UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The latest entry in the Student Spotlight series from the Huck Institutes covers Avery Sicher, a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program, and her research on the effects of alcohol consumption on brain development.
Sicher works in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering Nikki Crowley, and her research focuses on the maturing of circuits in the brain during early life and adolescence and how alcohol consumption interferes with the formation of specific neurons to alter the basic structure of the brain. Through her research, Sicher has found that binge drinking in adulthood causes somatostatin neurons to function improperly, dysregulating a critical circuit required for balanced brain development.
“Being in high school and seeing a lot of friends struggle with substance use, depression and anxiety was really impactful for me,” said Sicher. “I knew that when I started looking into research, that I wanted to do research on the brain to see how these conditions may develop.”