Arya

Arya
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
Cambridge, MA

Mentor: 
Nolan Hartley
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research

 

Arya spent her summer studying how specialized networks of neurons organize themselves during early brain development. Her project focused on the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), a thin layer of inhibitory neurons that helps regulate communication between the thalamus and cortex and plays important roles in sensory processing, attention, learning, and sleep.

Previous research identified two genetically distinct TRN subnetworks marked by the genes Spp1 and Ecel1. Spp1-expressing neurons predominantly form a core population associated with first-order thalamic pathways, while Ecel1-expressing neurons form a shell associated with higher-order pathways. What researchers did not yet know was when these distinct subnetworks emerge during development.

Working with Lorena, Arya used hybridization chain reaction fluorescence in situ hybridization (HCR-FISH) to visualize Spp1 and Ecel1 RNA within mouse brain tissue. HCR-FISH uses target-specific probes and fluorescent amplification to make individual RNA signals visible. The students then mapped labeled cells across the anterior-posterior axis of the TRN and quantified cell density and co-expression at different postnatal ages.

Their data indicate that the Spp1 and Ecel1 subnetworks are already present before postnatal day 14, meaning this organization emerges surprisingly early. Preliminary analyses also suggested developmental and sex-associated differences in cell density and co-expression, although larger sample sizes will be needed to establish these patterns.

Arya learned how HCR-FISH can turn gene-expression patterns into a spatial map of developing neural circuitry and how developmental conclusions depend on careful quantification across age, anatomy, and biological replicates.

Her project helps researchers understand how complex neural circuitry becomes organized during development. Future experiments will investigate whether sensory experience-including whisker-derived input-is required for these genetically defined subnetworks to develop normally.

That process gave Arya a new appreciation for how classroom science becomes real research. She described BSSP as an opportunity to better understand the real-life applications of concepts she had learned in school, while also learning “so much about perseverance and staying curious when things don't go as planned”.