SUMMARY
From antiquity to date, the nervous system, unarguably the most complex system in living organisms has remained an area on intense research. Often regarded as the final frontier of science, discoveries relating to the nervous system are among the most spectacular discoveries in the history scientific research. In 1901, John Newport Langley (1852 – 1925) showed that an extract from the adrenal glands produced responses similar to those elicited when sympathetic nerves are stimulated. At about the same period, John Jacob Abel of Johns Hopkins University, together with A.C Crawford, isolated and purified the active principle from the adrenal gland which Abel named Epinephrine (Adrenaline). This edition of chronicles of Medical history examines Neuropharmacology publications indexed in the database of the National Library of Medicine, PUBMED (the world’s most famous biomedical database), with the aim of developing a broad chronological picture of basic Neuropharmacology research in Nigeria. Publications not indexed on PUBMED and not captured by the search terms were not captured, a major limitation of this review. Many publications that qualify as basic Neuropharmacology research were not reviewed because of this limitation. It is recommended that authors should pay greater attention to use of Research Units when stating affiliations and appropriate key words to enhance visibility during online searches. Basic Neuropharmacology research in Nigeria, as shown by publications on PUBMED reviewed suggests that the subspecialty is young but vibrant and rapidly expanding, with more publications registered on the database in 2018 – 2019. The Neuropharmacology Unit of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, ably headed by Dr. Solomon Umukoro (with a remarkable record of Postgraduate Student supervision) had 50% of the publications examined in this review. A significant majority of publications (76.2%) from the Neuropharmacology unit, University of Ibadan were during the period spanning 2018 to date of search (June 2019). This clearly shows the rise in Basic Neuropharmacology research at the Unit. However, the need for translation of basic research findings to bedside and community will be a major goal for the years to come. This need has partially been met with the completion of the Nathaniel Idowu Multidisciplinary Translational Research Complex at the Department. At this new Research Complex Basic and Clinical Researchers will work side-by side to extend the frontiers of Biomedical Research in Nigeria.
Keywords: Neuropharmacology, Research, Nigeria, History, Chronicles