Megan Olson explores connections between neuroscience, psychology, mathematics and education
as she develops a screening tool for epilepsy

Megan Olson has a diverse set of interests that include education, psychology and neuroscience. The Winona State University senior is also an accomplished mathematics student who enjoys the challenge of a solving a complex equation. But Olson’s real passion is using mathematics to tie her interests together, and search for answers to real-world problems.
 Last summer Olson got the perfect opportunity to explore her interests at a summer research program that used mathematics to connect data collected with techniques that crossed the boundaries of neuroscience, clinical medicine, biomedical engineering and psychology.
 Olson participated in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and major research institutions around the United States. Her project involved conducting research to develop techniques for predicting seizures in patients suffering with epilepsy. Olson spent six weeks at Rutgers University in New Jersey developing her project and collecting data. She continued her REU for another two weeks at Charles University in the Czech Republic, where she attended upper-level seminars in applied mathematics.
 REU programs are sponsored by major research universities around the United States to give undergraduates an opportunity to work on ongoing projects. Olson applied to ten programs, all focusing on mathematics, and was selected at six.
 At Rutgers, Olson worked in a lab led by Dr. Wanpracha Chaovalitwongse, alongside other REU participants, technicians and graduate and post-doctoral students. Olson analyzed electroencephalograms (EEGs) to compare the brain wave patterns of patients suffering with epilepsy with those of normal subjects without the condition.
“Our aim is to analyze brain electrical activities acquired from normal and epilepsy patients to try and find abnormal patterns,” said Chaovalitwongse, an industrial engineering professor at Rutgers. Olson went on to explain that her team’s goal was to lay the groundwork for developing a reliable screening device to warn of seizures, which can be frightening, and in some cases dangerous, for epilepsy patients.
 Although Olson initially knew little about epilepsy heading into the project, she noticed a relation with depression, a condition she learned about in psychology classes she took at Winona State.
 And why was Olson taking psychology classes? After having doubts about her environmental science major as a freshman, Olson threw herself into her math classes, enjoying them so much that she thought a career as a math teacher might be the way to go. So she switched her major to secondary math education.
 Psychology classes are part of the education curriculum, and as Olson took the classes she became interested in the causes of depression. That led to an interest in neuroscience, the study of the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of the brain and nervous tissue and how they relate to behavior and learning.
 “People suffering from depression may undergo electroconvulsive therapy when they can’t find relief with other treatments. That essentially mimics a seizure in the brain, and I recognized right away that these are similar to the ones caused by epilepsy,” commented Olson.
 Olson’s REU project required thinking about seizures in multiple ways, including the principles and techniques from neuroscience, mathematics and biomedical engineering. It was a cross-disciplinary approach for which Olson was particularly well-suited.
 Dr. Joyati Debnath, a math professor who has taught Olson in several of her classes at Winona State, says that Olson not only brings a fresh perspective to complex problems, but also the drive to find solutions. “Megan is very good at looking at mathematics in different ways, seeing the connections and how it can be applied to other disciplines,” observed Debnath. “It also takes hard work. She doesn’t give up until she has the answer.”
 Chaovalitwongse, the director of her project at Rutgers, also described Olson as “bringing strong capabilities and profound insights” to their joint study of epileptic seizures.
 Olson cites Debnath as inspiring her to push boundaries, and arming her with the knowledge and confidence to take on the Rutgers REU project.
 “Winona State doesn’t focus on research like Rutgers, but I felt prepared by the rigor here,” said Olson. “We work on real-world problems, much like I had to do in the lab at Rutgers. I spent the first two weeks of my REU getting the knowledge I needed, and then it was up to me to decide where my project would go.” 
 Another resource Olson brought with her from Winona to Rutgers was chaos theory. Olson says that neuronal and EEG activity in the brain has been characterized as chaotic, but her summer research sought to disprove this to some extent and reveal indicators of predictability in events leading up to epileptic seizures.
 She was already familiar with chaos theory after being exposed to it by Dr. Barry Peratt, who works with Debnath in the WSU mathematics department. Peratt did his graduate work in chaos theory.
 “We study systems that are predictable in theory, but so sensitive to their initial states that they are unpredictable in practice,” said Peratt. “In class, we study some areas of medicine where chaos theory is helping model behavior. For example, the activities undergone by nerve cells and neural assemblies, such as the brain, cannot be fully understood without using techniques described by chaos theory. This touches on what Megan was doing this summer at Rutgers.”
 “I couldn’t have known when I signed up for the course, but it’s obviously been useful on my project this summer. It was one of my favorite classes because dynamic systems offer us so much more information about real world situations.”
 The results from Olson’s REU project were significant, but with just six short weeks to work, they proved inconclusive. Chaovalitwongse believes her findings were a positive first step. “We have been able to see the frequency difference in brain wave patterns in normal and epilepsy patients,” he said.
 Olson, who will graduate this spring with a second major in psychology and a minor in statistics in addition to her secondary math education degree, isn’t quite sure what the future holds. A two-week trip to Prague as part of her REU plus a close friendship with a fellow student from Iran fueled an interest in traveling and experiencing other cultures. She is considering a student teaching opportunity in New Zealand that will fulfill the requirements for her education degree.
 Through her work at Rutgers, and with the encouragement of Debnath, Olson is convinced she eventually wind up pursuing her doctoral degree in applied mathematics. Debnath agrees. “I have a dream for every student, and I see Megan moving on for a Ph.D. I can see that burning desire in her.”
 While she’s not quite sure where her disparate interests might eventually lead her, Olson is confident she’s on the right course. “I’m used to open-ended problems, so I’m used to making it all fit together.”

Last Modified: Friday, September 21, 2007 11:39 by Heather Alt