Research Symposium

BIO

Solangel Reyes is a second-year student at Florida State University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry. Driven by curiosity about the brain and a passion for helping others, she hopes to attend medical school and become a physician.

At FSU, Solangel is involved in research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, where she works with Dr. Dorota Kossowska-Kuhn on Alzheimer’s disease research. Her work focuses on examining cognitive changes associated with mild cognitive impairment, a condition that can precede Alzheimer’s disease. Through this research, she contributes to literature reviews and data coding for a large meta-analysis that explores early cognitive indicators of neurodegenerative disease.

Solangel has also gained hands-on experience in healthcare through several clinical roles. She previously worked at CVS as a certified pharmacy technician, where she assisted pharmacists, prepared medications, and helped patients navigate their prescriptions. She now works at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as a Patient Resource Assistant, supporting patient care and providing one-on-one observation for individuals who require additional monitoring.

In addition to her research and clinical work, Solangel completed Florida State University’s Global Scholars Program, where she explored how financial barriers and access to resources affect cancer patients and their treatment experiences.

Known for her empathy, kindness, and strong work ethic, Solangel hopes to one day combine research and medicine to improve patient care and make healthcare more accessible to all communities.

Cognitive Skills Model For Predicting Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Dementia is a growing health concern that affects many older adults around the world. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is often considered an early stage of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. People with MCI may experience symptoms similar to dementia, although the changes are typically less severe. Spatial navigation refers to the ability to understand one’s position and movement within an environment. Changes in this ability may help researchers detect early cognitive decline. This meta-analysis examines differences in spatial navigation abilities between individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and cognitively healthy (CH) older adults.

To conduct this study, research articles related to MCI and spatial navigation were carefully reviewed. The research process included screening article abstracts, conducting full-text reviews, and extracting key information from studies that met the inclusion criteria. At the time of writing, 207 articles have been screened and 37 studies have been fully extracted for the meta-analysis.

This project represents one of the largest studies examining spatial navigation in individuals with MCI. By combining findings across studies, this research aims to better understand how spatial navigation changes may signal early cognitive decline. Identifying these patterns may support earlier detection of MCI and contribute to future strategies aimed at slowing or preventing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s, Meta analysis, Cognition