Rochelle is a second year undergraduate majoring in neuroscience at UCLA. She is heavily interested in how the environment influences neuron degeneration. At UCLA, Rochelle conducts research in Dr. William Zeiger’s lab. She had been a member of the Zeiger lab since January 2023. Researchers at the Zeiger lab aim to understand how dysfunction of brain circuits in neurological diseases leads to specific symptoms and disability. Through using a combination of in vivo imaging techniques, circuit tracing, novel behavioral assays, and circuit manipulations to study circuit dysfunction in mouse models of diseases such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The ultimate goal of the Zeiger lab is to define new therapeutic avenues to alleviate symptoms and modify the course of neurological disease for patients. Rochelle’s research project in the Zeiger lab focuses on the pathological spread of Alpha Synuclein protein that forms aggregates known as Lewy bodies in affected Parkinson’s patients. By injecting the Alpha Synuclein protein directly onto the primary visual cortex (V1), she was able to quantify the protein aggregates using computational methods in the V1 and adjacent areas affected by the pathological spread. Her project is a part of a larger project in the Zeiger lab to test if the presence of the aggregated Alpha Synuclein in the V1 correlates to cognitive symptoms such as visuospatial and visuoperceptual deficits that are commonly seen in Parkinson’s patients. Overall, the goal is to characterize a novel model of PD Dementia/Dementia with Lewy Bodies and increase our understanding of the mechanisms of cognitive impairment in patients with PD. She would like to thank Dr. William Zeiger, the entire Zeiger lab, and the CARE Fellows Program for so kindly supporting her and her undergraduate research experience.