Graduate Student Fellow Studies Sleep with Math

BY GINA MANTICA

Beverly Setzer always loved math. But after finishing her undergraduate studies at North Carolina State University, she wanted to apply math to real world problems. With the support of her mentors, Setzer uses math to study how the brain transitions to and from sleep as a Graduate Student Fellow at the Hariri Institute and a PhD Student in Computational Neuroscience at Boston University.

Every day when we fall asleep, our brain’s activity changes. Researchers want to understand how the transition from sleep to wakefulness unfolds across the brain. Setzer applies computational tools to investigate how different regions of the brain activate during the moment that we wake up. On August 5, Setzer took over the Hariri Institute’s Twitter account to share her experiences and research.

As a child, Setzer’s mother encouraged her to take challenging math courses. Setzer talked about getting a PhD someday from a very early age, inspired by her mother’s doctoral degree in physics. “She spent a summer before middle school teaching me pre-algebra so that I could skip a class once I got into middle school,” said Setzer.

Setzer went on to get a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, but wasn’t sure whether to continue her graduate studies in the same field or switch to studying her other interest — the brain. “I love studying how the mind and brain works,” said Setzer, “And in neuroscience, it is becoming even more important to use computational tools to understand the brain.” The growing field of computational neuroscience drew Setzer to work on a computer-based project with Nancy Kopell, a Professor of Mathematics & Statistics at BU.  Kopell helped Setzer gain clarity on the direction of her dissertation research. “I realized that I find it really empowering to test your hypothesis directly through experimental research,” said Setzer.

Lab experiments are central to Setzer’s current research under the supervision of Laura Lewis, a Hariri Institute Junior Faculty Fellow and an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering. To study sleep, Setzer goes into the lab at night. While there, she measures other people’s brain waves using scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to understand how asleep or aroused they are. Setzer also uses simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to look at the activity happening in different parts of their brains. Combining these data together enables Setzer and colleagues to determine what goes on inside the brain when people wake up from sleeping.

Sleep is a part of everyone’s daily routine and without enough of it, health issues can arise. But studying the effects of sleep on the brain can be challenging. Computational tools, like modeling, allow researchers to better understand the brain without the need for more invasive techniques. Setzer strives to inform people about computational research and uplift those who might not have access to the same opportunities she had. “Mentors have been really important for me personally, whether it was my mother as a child, or professors in graduate school,” she said.  “I want to help students realize that the PhD path is possible and feel supported as computational scientists.”

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