{"id":56997,"date":"2019-06-03T12:12:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T16:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=56997"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:58:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:58:37","slug":"spring-convocation-neuroscience-and-mental-health-student-makes-waves-with-brain-research","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/spring-convocation-neuroscience-and-mental-health-student-makes-waves-with-brain-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Convocation: Neuroscience and Mental Health Student Makes Waves with Brain Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Spring Convocation: Neuroscience and Mental Health Student Makes Waves with Brain Research\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

When Kayla Schumacker first applied to Carleton University\u2019s Neuroscience and Mental Health program<\/a>, she couldn\u2019t know that one day she would present at the renowned Society for Neuroscience<\/a> conference in Washington, D.C., never mind win a Viewer\u2019s Choice Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was just looking through brochures and I came across Carleton\u2019s neuroscience program. It really resonated with me because I would be able to study the brain while maintaining the science aspect of it as well, instead of just a general psychology program,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kayla
Kayla Schumacker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Later, that data would be the stepping stone to an impressive thesis, especially for an undergraduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumacker was a student in Prof. Melissa Chee\u2019s lab when she uncovered her research topic. She started by looking at cells in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain involved in feeding, stress, sex and other homeostatic behaviours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were looking at cell populations there that co-express dopamine, a neurotransmitter that has wide effects on the brain, and GABA, which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we found is that in the hypothalamus, there was very high colocalization (overlap), so almost every dopamine cell co-expressed GABA,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery led Schumacker to look in depth at one of those brain regions called the arcuate nucleus, a key factor in her hypothesis at the Young Researchers Conference<\/a> in Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the conference, she explained how one nucleus in the hypothalamus, known as the zona incerta, had 100 per cent colocalization, but only at one specific brain atlas level. This is a significant finding because it shows a unique pattern that is not seen in any other hypothalamic nucleus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumacker\u2019s passion for mental health also has roots in her personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy family has a history of mental illness and it\u2019s always resonated with me to look into it, to research it, to help those who are struggling with it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her dedication to mental health doesn\u2019t only lie in her academic life. As a brain health advocate, she supports a wide variety of community organizations and studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne day I heard about a study going on at the Children\u2019s Hospital of Eastern Ontario<\/a> (CHEO) where they needed volunteers to help with their research on a study looking at self-harm in adolescent females. So, since my second year, I\u2019ve been volunteering with CHEO with that study doing the Trier social stress test,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumacker explains that the stress test simulates an acute stressor in a controlled environment, in order to study the stress hormones produced and how they differ in teenage girls with self-harm tendencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the Society for Neuroscience, Ottawa Chapter, Schumacker helped organize the Brain and Mental Health Art Show<\/a>. The annual event brings the local Ottawa community together to bring awareness to mental health while supporting charities in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumacker also volunteered for Carleton\u2019s Student Alliance for Mental Health and Brain Awareness Week, where she presented at local schools in the community about the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She received the Provost Scholar Award for her exceptional student accomplishments and manages to maintain all her activities through a distinct ambition to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have very high standards for myself and for what I want to achieve in the future . . .  everything that I\u2019ve done has been around what I\u2019ve been wanting to do,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumacker likes to leave things on a cheery note: \u201cThere\u2019s always a reason to be happy and there\u2019s always a reason to smile, even if it\u2019s something small,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that she\u2019s got a Bachelor of Science under her belt, she plans to start her master\u2019s this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring Convocation<\/a> is taking place from Monday, June 10 until Friday, June 14. The ceremonies will be broadcast online via live streaming at Carleton.ca\/convocation\/live<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Kayla Schumacker first applied to Carleton University\u2019s Neuroscience and Mental Health program, she couldn\u2019t know that one day she would present at the renowned Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, D.C., never mind win a Viewer\u2019s Choice Award. \u201cI was just looking through brochures and I came across Carleton\u2019s neuroscience program. It really resonated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":57004,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25],"cu_story_tag":[1919],"class_list":["post-56997","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-science"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/56997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/56997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97406,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/56997\/revisions\/97406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=56997"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=56997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}