The Honors Program’s core curriculum is comprised of interdisciplinary courses, experiential learning, and reflection via a portfolio. Why do you think an interdisciplinary education is important and how do you think it will impact your undergraduate experience?
My passion for music and languages has driven me to learn about their point of convergence: the brain. However, my biology classes never provided me a chance to explore this topic in depth because my teachers claimed it was too complicated. But this did not curtail my curiosity. In high school, I joined neuroscience club to find out what made the brain so complex.
Neuroscience club allowed me to view my passions in an interdisciplinary light. I began to see how the brain responds to music, which can reduce cortisol, or stress hormone; increase productivity; and aid a person’s memory based on their feelings about a song. When I sing, my pituitary gland releases endorphins and oxytocin, and my basal ganglia are more active, leading to improved mood and more efficient information processing. When I speak English or Telugu--my native languages--the Broca area is activated. But when I speak French or Korean--languages learned later in life--the ancillary Broca’s area is used instead. Subsequently, my interest in the brain evolved from a simple curiosity to an amazement for its immense intricacy.
I plan to pursue neuroscience to help treat neurological speech disorders, such as aphasia and apraxia, through treatments in music as well as medicine. I plan to start doing so from the undergraduate level. Through classes at the University of Washington, such as Systems and Behavioral Neurobiology, which discusses sensory-motor integration, learning, and memory; Psychology and Music, which includes music perception, cognition, and therapy; and Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Analysis, which teaches the cognitive aspects of language structure, I can gain a greater understanding of how combining the three disciplines can better treat patients. After graduating, I want to continue research to help further our understanding of neuroscience with respect to music and language development.