplemented.

“We are not discussing about God, we are just researching how the physical, the mental and the spiritual are being linked together. So, it is not for medicine alone but for both academic and medical, technology and family life.

“Neuroscience deals with the physics of the body, physiology of the body and metaphysics, mind is a metaphysical concept, brain is a physical concept and they meet, how do to they meet and interact, what does brain and mind mean, these are the kind of issues that the conference seeks to solve,” he said.

It was reported that the conference featured paper presentations on the link between music and mental health, demons and diseases, Ontology of neuroscience, neuroscience and social anthropology, among others.