Neuroscience Portfolio

Below is a collection of work from my Neuroscience degree at Washington and Lee University. These ten works show my growth in confidence and skill from freshman year to senior year through five learning objectives of the Neuroscience program.

Learning Objective 1: Students can articulate and demonstrate competency in understanding the basic function of neuronal signaling and attain field/discipline specific knowledge.

 

      • View assignment HERE. I took this course during winter term of 2020, my freshman year. The assignment included creating an oral presentation with a partner about a specific drug and its impact on the brain. We were assigned CNS depressants, also known as benzodiazepines. The audience was intended to be our peers. I believe that this assignment fits best under the first learning objective of the neuroscience program because we explained how benzodiazepines affect the function of ligand-gated calcium channels and inhibitory post-synaptic potentials. Our presentation helped me grasp the implications of certain drugs on the central nervous system using a real-world example. I worked with Julie Kim and we each split up the slides for creation but worked together to create a narrative for the presentation. Then, when it was time to present, we divided the slides evenly but ensured that we both had a solid understanding of all of them. I chose this item for my portfolio because it was one of the first assignments for my neuroscience degree and I wanted to compare my growth from freshman year to senior year. By rewatching this video, I can already say that I am much more confident in my presentation skills now than I was freshman year.
      • View assignment HERE. This lab report was for Animal Physiology that I took senior year during winter 2023. The objectives for this lab were to find the sciatic nerve in a frog specimen that innervates a gastrocnemius muscle and attach it to a tension sensor to measure contraction in the muscle under different conditions. The intended audience was the scientific community. We first stimulated the nerve to examine recruitment via spatial summation and then we closer analyzed the components of a single muscle twitch: the latent, contraction, and relaxation periods. Then, we looked at how different lengths of a muscle can determine how effectively it can contract given the actin-myosin binding pattern. Next, we saw that stimulating muscles at low frequencies cause twitches from single action potentials that can summate together to eventually form a fused tetanus signal shown at higher frequency stimulations and creates smooth movements that we use in our everyday lives. We also tested whether the muscle or the nerve was in fact fatiguing by stimulating both the nerve and muscle. Lastly, we saw how certain toxins can inhibit the activity of the neuromuscular junction. Overall, this lab helped investigate the many different components of how a nerve innervates a muscle. This most exemplified the first objective of understanding the basic function of neuronal signaling because we investigated the neuromuscular junction and nerves innervating muscles. The only collaboration occurred during data collection and experiments. The lab report was done individually. I chose this item for my portfolio because I feel like it exemplifies my improvement from my freshman year. 

Learning Objective 2: Students will engage in scientific data analysis and interpretation.

 

      • View assignment HERE. I completed this assignment during fall of 2021 my sophomore year. The purpose of this assignment was to further familiarize ourselves with biostatistical topics and practice the data analysis that we had learned in class. This was part of our routine homework assignments throughout the semester. I believe this best fits under the second learning objective because we were given sets of data and questions and had to determine how to best analyze the data in order to answer the given questions. This was a collaborative work in that both me and Jillian Rossenwasser worked on it together. We both completed our own product but asked each other questions along the way and helped each other with the code if we got stuck. I chose this item for my portfolio because I think that it showcases my proficiency in the R coding language
      • View assignment HERE. This project was assigned during the fall 2022 of my senior year. The purpose of this project was to design, create, and test an experiment that assessed an attentional concept. It was important to consider all compounding variables and other factors that might play a role in determining the results. The last step of the project was to compile all the information and analyze it for the class to determine if our hypotheses were correct. I believe this best fits under the second learning objective because I took my results and had to extract meaning from them. This was a collaborative work with Charlene Nsengimana in which we did not necessarily divide work for the project, but instead always worked together to talk through and design our experiment. For the slide compilation, we alternated who presented each slide. This assignment showed me the immense work it takes to design an experiment. I assumed that the initial brainstorming would be relatively simple, but I was mistaken. We ran into a lot of issues and had to do a lot of troubleshooting in order to get our final product.

    Learning Objective 3: Students will identify relevant primary research and critically evaluate it.

        • View assignment HERE. This project was during the winter term of my sophomore year in 2021. The assignment was to create a poster that addresses a common reproductive myth. I chose to investigate whether certain food can actually induce labor. We then held a poster session in the great hall of the science library during our class time. The intended audience was students at Washington and Lee University. This item was not collaborative work.  This was my first ever poster session and when I first learned how to critically evaluate relevant primary search – therefore I chose to include this assignment under learning objective three. 
        • View assignment HERE. I took Nutritional Neuroscience during winter 2022 of my junior year. Our assignment was to create a review paper in which we interpret scientific literature regarding how a mental illness is diagnosed and treated. We were instructed to emphasize nutritional factors in the prevention, causation, and treatment of the disease. I chose to investigate Parkinson’s disease in relation to nutrition. The intended audience was the scientific community and those struggling with Parkinson’s. This item was not a collaborative work. This assignment best exemplifies the third objective because I evaluated other primary research and created a review paper from these sources. I learned so much about the impact of nutrition on brain health and brain diseases when creating this review. I also learned how to weave together many sources into a cohesive review to portray the scientific results and information most accurately.

       

       

      Learning Objective 4: Students will collaboratively engage in the scientific process by conducting ethical research with faculty and peers.

          • View assignment HERE. This presentation was for my introduction to biology lab that I took freshman year, in the Fall of 2019. Instructions for the project included creating and testing a research proposal on a topic of our choice. We chose to test E. coli concentrations both upstream and downstream of a poultry shed. We hypothesized that there would be higher concentrations downstream of the poultry shed due to the run-off fecal contamination. The intended audience was the scientific community and our peers. I believe this best fits under the fourth objective of the neuroscience program because I conducted ethical research with a peer. I worked in collaboration with Gracen Wiggins who collected water samples and ran the testing protocol with me. We both created the slide presentation together and alternated presenting slides. I chose this item for my portfolio because it is one of my first works from my freshman year in the sciences and I feel that it best exemplifies my starting knowledge about research before my education at Washington and Lee. This assignment can be used as a great comparison to see how far I have come in my academic career.
          • View assignment HERE. I completed this poster for the Sciences, Societies, and Arts symposium during winter of 2023 of my senior year. I have done research with Dr. Brindle for the last two and a half years, and this poster is a culmination of the results that I have been working on. We measured baroreflex response in participants in baseline, mental stress, and physical stress conditions. I was specifically interested in whether baroreflex habituated during mental stress, which results indicated that it did not. The intended audience was those in attendance of the SSA poster presentation. I believe this best exemplifies the fourth objective of the neuroscience program as I conducted ethical research with a faculty member. I worked in collaboration with Dr. Brindle who developed the protocol, helped teach me how to run data analyses on our results, and oversaw the entire project. I chose this particular assignment because I am very proud of the research that I conducted in Dr. Brindle’s lab. Over three years I helped test participants, conduct data analysis, and interpret results. I was excited to share my findings through this poster presentation.

         

         

        Learning Objective 5: Students will effectively communicate scientific information (orally, visually and in writing).

            • View assignment HERE. This presentation is from winter term of Junior year, 2022. The assignment was to create a pamphlet that could be given to patients in a doctor’s office regarding their new diagnosis. It gives information about different dietary changes that could help individuals with their symptoms and their overall health. I feel that this best fits objective five because it shows how to effectively communicate scientific information in writing. It helped me learn how to write for different audiences and understand scientific information and communicate it to others. This was not collaborative work. It was really interesting to learn more about the ways that nutrition impacts the brain and different neurodegenerative disorders.
            • View assignment HERE. During the spring term of 2021 at the end of my sophomore year, I took an addiction course. The assignment was to create a research proposal addressing a gap in addiction knowledge. We were instructed to create this proposal by modeling experiments, pilot studies, and propose new program or treatment that would benefit a population with addiction. The audience of this assignment was the scientific community. I believe that this would best fit under the fifth learning objective because it involved accumulating and communicating scientific information. This was not collaborative work. I really enjoyed this course because it dismantled a lot of the implicit stereotypes that we have about addiction and instead allowed me to examine it as a disease and not just a social issue. I feel that this proposal helped me dig deeper into the potential predictors of a substance use disorder, both situationally and biologically. It helped me to further break down those misconceptions that I had about addiction and taught me to have a more open approach to my assignments and courses.

           

           

          Which is my best work? Why?

          I believe that one of my best works is my attention final project. In this project, I designed and tested an entire experiment and then analyzed the results. This was much more challenging than I had anticipated – there were many more factors and compounding variables that I had to consider when designing this attention experiment. I am proud of this work because I learned a new programming language while creating this and it is an assignment that I feel shows my growth in my major. For example, I don’t think I would have been able to complete this assignment Freshman year because it incorporated so many topics that I had learned in my four years as a Neuroscience major.

          Which is my most important work? Why?

          My most important work is my SSA poster because it is a summation of what I had worked on in Dr. Brindle’s lab for the past two and a half years. During sophomore year, I started learning how to use all the equipment to test participants. Junior year, we started testing participants and I played a big role in data processing, specifically information regarding the baroreflex. Then senior year, I finished helping with data processing, analyzing data, and creating a research proposal regarding baroreflex habituation. This poster summarizes my results, and I am very proud of all our work in the lab over the past few years.

          What are my goals for continuing to learn in this discipline?

          I plan to attend medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Fall 2023. This school is particularly focused on research, so I look forward to getting more involved in different labs during medical school. As of now, I would like to continue learning about the brain and neuroscience. I could see myself in a specialty that focuses on this, such as neurology. I would like to combine my interests in neuroscience with my interests in public health in my career.

          What did I learn about myself?

          I learned that failure is part of the process. My freshman and sophomore years consisted of me trying to find out which study habits and learning tactics worked best for me. I found out how I learned best, which helped me excel in my classes and be most productive with my time. I also learned how to work well with other people. I had always preferred to work alone because communicating and dividing responsibilities was always difficult for me. As I was assigned more group exercises, I learned how to effectively divvy up tasks with my peers so that we could optimize our time and create the best product. This also included learning my classmates’ strengths and weaknesses and finding tasks that worked best for each person. With these group projects came many presentations. My confidence in presentations has improved tremendously over the past four years. Pursuing a neuroscience career at Washington and Lee University has solidified my decision to continue to pursue the sciences.