Tara Isabel Lago, a Laidlaw Scholar at Columbia University, on studying the effects of early life stress on behavior and cognition.
Research Title:
The Effect of ELS on mice movement and memory
Early life stress (ELS) is a large predictive risk factor for the diagnosis of mental health disorders but the processes behind ELS’ influence on brain development and behavior are still not understood. To quantify the effects of ELS, I studied mice and how ELS impacts their performance in two behavioral tasks, pertaining to fear, anxiety response, short-term memory, and social learning. By analyzing the data with machine learning and Python, I found that ELS does impact an animal’s exploratory movement and its ability to remember and identify novelty. These results are important because they validate the hypothesis that ELS can lead to increased fear, as shown by reduced movement, and impaired memory, which can translate to symptoms seen in mental health and cognitive disorders in humans. By increasing our understanding of ELS's influence on brain development and behavior, my research can contribute to the improved treatment of depression, anxiety, and cognitive disorders in the future.
Where did your passion for this research originate?
My passion for this research actually originated during my last three years of high school. In high school, I was fortunate to attend an institution that championed curiosity in STEM by encouraging us to contact professors and intern at their labs over the summer. Here, I learned that I enjoyed doing neuroscience research, whether that be analyzing MRI brain scans, quantifying the intelligence of octopuses, or more! Thus, for my first summer as a college student, I wanted to continue exploring neuroscience, particularly in the context of medicine and treatment. In my Laidlaw research summer, I learned how to measure mice's behavioral phenotypes and connect them to early life stress (ELS), which is a large predictive risk factor for mental health disorders in humans. It was incredibly rewarding to work with the mice and problem-solve the behavioral results my lab and I expected to see. As an aspiring physician-scientist, my research reaffirmed my love for both science, medicine, and the potential for my results to have a real-life impact in treating mental health.
What is the most memorable moment from your Laidlaw scholarship experience so far?
One of the most memorable moments from my Laidlaw scholarship experience so far is spending hours in the lab’s behavioral room, where I ran and recorded the ELS and control mice exploring the maze for two tasks. I was able to immerse myself in the rhythm of the work and fine-tune the tasks such that I was able to analyze their movement successfully and obtain interesting results. On a more light-hearted note, handling the mice was very fun and they became my four-legged colleagues over the summer!
What is the biggest challenge you came across in your research and leadership journeys so far, and what did you learn from it?
In my research studying ELS, the biggest challenge I had to overcome was troubleshooting the spontaneous location recognition task, or SLR for short. This task is supposed to test a mouse’s short-term memory through their ability to separate object patterns. However, when I first analyzed the task, the controls were unable to recognize new and familiar object patterns, which contradicted previous literature. This meant that if my lab’s controls were not behaving properly, we would not be able to study our actual experimental group: the ELS mice. For almost a month, I ran three different SLR protocols and comparison analyses to determine if there were any significant improvements in control performance. While this was a setback for my research timeline, I learned to be patient and to accept that experiments are not perfect the first time around; after all, repetition and reproducibility are integral aspects of the scientific process!
Tara in PPE waving at the camera during the end of the SLR task. . .
Which particular leaders inspire you the most and why?
There are two female leaders who inspire me: Noor Inayat Khan, a historical leader, and Amanda Gorman, a current one. Noor Inayat Khan was the first Muslim spy for Britain during World War II. During her time as an agent in Nazi-occupied Paris, she never lied or inflicted harm. She stood by her Sufi ideals of non-violence and truth at a time when morals and ideals were thrown to the wayside. I am inspired by her because as a leader myself, I too want to stick to my principles and emulate them in my actions, especially in times of difficulty.
If Khan inspires me to be authentic in my actions, Amanda Gorman inspires me to be true in my words. Amanda Gorman is the youngest youth Poet Laureate who uses her poetry to expose issues in American society and empower us to enact change. As a poet myself, I am inspired to use my voice in a similar way and help people find solace and encouragement in my verse.
What does it mean for you to be a Laidlaw Scholar?
To be a Laidlaw Scholar means to join an interdisciplinary community where its members want to improve the world in their unique ways. For me, I am using my Laidlaw platform to advance mental health research at the preclinical stages. Looking at the future of my LIA, I hope to use my Laidlaw platform to contribute to better global health standards. While my Laidlaw Scholar path may be completely different to the paths of my fellow scholars, we share a similar underlying goal: to be the change makers we wish to see, big, small, and everything in between.
Briefly describe a scene from the future you are striving to create.
Ever heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? I am striving to create a future where the only incomplete need for people is at the top: self-actualization. This is a future where health disparities are non-existent. People have access to affordable and effective physical and emotional resources that can sustain their body, mind, and soul. As an aspiring physician-scientist, I hope to work toward this future by reforming our current capitalist medical infrastructure into a framework that promotes long-lasting healing rather than temporary treatment.
If you want to learn more about Tara's work, explore Tara's research here and follow her on LinkedIn. Tarais a Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholar at@Columbia University. Become a Laidlaw Scholar to conduct a research project of your choice, develop your leadership skills, and join a global community of changemakers from world-leading universities.
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