Neuroscience-related research in Ghana: a systematic evaluation of direction and capacity

Abstract

Neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases account for considerable healthcare, economic and social burdens in Ghana. In order to effectively address these burdens, appropriately-trained scientists who conduct high-impact neuroscience research will be needed. Additionally, research directions should be aligned with national research priorities. However, to provide information about current neuroscience research productivity and direction, the existing capacity and focus need to be identified. This would allow opportunities for collaborative research and training to be properly explored and developmental interventions to be better targeted. In this study, we sought to evaluate the existing capacity and direction of neuroscience-related research in Ghana. To do this, we examined publications reporting research investigations authored by scientists affiliated with Ghanaian institutions in specific areas of neuroscience over the last two decades (1995–2015). 127 articles that met our inclusion criteria were systematically evaluated in terms of research foci, annual publication trends and author affiliations. The most actively-researched areas identified include neurocognitive impairments in non-nervous system disorders, depression and suicide, epilepsy and seizures, neurological impact of substance misuse, and neurological disorders. These studies were mostly hospital and community-based surveys. About 60 % of these articles were published in the last seven years, suggesting a recent increase in research productivity. However, data on experimental and clinical research outcomes were particularly lacking. We suggest that future investigations should focus on the following specific areas where information was lacking: large-scale disease epidemiology, effectiveness of diagnostic platforms and therapeutic treatments, and the genetic, genomic and molecular bases of diseases.

Medicinal Plants Used in the Treatment of Mental and Neurological Disorders in Ghana

“…Mental and neurological disorders remain a major public health concern [2]. The disease burden is even more prominent in the developing world, including Ghana [3, 5, 6]. Recent discoveries and clinical usage of the anticancer agent taxol and the antimalarial artemisinin derived from plants have boosted interest in natural products as templates for the development of novel drug scaffolds [19, 20].…”

“…The analgesic species frequently used by the TMPs were A. conyzoides L. and O. gratissimum L. Also important are the anxiolytic (antianxiety) and anticonvulsant (antiepileptic) products that were often used by the TMPs, suggesting a potentially high prevalence of anxiety disorders and epilepsy and seizure disorders. Epilepsy, seizures, and anxiety disorders feature prominently among the mental and neurological conditions prevalent in Ghana [5, 37]. On the other hand, L. camara L. was the most frequently mentioned anxiolytic product, while C. citratus DC ., M. indica L ., T. tetraptera Schum Taub ., and Persea Americana Mill were among the most frequently studied anticonvulsants used by the TMPs.…”

“…This would enable the industrial-scale production and marketing of successful drug candidates following drug authority approval. The high cost of the drug discovery and development process would, however, require strengthening academia-industry collaborative research and better provision of research funding and infrastructure [5, 40, 41].…”

An integrative review of potential enablers and barriers to accessing mental health services in Ghana

“…A preliminary search conducted from Medline, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus Index and EMBASE identified only two reviews. One of these focused on the direction of neuroscience-related research in Ghana [ 18 ], whilst the other focused on the state of mental health research, but only on the estimation of epidemiological data on MNS use disorders [ 19 ]. Although these papers attempted to synthesise the existing evidence on mental health services, they did not address the potential enablers and barriers faced in accessing services.…”

Bibliometric analysis of Neurosciences research productivity in Saudi Arabia from 2013-2018

“…Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has become a hub of neuroscientific research in the continent, following South Africa and Egypt. Bibliometric studies have cited annual increase in number of publications in Africa in general 30,35 and in Nigeria in particular. 36 The distinguishing features of neuroscientific progress in Nigeria are the involvement of neuroscience research promotors like International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), The World Academy of Sciences, The International Society for Neurochemistry, Teaching and Research in Natural Sciences for Development in Africa and Seeding labs.…”