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About
Meet Tru!
Truitt Shelts is a senior at the W.A. Franke Honors College majoring in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science, with an emphasis in cognition. Throughout her undergraduate studies she was met with countless “how aren’t we all taught this so much sooner?” moments regarding dementia prevention, the gut’s role in mental health, how traumatic memories are encoded, and more. Her thesis titled “What You Don’t Know About Your Brain: A Mini-Archive of Essential Neuroscience For a Happier, Healthier, Longer Life” consists of six articles translating complex, yet fundamental, neuroscience discoveries into an accessible, journalistic form for the average Joe. The goal is to show people how the brain is not an independent entity: cognitive deficits, mental illness, and neurodegenerative disease are often the brain responding to seemingly unrelated lifestyle choices or defaulting to its evolutionary wiring. Understanding what drives brain health makes prevention possible and cuts out the wasted time, money, and overmedication that come from treating symptoms instead of root causes. Truitt plans to carry this project’s philosophy into short-form educational media, translating neuroscience research into everyday insights for a wider audience.