Join Thabèlò in making Cornu Ammon a reality!

My name is Thabèlò Khoboko and I’m a doctoral neuroscience researcher and I’m raising funds to establish Cornu Ammon - Neuroscience in Society Connexion. 

MOTIVATIONS FOR ESTABLISHING CORNU AMMON
Motivation 1.  Demystifying the brain and our behaviours to optimise potential, performance and productivity. 
Motivation 2.  Privileged Insight into vulnerability and cognitive well-being.  
Motivation 3.  Sustainable Ph.D. funding.  

Motivation 1.  Demystifying the brain and our behaviours to optimise potential, performance and productivity. 
Our thoughts, our emotions, our motivations, our decisions and our behaviours all emerge from complex dynamics of networks of cells within the brain.  It is through the brain within us, that we are who we are!  Neuroscience, the study of the brain, is therefore, a critical ingredient in optimising human capabilities and potential towards socio-economic progress.  Today, more than ever, the translation of science in society matters.  There is a significant scarcity of neuroscience knowledge and neurotechnologies in Africa.  As advances in knowledge and innovation accelerate around the globe, the egregious dearth of neuroscience, specific to Africa, is increasingly less insidious and more evidently explicit exclusionary bias; this is detrimental to the development of societies and leadership on the continent. Cornu Ammon aims to bridge this gap of knowledge and expertise, form connexions between science and society and to optimise human potential and productivity.
Motivation 2.  Privileged Insight into vulnerability and cognitive well-being.  
My personal acquaintance with physical and cognitive disruption, along with my expertise in neuroscience, place me in a position of privileged insight.  My doctoral research activities were disrupted by a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.   The subsequent experiences of vulnerability, uncertainty, stigma, discrimination, isolation, the paralysis of shame and loss of funding led me to view neuroscience in a different light.  It was my quest to understand and to unravel the mysteries of my own brain within that motivated the establishment of Cornu Ammon.  There are many others in the world who find themselves in similar situations but who are much less fortunate and are suffering without support and knowledge.  Especially, during these times of global uncertainty when so many familiar patterns of life have been disrupted.    Through Cornu Ammon services in cognitive well-being and mental health, I may reach and be of service to many others, especially those who are much less fortunate. 
Motivation 3.  Sustainable Ph.D. funding.  
Establishing Cornu Ammon will provide me with a sustainable source of funding to continue with my graduate research work.

To Cornu Ammon GoFundme Contributors: Funding through GoFundMe will go towards the development of projects and purchasing of equipment. For each donation of €500 or more towards Cornu Ammon, a virtual presentation and support on the brain and cognitive well-being will be offered to the donor or any charity of organisation they wish to support.  A consultation will precede the presentation to ensure that it is tailored to address the interests and needs of the donor and their guests. Up to ten individuals may be invited to participate in the presentation. Topics may include (but are not exclusive to): Effects of Poverty on the Brain; The Ageing Brain; The Developing Brain; Addiction and the Brain; The Stressed Brain; and Mental Health and the Brain.  These have been tumultuous times for many.  

THE MEANING OF CORNU AMMON
We are not defined by the challenges that threaten us. Nor do we give up. Even when we are forced to retreat, briefly. In Sesotho (the indigenous language of Lesotho), there is a proverb, Ho checha ha ramo ha se ho baleha. Loosely translated, the retreat of the ram does not necessarily indicate escape, it may signify gathering strength in preparation of attack.  In neuroscience, the cornu Ammonis are regions of the hippocampus associated with memory formation and recall, named for their curved anatomical structure which early anatomists poetically likened to the ram horns of Ammon. Amun was an ancient Egyptian diety - the hidden god of sun and air, symbolised by the ram headed Sphinx and who later came to be identified with Zeus - god of the sky and lightning, as Ammon in ancient Greece. This is the personal significance behind Cornu Ammon, the ram horns of Ammon.  The memory of strength and perseverance.  A reminder.


CORNU AMMON NEUROSCIENCE IN LEADERSHIP 
Cornu Ammon launches with Neuroscience in Leadership to promote authentic, cooperative and ethical leadership, and increase productivity within African industries. Neuroscience in Leadership is a series of virtual webinars focused on the neuroscience of leadership behaviours and group dynamics. The webinars are designed for organisations confronting disruptive uncertainty, conflict and tensions within teams. The objective of Neuroscience in Leadership is to guide leaders to untangle seemingly intractable cycles of dysfunctional dynamics, to penetrate the true nature of behaviours at play, shift cognitive perspectives from prevailing status quo and biases, and to discern solutions anew.  Neuroscience in Leadership focuses on organisations demanding to know: Why are we as we are?

Three packages are offered: i) The Organisation and its Cognitive Architecture: Dissecting Dysfunction; ii) The Organisation and The Unknown: Uncertainty about Uncertainty; iii) Brain Computations Gone Awry: Cognitive Well-Being and Performance. The virtual webinars focus on the neuroscience of behaviour to help organisations penetrate the true nature of behaviours at play and to shift cognitive perspectives from the prevailing status quo and biases, to discern solutions anew.

THE CORNU AMMON SOCIAL SERVICE MODEL 
Cornu Ammon is modelled on being of service to those who are much less fortunate. With each Neuroscience in Leadership product offered by Cornu Ammon, a training on Mental Health and Cognitive Well-Being is offered to a charity or non-governmental organisation nominated by the corporate client. This model enables Cornu Ammon to promote and support mental health social responsibility initiatives of industries and to expand community outreach to those most in need in Africa.  As a past president of The Rotary Club of Maseru (District 9370) in Lesotho, I believe in being of service to those who are much less fortunate than ourselves.