Jordan Walter is a rising senior on the Wesleyan cross country and track & field teams, having earned All-NESCAC honors in cross country for the first time in her career as a junior in 2023. This summer, hear from Jordan on how she is spending her summer as a Neuroscience & Behavior and Latin Americans Studies double major...
This summer, I am participating in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Undergraduate Research Program in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. This program focuses on various areas of research, from gene regulation to neuroscience to plant biology. As a neuroscience major interested in functional anatomy, I am working in the Albeanu Lab on a project that is centered around the task of mapping the olfactory system in mice.
The olfactory system is the system responsible for your sense of smell. It is a complex anatomical structure whose function is still very poorly understood. Unlike other systems, such as the visual system and auditory system, which exhibit defined structural organization which breaks down neural information in a systematic manner, the olfactory system is a point of contentious debate in the scientific community. Many scientists believe that the structure is plastic, meaning that there is no inherent organizational processing established in this part of your brain when you are born. Rather, they believe that your experiences (which translate to neural activity) induce the strengthening of specific connections that lead to unique neural patterning in an individual brain. The Albeanu Lab has found significant evidence to suggest that the olfactory system may indeed have an innate structure to it.
My project this summer is to determine the identity of different subsets of neurons in the olfactory bulb based on transcriptomic analysis. In the past, scientists have relied on morphology (looking at the location of these neurons within the brain structure) to guess the subtype identity of these neurons. But while these subtypes are often found in specific regions, there are exceptions to the rule––and these exceptions add up when you are doing big data analyses to determine neuronal connectivity in the brain. Essentially, I will be taking unique RNA fragments (called barcodes), injecting them into the olfactory bulb of mice, and then using these barcodes to "tag" neurons in the bulb so I can tell where they are located. I will then take genetic information from these neurons and run analyses for specific genetic markers that will allow me to determine the subtype identity of the cell. This, in conjunction with the barcodes, will allow me to determine both the identity and the spatial location of these neurons.
Having the ability to understand how olfactory system functions is the type of basic science research that has endless possibilities in application later down the line. The better we understand how our bodies and brains work, the better we will be able to treat neuronal disorders or degenerative diseases and understand how animals perceive their environment. As somebody interested in the process of research and in entering the field of medicine, I am excited to be part of a group of curious scientists that are expanding our understanding of the world around (and within) us!
In addition to time spent on research, I will be enjoying all the events on campus and spending time with people in my program. The scenery is beautiful here, and there are many nice (and very hilly) places to run! We are located right outside of New York City, which is very exciting, so I will be going into the city to walk around or watch a Broadway show at some point.
