We are a part of the Cognitive Science programme in the Dept. of Humanities & Social Studies, IIT Delhi
Our research studies the brain mechanisms that mediate self-control, i.e. how we control our movements, thoughts, and actions
We focus on one component of self-control - action-inhibition, i.e. our ability to rapidly control and stop contextually inappropriate actions
To do this we use behavioral, computational, and neuroscience methods
MFIRP grant from IIT Delhi and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Aug, 2024)
DBT Wellcome Trust India Alliance intermediate fellowship (Jan, 2024)
IIT Delhi Equipment Matching grant (Jan, 2023)
SERB startup research grant (Dec, 2022)
IIT Delhi (June, 2022)
Sumitash's new publication in Parkinsonism and Related Disorders
Menka presents the first independent research from the lab at ACCS11 @ IIT Bombay ; More details on LinkedIn
Sumitash has received funding for a collaborative project with Dr. Mati Joshua, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
PhD scholar Sarthak has joined the lab!
MSc Cognitive Science students Shreya, Akash, Rahul, Prachi, and Lalchhandama have joined the lab for their final year projects!
Sumitash has received DBT Wellcome Trust India Aliance Intermediate fellowship for real-world studies of inhibitory control IA Announcement
Sumitash completed his PhD from Aditya Murthy's lab at IISc, Bangalore where he studied the computational mechanisms that allow the flexible nature of coordinated eye-hand movements. Then he moved to Adam R. Aron's lab at the Dept. of Psychology, University of California San Diego, CA where he studied the neural mechanisms underlying action-inhibition. His current research interests involve studying the intersection between action-inhibition, mind-wandering, and meditation in healthy and clinical populations.
Besides all that he enjoys watching TV shows, creative designing, and various outdoor activities.
Anukrati completed her Master's in Applied Psychology and Bachelor's in Arts from the University of Delhi during which she developed an interest in Cognitive Psychology. She completed her MA thesis on the relationship between Self-regulation and Executive Functions of children with low SES under the supervision of Dr SPK Jena. After her post-graduation, she worked as a Research Assistant at Skeide Lab (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences). Her primary research interests lie in mind-wandering, self-control and cognitive functions.
In her free time, you will find her reading fiction, watching TV shows, trying to cook and of course, mind-wandering.
Menka completed her Bachelors and Masters in Psychology from the University of Allahabad and developed interest in neuroscience and cognition as she worked on Emotional aging during her masters and eventually joined the lab for her PhD.
She has a taste in finding rare hidden gems of songs, swimming and Kathak. You could find her laughing on lamest of jokes with tears gushing and watching Netflix like there's no tomorrow.
Sarthak completed his Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering and Masters in Psychology where he did projects such as Psychological factors contributing to obesity, The relationship between life satisfaction and depression among college going students, and, Designing a secure online voting system using blockchain. This current research interests include the effect of different modalities of exercise on response inhibition and mind wandering and optimizing human cognition through nutrition, exercise and sleep.
Hobbies outside research: powerlifting and watching sports.
Working in collaboration with Dr. Atul Gopal, NIH
Working in collaboration with Prof Don Dcruz
I am currently pursuing my master's degree in CogSci at IIT Delhi. The current project that I am working on is the study of 'The nature of agency when inhibiting actions'. In this study, we are trying to find out whether if people can have the conscious awareness of their intention to stop a prepotent motor action before its actual termination; or put more simply, whether if people can know that they are going to stop a motor action which they are anticipating to execute before the actual termination. Apart from the project we are working on, I am interested in clinical psychology, especially in the rehabilitation of children having ADHD & Autism Spectrum Disorder (Neurodevelopmental Disorders in DSM-V), Conduct Disorder & Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Disruptive, Impulse-control, & Conduct Disorders in DSM-V), i.e. disorders in which externalising problem behaviours are prominent which is partly due to a deficit in inhibitory control. Also interested in the rehabilitation of individuals with Intellectual Disability and Specific Learning Disorder (Neurodevelopmental Disorders in DSM-V). Additionally, I am interested in Personality Psychology. Interested in Cognitive Science of Memory Studies and Intelligence. Last but not the least, I am interested in Philosophy of Mind (Philosophy of Science in general) and Data Analysis.
Working in collaboration with Dr. Atul Gopal, NIH
Rahul Pachal has completed his B. Sc. Honours in Zoology from University of Calcutta. At the moment he is studying masters in Cognitive Science at IIT Delhi because he wants to turn his ideas into reality and contribute to the improvement of human lives, as the kind of academic versatility has fostered his interest in different aspects of science. His research areas cover Cognitive Neuroscience, Data and Statistical Analysis, Motor Control, Brain Computer Interfaces and Neuroprosthetics. Understanding Selective Motor Controls from a Computations, Neuroscience, and Behavioral Perspective, is his area as master's project. Rahul’s motivation is to develop improvement in the lives of people as he has ambitions to invent cheap but reliable Neuroprosthetics, which can positively impact the lives of those who suffer from motor disabilities. As Rahul begins to unmask the intricacies of motor control, he aims to be part of defining the next frontier in neuroscience and cognitive science, developing practical solutions to complex problems. Moreover, he is fascinated with what he perceives as emerging disciplines such as market research and neuromarketing that seek to explain human behavior and decision making. Overall, through the integration of these interests, he hopes to help shape original developments in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive science. In the long run, he aims at offering solutions that not only enhance the advancement of science but also bring about a long-term positive change to the society.
In his free time, he prefers to visit old age homes and orphanages and spending time with the residents.
Working in collaboration with Prof Vignesh Muralidharan, IIT Jodhpur
We are trying to understand the role of attention in stopping actions, by using a modified Stop Signal Task. Our objective is to assess trigger duration and percentage of trigger failures behaviourally. The insights from this study can inform the development of targeted interventions for attention deficit and related disorders.
I enjoy working on my farm, tending to crops, and connecting with nature. I also love traveling and visiting new places, although my budget only sometimes allows for it. Still, I explore whenever I can. I like listening to old Bollywood songs from the 80s and 90s, having a good laugh with friends, and sometimes playing volleyball. (You can probably identify my room by the music playing!)
Working in collaboration with Prof Rahul Garg, CSE, IIT Delhi
I am at present studying the neural basis of the effect of mind wandering on response inhibition in humans. We all know that because of mind wandering our attention can get diverted from the task at hand. Because of reduced attention, our performance in the task will reduce. Also, our ability to inhibit the normal course of action is crucial and that also gets affected during mind wandering. We are using data from fMRI studies during the Stop Signal Task and further from the resting state to understand the neural basis of this phenomenon of mind wandering and how it affects response inhibition. Our research can have clinical application also.
I have found out that I love spending time in the mountains and exploring new places. I love enjoying thoughtful discussions. I am interested in knowing about history, geopolitics, etc. I am also in constant search of good stories be it through novels, movies, web series, or in the experiences people narrate to me
Our environment is constantly changing and full of distractions and temptations. So, to lead productive lives we must employ self-control. Self-control is our ability to manage our impulses, emotions, and behaviors so that we can achieve our goals. It allows us to focus on our tasks despite environmental interruptions (e.g., choosing to keep reading despite notifications on your phone) but also flexibly change our goals when the need arises (e.g. choosing to pick up the phone when there is an important call). Perhaps, the need for self-control is best illustrated in populations who suffer for its deficit, for e.g. obsessive-compulsive disorder patients who are unable to control their thoughts and behaviors, attention deficit hyperactive disorder who are unable to control their attention and impulses, Tourette’s syndrome patients who are unable to control unwanted movements, etc. One component of self-control is action-inhibition, i.e. our ability to rapidly stop contextually inappropriate movements. For e.g., while crossing the street if you suddenly see a vehicle approaching then you stop in your tracks. Our research focuses on understanding the neural and computational mechanisms that mediate action-inhibition.
We are also interested in studying how different mental-states affect action-inhibition. Most research on action-inhibition implicitly assumes that our mental-state is unchanging. However, from daily experience we know that this is far from the truth. While sometimes we are focused on what we are doing but often we are thinking of something unrelated to the task at hand. Such periods of mind-wandering where our attentional focus is directed towards task-unrelated thoughts can have a detrimental impact on action-inhibition. This has a huge relevance to society where mind-wandering during driving and handling machinery (tasks that require action-inhibition) can have serious consequences. Hence, our research seeks to understanding the computational and neural mechanism by which mind-wandering affects action-inhibition in both healthy and clinical populations. Allied to this, we also want to study techniques that can reduce mind-wandering, e.g. meditation, and what might the neural mechanism of this effect.
Most of prior research on action-inhibition has focused on stopping of simple movements such as keypresses or button presses. These movements do not capture the rich multitude of movements we perform in our daily lives. Hence, we want to extend the study of action-inhibition to more complex movements starting with two-effector movements. One common type of two effector movements is coordinated eye-hand movements where the movements of the eyes and the hand/s are coupled. For e.g., when reaching for a cup, playing video games, playing an instrument, playing table tennis, writing and typing etc. We seek to action-inhibition of coordinated eye-hand movements as a natural extension of our understanding of action-inhibition of single effector movements. In the future, we plan to design more realistic scenarios for studying action-inhibition using virtual reality.
Our research uses a variety of techniques: behavioral studies, brain imaging (e.g., electroencephalography), electromyography, eye and hand movement tracking, computational modeling, and brain stimulation (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation). We also plan to study clinical populations who suffer from impulse-control disorders like OCD and ADHD.
Instructor in HSL721 Research Methods in Cognitive Science
Introduces basics of experimental and qualitative research (with Prof Yashpal Jogdand)
Instructor in HSP7OO Workshop in Scientific writing
Tutorials on how to write and present research
Instructor in HSS 521 Independent Study in Cognitive Science MSc course
Introduced the basics of protein chemistry, nucleic acids, replication, translation, transcription, and neuroanatomy
Instructor in HSL661 Cognitive Processes MSc course
Introduced the core cognitive processes that mediate human thought and behavior (with Prof Yashpal Jogdand)
Instructor in HUL261 Introduction to Psychology UG course
Introduces the basics of Psychology (with Prof Purnima Singh)
Instructor in HSL561 Cognitive Neuroscience MSc course
Introduces the brain processes that mediate human thought and behavior
Conducted tutorials in HSS 521 Independent Study in Cognitive Science MSc course
Introduced the basics of protein chemistry, nucleic acids, replication, translation, transcription, and neuroanatomy (with Prof Saurabh Gandhi conducting Maths tutorials)
Instructor in HSL661 Cognitive Processes MSc course
Introduced the core cognitive processes that mediate human thought and behavior (with Prof Yashpal Jogdand)
Coordinator for HSL724 Advanced Experimental Methods course
Introduced some of the experimental methods used in the fields of psychology and neuroscience
Instructor in HUL261 Introduction to Psychology UG course
Introduces the basics of Psychology (with Prof Purnima Singh)
Instructor in HSL561 Cognitive Neuroscience MSc course
Introduces the brain processes that mediate human thought and behavior
Coordinator for HSD623 Mini-project in Cognitive Science MSc course
Summer research course
Instructor in HUL370 Selected Topics in Psychology UG course
Introduces the basics of Cognitive Psychology
Instructor in HSL661 Cognitive Processes MSc course
Introduced the core cognitive processes that mediate human thought and behavior
One of the instructor in HSL724 Advanced experimental methods MSc course
Introduced EEG data analysis
Conducted tutorials in HSS 521 Independent Study in Cognitive Science (Bio track) MSc course
Introduced the basics of protein chemistry, enzyme kinetics, nucleic acids, replication, translation, transcription, and neuroanatomy
Sumitash Jana
Email: sjana [at] hss [dot] iitd [dot] ac [dot] in
Phone (O): 011 2654 8766
Office: MS 602B, Dept. of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016