The Honors & Scholars program encourages both original inquiry and academic enrichment. Through this experience I was able to undertake an independent research project from its beginning to largely its finish, incorporating both elements in the process. During the summer of 2018, I collected animal behavioral and histological data on the effects of enriched housing on recovery to TBI. Enriched housing is characterized by increased access to cognitive tasks, social stimulation, and voluntary running wheel exercise. This study then prompted the question of the neuroprotective properties forced treadmill exercise could confer to animals after TBI. After two years studying traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the laboratory of Dr. Zachary Weil, and a research question in mind from the summer, I applied for an Honors & Scholars Enrichment Grant to help investigation into the optimal level of physical activity after TBI for greatest physical and cognitive recovery.
This initial funding enabled me to present preliminary research at OSU’s Fall Undergraduate Research Festival, as well as at the regional mGluRs conference. Interestingly, the present clinical recommendation after traumatic brain injury is complete physical and cognitive rest. Yet my findings demonstrated that exercise improved learning and memory and reduced measures of anxiety-like behavior following brain injury. Markers of degeneration in the brain were not affected by exercise conditions, which means that a distinct behavioral improvement was occurring for animals without further damaging their brains. These findings indicate a potential need to revise current clinical protocols in response to traumatic brain injury.
My grant enabled me to further explore TBI, a major public health issue that affects approximately two million people in the US each year. The work I did contributed to the body of research trying to understand the long-lasting consequences for behavior, cognition, and brain health TBI has, as well as provided some empirical evidence for neuroprotective strategies to be used in the future. Beyond this opportunity for original inquiry, the funding behaved as a catalyst for an array for academically enriching experiences. Two presentations have been cited previously, but my continued investigation secured a Undergraduate Research Scholarship in the spring, and culminated in the completion of an Honors Thesis defense on April 10, 2019. Though not directly tied to this grant, I was also able to present final results at the World Congress on Undergraduate Research in Oldenburg, Germany in May 2019. Presenting in Germany enabled me to meet promising young researchers from all over the world and enhanced my global awareness.
Without the Honor & Scholars Enrichment Grant, I’m certain that I would still pursue research, but I would not have had as many opportunities open to me. This initial funding began a research project that was entirely transformative for my undergraduate experience.