S. T. Narasimhan (19131959) was an Indian

electrophysiologist Electrophysiology (from Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" ; and ) is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage changes or electric current or m ...

. He started the first

Electroencephalography Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignal, bio signals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in ...

(EEG) laboratory in India at Madras (now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

) in 1950. He was best known for collaborative works with neurologists

Jacob Chandy Jacob Chandy (23 January 1910 – 23 June 2007) was an Indian neurosurgeon and teacher of medical sciences. As the first neurosurgeon in India, he is widely regarded as the father of modern neurosurgery in India. In 1964, the Government of India ...

Balasubramaniam Ramamurthi Ramamurthi Balasubramaniam (30 January 1922 – 13 December 2003) was an Indian neurosurgeon, author, editor, a pioneer in neurosurgery in India and often recognized as the Father of Neurosurgery of India. He set up the Department of Neurosurger ...

and

Baldev Singh Baldev Singh (,) (11 July 1902 – 29 June 1961) was an Indian Sikh political leader, he was an Indian independence movement leader and the first Defence Minister of India. Moreover, he represented the Punjabi Sikh community in the processes o ...

and together they have been credited to be pioneers in development of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

surgery in India. They also helped in establishing the

Neurological Society of India Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the s ...

in 1951 at Madras.

Life

Not much is known about the life of Narasimhan; but Balasubramaniam Ramamurthi's biography ''Uphill All The Way'' gives some details. Narasimhan was born in 1913, and around 1945 he sold his medical practice in India so he could go to the United States of America to further his studies. He was a General Surgeon and at the

Neurological Institute of New York The Neurological Institute of New York, is an American hospital research center located at 710 West 168th Street at the corner of Fort Washington Avenue in the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center in the Washingto ...

he trained in neurology and neurosurgery. He returned to India in 1948 and started his private practice setting up a neurosurgical nursing home and EEG laboratory and stayed in the residential areas of

Kilpauk Kilpauk is a semi residential area located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The distance from Chennai's city to Kilpauk is about 6 km. The region is situated off the Poonamallee High Road in the west. Adjacent areas of Kilpauk include Chet ...

. Dr. Balasubramaniam had set up the Department of Neurosurgery at the

Government General Hospital, Chennai Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital is a major state-owned hospital situated in Chennai, India. The hospital is funded and managed by the state government of Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1664 by the British East India Company, it is the first mode ...

in 1950 and Narasimhan joined him as an honorary assistant surgeon. During the pioneering days, X-rays and EEG were used in diagnosis as angiography was not yet available in India. During the neurosurgical procedures that Balasubramaniam under took, Narasimhan assisted him in EEG service and in later patient care. Narasimhan earned around for each procedure from the then

Government of Madras A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a mea ...

. In 1951, Singh, Chandy, Ramamurthi and Narasimhan established the Neurological Society of India and together find credit as pioneers of epilepsy surgery in India. In 1959, Narasimhan became the Honorary Professor of

. The same year, he died at an early age of 46 at

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

of unknown reasons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narasimhan, S. T. 1913 births 1959 deaths Electrophysiologists Medical doctors from Chennai Indian neurosurgeons 20th-century Indian medical doctors 20th-century Indian surgeons