Psychophysiology Personal Statement Examples

The earliest memories of my time in the education system was befriending an autistic boy from my kindergarten class, and admiring his ability to be different. To me, this stigmatized boy was a singularity among his cohorts, exceptional even. I began to wonder where we draw lines between a healthy brain and mental illness. Moreso, what about our underlying neurology manifested in the observable difference in our behaviors. Growing ever fonder of the brain and marginalized groups, I became closer to communities like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and Let’s Erase the Stigma. The former of which I joined with my now fiancé, an autistic neuroscience major herself. My goal in life is to help the world better understand what is healthy behavior,

My first experience with lab work was at the Mind Experience and Perception lab, where I operated as a project manager overseeing a project on psychophysiology and the development of vision. While in the lab, I had the opportunity to work on many projects with subjects that ranged from psychophysics, autism spectrum, empathy, and social interactions. My experience with the lab has had me lead literature reviews, develop novel hypothesis, and training teams of research associates. Moreover, I have become very familiar with crucial research skills such as data analysis, basic coding, technical writing, IRB approval, recruitment, and research design. Furthermore, I was crucial in developing and piloting an ongoing research project on social interaction and behavior that will eventually bloom into further papers. My favorite aspect of the lab was having the opportunity to be a teacher’s assistant for Karen Dobkins for psychophysiology. Although I was only an assistant, I had the chance to lead multiple review sessions for classes populated by hundreds of

In Odeak’s lab, I gained practical experience in EEG related experiments, such as technical setup and basic waveform analysis. The primary experiment I worked on used the p3 event related potential to predict arousal, and I delivered a presentation on it at the end of the quarter. Despite all that I was learning, a personal emergency came up which prevented me from committing more time to the lab. During this period my fiancé became homeless do to an abusive living situation. At this point, I dedicated up to sixty hours to academic related activity, and my grades fell from a 3.75 to a 3.65 with the added stress of the emergency. Apart from the upheaval, I was able to take up more responsibility in Dobkin’s