Ever since she was a young girl, Alison Caldwell wanted to be an astronaut. She remembers getting her first telescope from her grandfather when she was 12. Space was an exciting new frontier and she was eager to explore it when she began her freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an aerospace engineering major.
Then an unexpected thing happened. She started taking introductory courses in neuroscience and was struck by how passionate her professors were and how vast and complex the brain was—just like space. "The exploration of space and the brain are answering similar questions," Caldwell says. "Who are we, and what is our place in the universe?"
She also loved the idea of using her brain to understand how the brain works. "It's so meta!" she says. She switched her major and graduated with a degree in neuroscience. Today, Caldwell is pursuing her PhD at the University of California San Diego, where she's studying how astrocytes—star-shaped glial cells in the brain and spinal cord that provide nutrients to the nervous tissue, among other functions—help neurons grow and form connections.
Just like her professors at MIT, Caldwell is passionate about her research and eager to share it with the general public. So when she heard about the American Academy of Neurology's 2018 Neuro Film Festival, she knew she had to enter. "I've made a lot of basic neuroscience videos about how the brain works. The contest seemed like a fun opportunity to tell a new audience about my research and why I love neuroscience," she says. Caldwell's enthusiasm jumps off the screen in every frame, and she explains her work in clear and animated ways using graphics and other editing techniques. Her talent as both a videographer and neuroscientist was a winning combination, and she took home the Grand Prize and $1,000 in the Neuroscience Is...™ Rewarding category.
Anjali Sadarangani, a 17-year-old junior in high school in the Bay Area, won the Grand Prize in the Neuroscience Is...™ Cool category for her video about how the brain controls what we see and hear. She and her sister shot the video around their neighborhood, capturing the natural beauty of their surroundings while emphasizing how the brain is involved in everyday living. "We take for granted the functions of the brain," she says. Sadarangani plans to use the $1,000 prize money to support Building Brains, a nonprofit organization she founded to teach underrepresented students about the basics of neuroscience and to help senior citizens protect their brains against neurodegenerative diseases.
Carlos Muniz, MD, a neurologist in the Dominican Republic, won the Grand Prize in the Neuroscience Is...™ Critical category for Tough as Iron, a video about a rare genetic disorder related to dystonia whose prevalence is disproportionately higher in a rural area of the island. Called pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), it causes excessive iron accumulation in the brain. Patients gradually lose the ability to control or relax their muscles and eventually can't speak, walk, or eat. For some patients, injections of botulinum toxin were helpful in loosening tight muscles, allowing at least one patient to stand and walk, says Dr. Muniz. He plans to use the video and prize money to raise awareness about the disease and garner financial support for the affected families.
The Grand Prize for Neuroscience Is...™ Essential went to Trish Flanagan, founder of the Yellow Brick Road Project, whose video, Morgan's Story, is about her daughter's rare genetic disorder. For the first six months of her life, Morgan was "perfectly normal," says Trish. "We had many months of pure bliss." When Morgan started missing milestones—not walking or talking—and not gaining weight, her pediatrician recommended tests. Eventually, through whole exome sequencing, the Flanagans learned that Morgan had "a very tiny anomaly on one gene" and was diagnosed with heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H-prime (HNRNPH2), a mutation that affects only girls. So far 40 girls in the world are known to have the mutation. Now 6 years old, Morgan is developmentally, physically, and intellectually delayed. She can walk, but she can't communicate verbally. She has regular physical therapy to build on her skills. Despite her limitations, Morgan is remarkably happy and engaged, her mother says. "She is so expressive. When she smiles, she lights up the room." The Flanagans capture that spirit in their video, which they hope will spread awareness and shine a light on genetic disorders.
To view all the entries, visit NeuroFilmFestival.com.
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For more about the winners and their videos, go to BrainLifeMag.org/2018Films.