I have been drawn to the nervous system more so
than the other systems since early biology classes in grade school. While other
systems were certainly interesting, the nervous system perplexed me in ways I
still cannot comprehend. From one individual neuron to an enormous conglomerate
of information pathways, the methods in which the nervous system contributes to
our thoughts, feelings, motion, and essential underlying processes has
captivated me more than anything else I’ve studied. This ultimately led to me
wishing to work in George Mason University’s Neural Engineering Lab. I started
as a volunteer, and eventually became employed with the lab – assisting in lab
studies, and learning experimental protocols and data analysis techniques. This
led to the writing and eventual funding of an OSCAR proposal.
The research I have conducted during my
undergraduate career at Mason has been invaluable in my development as a
student, and as a person. Exploring the unknown has not only furthered my
critical thinking and problem solving skills, but taught me a lot about myself.
It has shown me my strengths and weaknesses, and helped me develop a stronger
work ethic. Aside from the academic and personal development, research
experience at the undergraduate level will be essential in my ultimate goal of
entering a PhD program. Early exposure into the world of research will make me
more attractive to potential graduate schools, and prepare me for the
expectations a PhD program entails.
For me, a normal week in the Neural Engineering
lab consists of running experiments, sorting and processing data, and
interpreting the results. Ideally, a few
times a week I will run several electrical stimulation experiments on the
neuron cultures, process the data, and discuss with the grad student I work
closely with what the best direction would be to pursue. Usually, that
direction is collect more data, and increase the number of experiments we have
run in order to make solid statistical claims, but occasionally we need to make
appropriate adjustments to our protocol.
This week, I discovered how difficult it can be
for the neuronal cultures to be maintained successfully. The lab recently
received a new type of neuronal tissue, and followed a new protocol to grow
them on a microelectrode array (MEA). Unfortunately, the neurons died, and
there is not a clear reason to what caused it.
