“Under the guidance of the team at Mātai and Dr Jerome Maller, a globally renowned neuroscientist at GE Healthcare, I navigated the software and have uncovered a new magnificent world of technology hiding in my laptop. It was a challenging task, however, using my own data was very exciting. I became so engrossed I found myself working on this every moment I had, including evenings and the weekend, to complete the processing. It was incredibly rewarding to transform my original images to showcase the complexities of the brain.
“I was the first of the interns to begin at Mātai, so as more arrive, I am excited to provide tautoko (support) through their journey. I have now started processing my data though another MRI technique called Functional MRI, which gives information about blood flow to different parts of the brain, from which we are able to interpret what areas of the brain are showing activity or simply resting. I am excited to apply this knowledge to the current studies happening at Mātai during my internship and beyond, into my Bachelor of Medical Sciences with Honours in 2022 and clinical years in medicine.”
Mātai Research director Dr Samantha Holdsworth, said while that might “sound like a simple project”, the work the interns were contributing could potentially enhance understanding of disorders that affect brain movement.
Intern Ruby Westrupp said reconstructing her own brain with the help of Dr Maller was “completely rewarding”.
“However, this is only the start of the projects that we are working on at Mātai. We are also involved in a study to learn what happens while the brain is under various conditions, such as when the heart rate is being increased and how the brain moves while under stress.
“With this study, I helped the team create a method to incorporate exercise before and during the scan in order to get the heart rate up to a certain standard. With the increase of heart rate, the body pumps more oxygen to the brain. Working on this project is adding to my knowledge of how the body functions, which ties into what I was studying — a Health, Sport and Human Performance degree — majoring in Human Performance Science.”
Mātai senior research fellow Dr Eryn Kwon said the study used a new MRI technology developed by Mātai scientists and national and international collaborators.
“We are applying this technology, and other imaging methods, to try to understand how and why the brain moves with an elevated heart rate (for example after exercise), which might help us to understand the range of normal brain movement. If we know how a typical brain moves, we may then be able to understand what happens to the brain when there is a disease or disorder that obstructs normal brain motion.”
Jade Keelan has just completed First
Year Health Sciences at the University of Otago, and aims to transition into a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree next year.
Working as an intern was helping her gain relevant health and medical perspectives.
“As an intern I have the opportunity to become competent within research study design, MRI acquisition, community involvement and mātauranga Māori.
“I have also been given the privilege to be a part of a cardiogenesis project. I will be helping on a project that looks at how a baby’s heart is formed, at the earliest stages of its development.
“This could potentially shed light into heart defects at birth.”
