Few students can say that they spend several hours a week analyzing brains. But for Amanda Black and Christina Mcgee, seniors at Wake Forest University, their contribution to neuroscience research has provided the opportunity to access these images weekly, scanning the folds and interconnections between brain regions. 

“In the library, I’m surrounded by peers working on essays and online exams--meanwhile, my friends catch a glimpse of my computer and see a slice of a brain,” says Black.

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Along with a cohort of other students, Black and Mcgee work within Dr. Christina Hugenschmidt’s lab at the Wake Forest School of Medicine to analyze the benefits of an improvisational dance program on people with dementia and their caregivers. Through this study, titled IMOVE, a brain imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is used to determine if changes in the brain correlate with improvements in movement abilities and quality of life. 

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This data arrives as two-dimensional slices that must be manipulated into a 3D model of the brain. Though a daunting task, the steps for processing and analyzing this fMRI data has been methodically fine-tuned and starts off with a computer program determining which parts of each image are brain and which are not.

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“The computer for the most part is very good at determining where the brain ends and where the rest of the head, like the skull, begins,” says Dr. Hugenschmidt. “But, it isn’t always accurate, and that is where preprocessing comes into play.” 

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 In order to double-check that the parts of the images categorized as “brain” are actually brain and not skull, researchers assist in preprocessing by methodically scrolling through two dimensional slices and digitally marking areas the computer messed up. Slice by slice, images are corrected so that when data is interpreted for the study, there is greater confidence that the changes found are not from error, but from actual improvement through the study. 

Assisting in this step provides the opportunity for students to increase their knowledge of neuroanatomy, the steps necessary to conduct neuroimaging, and neuroscience research as a whole.  

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“I feel that I am always growing my understanding of the brain and the importance of what we’re doing,” says Mcgee. 

 Wake Forest undergraduate students are not the only ones craving for accelerated education within the neuroscience field. As an up and coming area of interest, the need for further exposure to neuroimaging techniques within undergraduate education has increased in the last five years. According to a study, graduate school programs for neuroscience have increased their expectations for undergraduates to arrive with more research experience, a difficult task given the complexity of the work and expenses associated with the technology used.

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To add to this difficult expectation, the nature of the pandemic has limited the possibilities for in-person research. In fact, the neuroscience minor this year had to forgo the neuroscience research credit requirement for seniors due to the lack of opportunities.

 

However, because of the pandemic-induced shift towards virtual collaboration, teams may be created between students at the undergraduate campus and principal investigators such as Dr. Hugenschmidt. Through this collaboration, students intrigued by the complexities of neuroimaging are able to gain experience virtually while also assisting labs in some of the most tedious tasks of data collection.

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“Never before has there been such a push towards virtual communication in research,” says Dr. Hugenschmidt. “But through this, we have initiated an incredible collaboration between undergraduate neuroscience students and our [School of Medicine].”

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 Due to the elimination of commute and increased understanding of digital communication platforms by both professors and students, the preprocessing training is more accessible and has expanded beyond simply instruction. Every week, undergraduate students meet virtually with Dr. Hugenschmidt, two graduate students, and a technician to go over imaging. During this time, each student goes over their work for the week, discussing their difficulties, successes, and questions about the brain.

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“Every brain is different,” says Mcgee. “And because they’re all so different, I feel like I learn something new with every image I look at.” 

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In addition to skill building, the team reads and discusses papers on neuroimaging techniques every week. Through this dynamic learning experience, undergraduate students are provided the opportunity to learn and the graduate students are able to teach.

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“It’s been really cool to share what I’ve learned in my neuroimaging classes with the undergrads,” says Deepthi Thumuluri, a neuroscience graduate student involved in these weekly meetings.  

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As restrictions on lab capacity start to lift, there is hope to continue this virtual way of integrating undergraduate neuroscience students into graduate school research. Given its success, this model of neuroimaging education within Dr. Hugenschmidt’s lab has sparked a conversation about future implications on undergraduate research. As Black and Mcgee graduate, underclassmen have started to attend these meetings, a testament to the stability, impact, and appeal of collaborations within neuroscience research.