Cindy Garcia is a PhD IPN student at the CoBrA lab, Douglas Research Centre. Her project, titled Cerebral blood flow relationship with neuroanatomical changes and lifestyle in aging, falls under Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives' Research Theme 4—Population Neuroscience and Brain Health.
What inspired you to pursue your current degree?
I’ve been interested in neuroscience since studying for my undergraduate degree in Biology. In the beginning, I was amazed by the fact that as humans our personality was a product of the brain. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s would modify completely how we behave and how others perceive us. This made me realize that our brain is at the core of who we think we are. I was interested in pursuing a doctorate in neuroscience so I could help increase the knowledge of diseases that affect us as we age. In the beginning it was all about diseases, and I later understood the implications our lifestyle habits have on our health. My goal then became to understand how risk factors and lifestyle habits impact our health later in life.
What is your area of research and what are the future implications of your project?
I’m studying vascular risk factors and intervention strategies in aging. I hope my project helps us understand how our habits might impact brain anatomy. I also hope to consolidate intervention strategies as effective methods to prevent dementia and cognitive decline.
What are some challenges that you face as a trainee or in your research? How do you try to overcome them?
I think one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is learning how to deal with frustration. Since my area of research was new to me, I was learning many new things. I would constantly feel frustrated by my slow pace or my failures. These events can get in the way of enjoying the PhD process and make it difficult to stay motivated. I try to overcome moments of frustration by remembering that learning will be built upon those moments, and I try to remember that my inherent value as a human does not depend on how fast and far I get. I’ve grown in this respect, and it’s easier for me to move past the frustration.
What do you like best about (your) research?
I like that my research uses a technique called arterial spin labeling to study cerebral blood flow. This technique can be applied in a clinical setting using a general MRI machine. It’s exciting because I hope that someday cerebral blood flow will be monitored with frequency, and that it will come to be a marker of vascular health.
What non-science activity or hobby do you most enjoy?
I like to listen to music, watch movies, paint with watercolors and meet my friends to explore Montreal.
What accomplishment are you most proud of this year?
This academic year I presented a poster at the Society for Neuroscience conference. I’ve dreamed about that moment since college, and I was very proud because I put in a lot of effort to get those results.
