UK Personal Statement

here comes the sun doodoodododo

With this PS, I applied to

• Experimental Psychology - Oxford

• Data Science - Warwick

• Data Science - UCL

• Computing (Software Engineering) - Imperial

• Neuroscience and Psychology - KCL

My preoccupation with the human brain started with my grandfather’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2012. I witnessed how the illness dulled his faculties and resulted in clinical depression, disrupting his life and those around him. After a point, he could no longer recognize me, nor I him. I relived similar experiences with family friends, whose children were born with autism and Down Syndrome. Desperately seeking to support my loved ones, I sought to understand their ailments.

My high-school chemistry curriculum revealed the brain’s biochemical constitution, highlighting how neurological functions (perception and learning) are governed by the transmission of nerve impulses. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in AP Psychology exhibited the factors impacting human behaviour and their cognitive underpinnings. Meanwhile, studying the McCulloch-Pitts computational neuron model introduced me to deep neural networks (called ‘perceptrons’), and how mathematical models could simulate neural processes. Upon recommendation from my seniors, I read Brian Christian’s ‘Algorithms to Live By’ and soon surmised that computer science was the key to unlocking a more profound understanding of neuroscience.

But how much do we know about the brain to accurately recreate an ‘artificially intelligent’ lifeform? What specic cognitive functions are we aiming to replicate in AI? What novel insights can be garnered by studying neurodivergent brains? To answer these questions, I enrolled in the PrincetonAI4ALL program. Professor Olga Russakovsky’s stimulating lectures on biases in large language models and the architecture of transformers helped me analyse how sociocultural biases - such as stigmas around mental health - were coded into software like OpenAI’s Da-Vinci. Recognizing the need for a supportive and safe platform for teenagers, I developed Terendipity (Teen+Serendipity), using React Native and Expo with Firebase for the backend. This app helps parents and instructors of neurodivergent children by empowering them with activities to better teach phonetics, engage in non-verbal communication, and even provide music therapy.

Thereafter, over the summer, I volunteered at Blooming Words, a speech therapy and learning clinic for neurodivergent children. I shadowed and conducted interviews with medical practitioners and secondary caregivers to understand their pedagogical approaches to ABA therapy in an Indian setting. The results of my rigorous fieldwork were two-fold: while I discovered that neurodivergent students lacked a standardised curriculum, academic research on learning therapies catering to Asian audiences was also absent. Publishing these insights in the Indian Journal of Psychology and being invited to SciTech Neuro-Mental Health 2023, I evaluated the potential of pairing standard Western learning therapies with bilingual and even bicultural modes of delivery. I designed Project Daskalos to streamline my findings into a uniform lesson plan, making it accessible across Indian centers. This cross-platform Flutter app utilises Firebase for authentication, incorporates a NoSQL database, and employs unofcial YouTube APIs for music therapy, along with ESL ashcards for nonverbal communication, thus equipping caregivers with engaging tools for their children.

Collaborating with Professors from the University of Montreal, I am currently researching the hyper-scanning Python pipeline for inter-brain connectivity analysis, which has the potential to unlock breakthroughs in how neurodivergent and neurotypical interactions can be enhanced for better communication. The UK’s dedication to psychological health through research and practice will bolster my study of neuroscience and related fields, so that I may gain deeper insights into who we are, and how we can ameliorate the conditions affecting individuals and their loved ones around the world.