Elena

Please provide a brief summary of your research.
Last summer I received a SURG to work in the Gratton Lab on an independent project related to brain networks and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). I used structural and functional MRIs of PD participants and age-matched healthy participants. I ran analyses to find any areas of the brain in which a participant’s brain network organization differed from the group average. Then, I further analyzed this data by determining if these variant regions had any defining structural features, such as occurring in particularly thin areas of the cortex or in a specific anatomical location. Finally, I looked at these results to see if there were any differences between the healthy and PD subject groups.

What made you initially interested in researching your project in particular?
I had been a member of this lab for two quarters and worked on a related project on brain networks. But when I was given the chance to develop my own idea for the SURG, I wanted to tie it back to medicine/diseases somehow because I am a premedical student. That is how I got the idea to look at Parkinson’s Disease.

What made you interested in pursuing (interdisciplinary) research more broadly?
I am a neuroscience major, but my schedule did not allow me to start taking any courses in this field until junior year. I knew research would allow me to start learning about neuroscience earlier and likely give me a unique perspective that I would not get in class.

Describe your experiences with research thus far. Was it tricky? What skills do you think you’ve gained?
Research was scary to start without any experience or background knowledge, but it was very helpful to ask for related research papers and critically read those. I also learned a lot of coding skills with my SURG project.

Any tips or advice you have for students similar to you that are interested in pursuing undergraduate research?
Use the department websites to find labs in the field that you’re interested in and don’t be scared to reach out to professors/labs.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned/read about/listened to this week?
I learned all about Hungarian history while visiting Budapest this week! (I am currently studying abroad in Copenhagen)