A brief history of expansion microscopy
Since an MIT team introduced expansion microscopy in 2015, the technique has powered the science behind kidney disease, plant seeds, the microbiome, Alzheimer’s, viruses, and more.
McGovern Institute
MIT’s McGovern Institute is shaping brain science and improving human lives on a global scale
A quarter century after its founding, the McGovern Institute reflects on its discoveries in the areas of neuroscience, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, brain-body connections, and therapeutics.
A visual pathway in the brain may do more than recognize objects
New research using computational vision models suggests the brain’s “ventral stream” might be more versatile than previously thought.
Looking under the hood at the brain’s language system
Associate Professor Evelina Fedorenko is working to decipher the internal structure and functions of the brain’s language-processing machinery.
To the brain, Esperanto and Klingon appear the same as English or Mandarin
A new study finds natural and invented languages elicit similar responses in the brain’s language-processing network.
How nature organizes itself, from brain cells to ecosystems
McGovern Institute researchers develop a mathematical model to help define how modularity occurs in the brain — and across nature.
Seeing more in expansion microscopy
New methods light up lipid membranes and let researchers see sets of proteins inside cells with high resolution.
An ancient RNA-guided system could simplify delivery of gene editing therapies
The programmable proteins are compact, modular, and can be directed to modify DNA in human cells.
Evelina Fedorenko receives Troland Award from National Academy of Sciences
Cognitive neuroscientist is recognized for her groundbreaking discoveries about the brain’s language system.
How one brain circuit encodes memories of both places and events
A new computational model explains how neurons linked to spatial navigation can also help store episodic memories.
For healthy hearing, timing matters
Machine-learning models let neuroscientists study the impact of auditory processing on real-world hearing.
Personal interests can influence how children’s brains respond to language
McGovern Institute neuroscientists use children’s interests to probe language in the brain.
New autism research projects represent a broad range of approaches to achieving a shared goal
At a symposium of the Simons Center for the Social Brain, six speakers described a diversity of recently launched studies aimed at improving understanding of the autistic brain.
How humans continuously adapt while walking stably
Research could help improve motor rehabilitation programs and assistive robot control.
Revisiting reinforcement learning
A detailed new look at dopamine signaling suggests neuroscientists’ model of reinforcement learning may need to be revised.