By Jivani Gengatharan

Only hours after walking into a neuroscience lab for the first time, Liza Woythaler ’14 was bombarded with new tasks and scientific procedures.

Although it took four weeks to immerse herself in the tasks, observing three-dimensional images of the hippocampus of the brain was a worthwhile experience, Woythaler said.

Woythaler interned at the UCLA neuroscience department two days a week under Staff Research Associate Brian Renner, after getting a recommendation from her friend’s mother who worked in the department.

She assisted other scientists in processes known as segmentation and interpolation.

These produce a three-dimensional representation of the hippocampus from an MRI.

Segmentation outlines the hippocampus and divides it into 11 parts.

These 11 parts are copied into slides, which are then used in interpolation.

“It was a great experience to meet and work with talented researchers at UCLA. I would love to do it again,” Woythaler said.