Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY
When I accepted my internship position at the Nathan Kline Institute, I knew very little about clinical research. I pictured working with Excel spreadsheets all day. Since I had little practical experience with statistics or coding, I was concerned I wasn’t qualified for the position. I was not entirely incorrect, I did work with many spreadsheets, but my day-to-day internship experience varied more than I expected. As a neuropsychology research intern, I had the opportunity to be involved in both data collection and analysis and meet research scientists from many departments within NKI.
During the first week of my internship, I familiarized myself with the ongoing projects at NKI and decided where to focus my efforts for the summer. I was surprised by the relative freedom I was given as an intern; I was able to choose which project I wanted to work on and my supervisor was very interested in tailoring my summer experience to fit my long-term career interests. I decided to contribute to a project investigating the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness, hippocam pal volume, and verbal memory. I am a biology and psychology double major at Williams, so this was a perfect combination of work I did last summer in a cardiovascular research lab and my newfound interest in neuroscience. Before looking at any data, I participated in two literature reviews. The first focused on an upcoming grant proposal, and the second gave me background information for the hippocampal volume project. I quickly gained an appreciation for the nuances of different approaches to analyzing the same neuropsychological test data. My supervisor and I discussed the papers I read during the literature review and developed a plan for the hippocampal volume project data analysis.
The actual data analysis required a lot of data cleaning. For context, researchers at Nathan Kline are currently in their fifth year of collecting longitudinal data for an adult cohort of 400 participants from Rockland County, N.Y. These efforts are part of the larger Rockland Sample Initiative, a research program involving over 1400 participants, aimed at understanding how the brain changes over time in relation to physical and cognitive health. Participants received an MRI scan and full neuropsychological test battery at each visit, so we had an incredible amount of data to work with. When we started, it was the largest spreadsheet I had ever seen. A computer algorithm determined hippocampal volumes from the structural MRI scans, and I performed a quality control check to determine whether the computer correctly identified the hippocampus. It was highly accurate but often had trouble with the younger participants because they moved around too much in the scanner! With such a large data set, there were a few logistical challenges. Once we decided which variables we were interested in, we had to find the data and consolidate it into one file. As with any longitudinal study, there was a decent amount of missing data, so it was important to ensure variables were merged based on the correct participant ID and visit number. Finally, once all of the data was in one place, we decided which verbal memory sub-scores to include in the preliminary analysis and which variables we were interested in using as controls. As someone who is not great with computers, I am incredibly grateful Professor Zaki’s PSYC 201 course taught me how to use SPSS!
To better understand the data I was analyzing, I also had the opportunity to shadow the data collection process for the Rockland Sample. It was helpful to see what the administration of the neuropsychological tests looked like, before they were scored and entered into spreadsheets on the computer. As someone who is hoping to attend medical school, I found this especially interesting because many of these tests are used as diagnostic tools in clinical settings. I also had the opportunity to participate in the pilot phase of data collection for a new study. I learned how to set up an EEG cap, make small alterations to increase protocol efficiency and assist with the fMRI scans. I really enjoyed the mix of data analysis and data collection; working on data analysis led to engaging conversations about current topics in neuroscience and working on data collection allowed for direct interaction with participants.
One of the main messages I have taken away from this summer has been that in order to understand atypical aging, patterns of typical development need to be established first. This will become increasingly relevant as the proportion of older adults in our population continues to grow in the upcoming years. Unfortunately, neuroimaging studies have been historically underpowered due to small sample sizes and the expense of high-quality MRI scanning. For this reason, data from the Rockland Sample Initiative is anonymized and openly shared with researchers around the world. The population demographics of Rockland County closely match those of the United States as a whole, increasing the applicability of any research findings. The project’s large sample size and standardized testing procedure help clarify the nuanced relationship between changes in brain structure and behavior across the lifetime.
I had an overwhelmingly positive experience as a neuropsychology research intern at NKI. For one, I received great mentorship from my supervisor. A neuropsychologist by training, she was an incredible teacher and took the time to explain the many aspects of neuropsychological testing and statistics that were unfamiliar to me. As mentioned earlier, I was given a lot of independence, which helped me become more confident in my own research abilities, reaffirming my interest in pursuing a neuroscience concentration at Williams. I also had the opportunity to meet research scientists in different departments at Nathan Kline and discuss their career trajectories. This was one of the most meaningful parts of the internship experience, as it exposed me to different careers in neuroscience, psychiatry, and public health. I still hope to attend medical school in the future, but I’m keeping an open mind when it comes to research and other career opportunities outside of traditional clinical practice.
I would like to thank Dr. MacKay-Brandt for her mentorship at NKI this summer, the ’68 Center for Career Exploration for organizing the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program, and Mr. William Chapman ’64 for his generosity. I feel incredibly grateful to be a part of such a supportive Williams community. Thank you!