A mathematics and physics major from Elsie, Michigan, Damion entered his senior year at Albion this fall with plans to pursue a doctorate in psychological neuroscience. He spent part of his summer with physics professor Demian Cho investigating how EEG, or electroencephalography signals, are different for two cases of epileptic seizures. He did this by stimulating EEG signals on a neural network he coded in Python. We sat down with Damion, who was diagnosed with epilepsy four years ago, to discuss his personal interest in the research project and how he spent his time.

Io Triumphe!: Ok, this is super-important research that impacts real people, yourself included. Can you share what you did this summer and why it means so much to you?

Gehres: When it comes to epileptic seizures there are two different ideas of the causes. One idea is called the supercritical brain avalanche, in which the lighting of one neuron causes the lighting of too many other neurons, causing the brain to overload. The other is excessive neuronal synchronization in which the neurons in the brain repeatedly and together activate and deactivate.

For my FURSCA project, I am first coding in a singular neuron in Python. From there, I am building a network of connected neurons. Once we have that network, we then code an EEG into the network which will give us what neurologists see when they plug a patient into an EEG. This will hopefully allow us to tell the difference between if their seizure is a cause of synchronous activity within the brain or an overload of the brain.

I feel like through working on this project I am beginning to understand myself as well. I was diagnosed with epilepsy four years ago and my case, like many others, was labeled as Idiomatic, which means that the doctors do not know what causes my seizures. I feel as if I am helping myself understand what is going on and this has the potential to make it so other patients don’t have to sit wondering what is wrong with them.

What got you interested in psychological neuroscience as a potential career pathway?

One day, Dr. Cho allowed the physics majors to sit in on a call where a colleague of his was giving a talk about super-critical brain avalanches, which have become a major component of my research this summer. He is a professor at Indiana University, which is part of why I want to apply there for graduate school. I eventually want to become a computational neuroscientist and work on epilepsy and other clinical brain conditions to understand what is happening to patients through the use of models and mathematics. I also want to branch out into clinical conditions and use clinical tools to understand how our brain networks affect our psychology.

What does a typical day look like for you as you explore this research?

My project is in a small room with a computer and a whiteboard. On a typical day, I put some headphones on and play some music. I open up my research diary that Dr. Cho asks us to keep and I type in my goals. Next, I review my code from the day prior and I write what is known as “pseudo code” on the whiteboard (This is just the logic of the code without the actual language itself). Then, I open up my Python Notebook that I test my ideas in and write it in there and run it before I insert it into the main code. Finally, to end the day, I write in my research diary what I accomplished so when I finish the project I will have a bigger appreciation for what I have achieved.

What interests you about science?

The thing that interests me the most about science is the comradery. Science is one of those fields that even though there are some significant figures it also takes more than one person to prove something. Everything has to be tested multiple times and then also by multiple people. I also love how much it affects our daily lives. I have even found that science improves my mental health with the way it causes me to look at the world and myself.

Gehres is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Mu Alpha, Albion College Drumline, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Inter Fraternity Council, and serves as a teaching assistant. In his free time, he enjoys disc golf and watching movies at the Bohm.