Autar Singh Paintal (24 September 1925 – 21 December 2004) was an Indian

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

who made pioneering discoveries in the area of

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

s and respiratory sciences. He is the first Indian Physiologist to become the Fellow of the Royal Society, London. His major contribution to the world of science is the development of a single-fiber technique for recording afferent impulses from individual sensory receptors. Paintal discovered several sensory receptors including atrial B receptors, pulmonary J-receptors, ventricular pressure receptors, stomach stretch receptors, and muscle pain receptors. They have set the beginning of new era in physiological understanding.

Early and personal life

Autar Singh Paintal was born on September 24, 1925 to a Punjabi

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family in

Mogok Mogok (, ; Shan language, Shan: , ) is a town of around 90,000 people in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo, Sagaing, Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to be founded in ...

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

(now

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

) to Man Singh and Rajwans Kaur. His father was born in the small village of Pandori in

Amritsar district Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most ...

, but left for Burma in 1903 at 7 years old, moving in with his paternal uncle Sundar Singh there after most of his family in Punjab died in a

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

epidemic. Man Singh followed in Sundar Singh's footsteps by becoming a physician after graduating from Rangoon Medical College. Rajwans Kaur was the daughter of a general in the army of the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the couple had six children of which Autar was the oldest. As a boy, Autar Singh Paintal switched schools often as his parents moved, studying at St. Paul's in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

(now Yangon), followed by St. Peter's in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

, and then Kingswood in

Kalaw Kalaw (; Shan: ) is a hill town in the Shan State of Myanmar. It is the capital of Kalaw District and Kalaw Township. Overview The town was popular with the British during colonial rule. Kalaw is the main setting of the novel ''Das Herzenh ...

, before studying at Khalsa High School in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

after 1939, being sent there by his parents to live with his aunt in advance of a looming Japanese invasion. Paintal then studied at Forman Christian College before moving with his family to

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

in 1943, where he studied for the next five years at

King George's Medical University King George's Medical University is a medical university located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The medical school was raised to a university by an act passed by the government of Uttar Pradesh on 16 September 2002. It is the only governmen ...

, receiving an MD in physiology, before completing his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

under the supervision of David Whitteridge at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he studied under a

Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

. Paintal returned to India in 1953 and joined the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. He later became Director of the Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute. He was also the first Principal of

University College of Medical Sciences University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) is a public medical school, medical college in Delhi, India, affiliated with the University of Delhi. It is associated with Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, which serves as the teaching hospital. History ...

, Delhi. Paintal subsequently was elevated to Director General of the

Indian Council of Medical Research The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world. The ICMR is funded by the Gove ...

and he was also the founder president of Society of Scientific Values. Paintal had three children by his first wife Iris Paintal. His second daughter Priti Paintal is a music composer in the UK. His second wife Dr Ashima Anand-Paintal is also a scientist.

References

External links

A.S. Paintal — a celebrated physiologist
*
Obituary from Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paintal, Autar Singh 1925 births 2004 deaths Indian physiologists Indian Sikhs Fellows of the Royal Society Academic staff of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi Alumni of the University of Edinburgh King George's Medical University alumni University of Lucknow alumni TWAS fellows Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in medicine