Opportunities for Neuroscience Research
Neuroscience Program Faculty Profile
Prof. Matt Kelley
Associate Professor of Psychology
“In the lab, we explore a variety of counter-intuitive memory phenomena at a behavioral level in humans. Why does remembering with a partner impair your memory? Why do hints often disrupt our retention? Why do we remember missing information better than information we actually experienced? Students in my lab are involved in every aspect of the research process, from design to analysis to publication. If you are interested in doing a research project, you can contact me at kelley@lakeforest.edu.”
Neuroscience majors Sydni Cole ‘12 and Kayla Ahlstrand ‘12 (see photo above) have pursued research projects in cognitive neuroscience in the Kelley Lab. Kayla recently became a co-author on her project with a paper published in the Journal of Cognitive Psychology. Sydni completed her senior thesis project that received the First Prize among undergraduates in the 2012 Chicago Society for Neuroscience meeting.
A future vet school applicant, Kayla reflects: “My favorite part of researching with Professor Kelley (and Carli) was contributing to the writing process of our article and becoming a published author in a prestigious journal as an undergraduate. It has also been great to share our interesting results with others- At a recent job interview at a vet clinic, my interviewer was so intrigued and impressed by our research, which not only shows how applicable our findings are, but also how this experience will help me in the future.”
View more faculty lab profiles.
Neuroscience program provides ample opportunities to students to engage in undergraduate research, on-campus and off- campus. Our majors engage in at least one significant research experience either during the academic year or during summers. Most of them have conducted senior theses.
Our students have won prizes for their research at neuroscience conferences ten years in a row (2003-2012)
Where to do Research
At the College:
Several neuroscience program faculty at the college engage in biology, psychology and philosophical research that contribute to our understanding of the relationships between brain, mind, and behavior and welcome motivated students to pursue research in their labs. Interested students should read our individual research blurbs and contact individual faculty to discuss the potential to engage in a faculty-student collaborative research project.
In Chicago:
Chicago is exceptionally rich with undergraduate research opportunities in neuroscience because of it internationally renowned medical centers. Past students have engaged in summer research in neuroscience at the medical schools linked to Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rush Medical School, and Loyola University.
At Rosalind Franklin (RFUMS):
Students may be particularly interested in neuroscience research opportunities at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (LFC-RFUMS). To learn more about our unique LFC-RFUMS Summer Fellows program, click here.
How to get a research opportunity
Contact Program Chair Dr. Shubhik DebBurman to discuss your interest in on-campus or off-campus research opportunities for 2012-2013 and in summer 2012.
Several mechanisms exist to get on-campus research experiences as described here:
Richter Scholar Program
This college-wide program selects 20-25 first year students to work with college faculty on independent research projects for ten-week period in the summer after their first year. Each year, some students complete Richter projects in neuroscience and these students sometimes continue to work with their faculty mentor throughout their undergraduate career.
Research Assistant
The neuroscience faculty maintain active research laboratories and seek to involve students in their projects. Research Assistants can work with faculty during the academic year as volunteers, as paid research assistants, or for course credit. They can also work in faculty labs during the summer as paid research assistants. Students gain first-hand experience with research design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination of research.
Senior Thesis
We encourage all neuroscience majors to consider pursuing senior thesis research. This is highly recommended for those who wish to pursue a graduate degree in neuroscience or are planning for medical school. Although occasionally this research is part of a faculty member’s research program, it is typically a student-generated research project. Students interested in senior theses start formulating research ideas in the spring of the junior year, find a faculty member who is willing to advise them on their project, and conduct the thesis research itself throughout the senior year.
Recent senior theses by neuroscience students:
Pascal Accoh ‘12
“The Periadolescent Activation of the CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor Prevents the Normative Developmental Facilitation of Parvalbumin-positive Interneurons in the Prefrontal Cortex”
Sydni Cole ‘12
“The Effects of Part-Set Cuing in Object-Location and Order Memory”
Daniella Brutman ‘12
“The Alternative Splicing of ApoER2 in Alzheimer’s Disease”
Madhavi Senagolage ‘12
“Evaluation of Alpha-Synuclein Degradation Pathways in a Budding Yeast Model”
Anneliese Szutenbach ‘12
“Genetic Mapping of the M77 and M138 Alleles in C. elegans”
Menzi Mhlanga ‘11
“Investigating the Role of Testosterone on Risk-Taking Behavior in Male Sprague Dawley Rats”
Derek Atchley ‘10
“Effects of Stress on Emotion-related Behavior in Rodents: Implications for Affective Disorders”
Recent research projects by neuroscience students (as research assistants, Richter Scholars, LFC-RFUMS summer fellows, or as Groner Grant recipients):
Daniel Sanchez ‘11
“Insight Into Parkinson’s: Autophagy to the Rescue?”
Kristina Johnson ‘12
“Retrieval of Context-Drug Memories Increases the Proportion of Recently Activated Neurons of the Hippocampus and Amygdala in Rats”
Kayla Ahlstrand ‘12
“Self-Cannibalizing for a Parkinson’s Disease Cure”
Jody Buck ‘13
“Will sea slugs recover after surgical injury?”
Kim Diah ‘13
“A comparative study of working spatial memory in humans and rats”
Alexus Edmonds ‘13
“Stress response and dating violence in African-American Communities”
Natalie Kukulka ‘13
“Decrypting Parkinson’s Disease: Are multiple mutants worse than one?”
Ashley Reich ‘13
“Co-regulation of miRNA biogenesis and pre-‐mRNA alternative splicing”
Amanda Allred ‘14
“Does telomere length change during sexual development?”
Katrina Campbell ‘14
“Identifying specific amino acids in Alpha-‐synuclein that control its toxic properties”
Jessica Dudley ‘14
Victoria Egedus ‘14
“Genetic Mapping of Worms with a Mutated Pharynx”
“Grandmaternal alcohol consumption induced changes in the insulin signaling pathway is alleviated by simultaneous thyroxine treatment”
Megan Joy Escanilla ‘14
Lani Leong ‘14
“Will sea slugs recover after surgical injury?”
Anhar Mohamed ‘14
“Frontal theta wave activity between consonant and dissonant musical stimuli” (2011)
Crystal Ramirez ‘14 & Kayla Sarkis ‘14
“The Effects of Self-Control on Risk Taking and Brainwaves”
Nikki Yeomans ‘14
“The Neuropsychology of Acting and Performing”
Michael Herriges ‘15
“Studying combination familial mutants of Parkinson’s protein alpha-synuclein in yeasts”
Ian Lin ‘15
Maiwase Tembo ‘15
“Will co-inhibiting multiple degradation pathways for Parkinson’s protein alpha-synuclein in yeasts increase toxicity?”
