MIT affiliates elected to National Academy of Sciences for 2026
Six MIT faculty, along with 10 additional alumni, are recognized by their peers for their outstanding contributions to research in the natural and social sciences.
McGovern Institute
Four from MIT named 2026 Searle Scholars
Computational neuroscientist Sven Dorkenwald and cell biologist Whitney Henry, along with two MIT alumni, are recognized for their exceptional early-career research contributions.
Language development in the brain
The brain’s language network is still evolving in adolescence. But by age 4, language processing is already handled by the left side of the brain, new research finds.
Powerful shrinking technique could enable devices that compute with light
MIT researchers created tiny 3D photonic devices with features small enough to channel visible light.
Learning with audiobooks
A new study finds that audiobooks help students learn new words — especially when paired with one-on-one instruction.
Turning muscles into motors gives static organs new life
A new biohybrid system developed at MIT is the first living implant that uses rewired nerves to revive paralyzed organs.
Brain circuit needed to incorporate new information may be linked to schizophrenia
Impairments of this circuit may help to explain why some people with schizophrenia lose touch with reality.
Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find
Discovering this common mechanism could lead to a universal anesthesia-delivery system to monitor patients more effectively.
How the brain handles the “cocktail party problem”
Using a computational model, neuroscientists showed how the brain can selectively focus attention on one voice among others in a noisy environment.
Neurons receive precisely tailored teaching signals as we learn
New work suggests the brain can deliver neuron-specific feedback during learning — resembling the error signals that drive machine learning.
A satellite language network in the brain
Researchers find a component of the brain’s dedicated language network in the cerebellum, a region better known for coordinating movement.
Q&A: A simpler way to understand syntax
A new book by Professor Ted Gibson brings together his years of teaching and research to detail the rules of how words combine.
Celebrating worm science
Time and again, an unassuming roundworm has illuminated aspects of biology with major consequences for human health.
New study suggests a way to rejuvenate the immune system
Stimulating the liver to produce some of the signals of the thymus can reverse age-related declines in T-cell populations and enhance response to vaccination.
When it comes to language, context matters
MIT researchers identified three cognitive skills that we use to infer what someone really means.