Reasons Why I Like Studying Neuroscience

During the last two years of my academic study, I found that studying neuroscience is extremely interesting because of the brain’s ability to learn, how memories are created and connected as well as how neuronal circuits come together to give rise to extremely complex cognitive processes.

Both Memory and learning are dependent on each other because the information stored in the memories provides the framework to link new information, by associating them.

One of the devastating diseases that affect the neurons in the brain is Alzheimer’s disease. It is a progressive brain disorder that leads to memory loss and decline in thinking skills, and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. Moreover, Neuroinflammation has been established as a fundamental component of Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. Microglia, the brain's innate immune cells, has been recognized to play essential roles in the pathogenesis of the central nervous system. It is activated in response to amyloid-beta leading to neuroinflammation as the amyloid-beta releases neurotoxic mediators and contributes to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. The role of microglia in regulating amyloid-beta phagocytosis is not determined yet. Accordingly, several approaches have been under research for manipulating microglial activation to prevent neurodegeneration and promote neuroprotection.

Furthermore, in severe stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the person becomes completely dependent on others for basic daily life activities. Recently, I had the experience of being a volunteer to an elderly service and houses of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. I was responsible for providing companionship and assisting in their daily needs.

Autism Spectrum disorder is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with a polygenetic predisposition that can be triggered by multiple environmental factors during several stages of brain development. It is manifested within the first two or three years after birth and progressively worsening in later in life. Genetic modifiers and epigenetic alterations play a key role in modulating the phenotypic spectrum of autism spectrum disorder patients. The core symptoms are impairments of sociability, communicative skills, and repetitive behaviors. Furthermore, the continuous investigation will eventually lead to a cohesive understanding of the interplay between causative genetic factors and disease modifiers in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder.

Finally, I am excited about the challenges that are ahead of me in this internship program as well as in my career. Also, I hope that I will have a chance to be attached to one of your research programs that will eventually broaden my perspective about other approaches for curing diseases as well as experiencing different research fields. I was a research lab assistant in the biochemistry department at The German University in Cairo under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sally Ibrahim. The objective was to get in-depth with the molecular biology techniques upon studying the correlation of vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, my goal is to pursue a career as a researcher; I believe that this internship program will help me to further develop my skills that can set up the building blocks toward my future research career.