Rethinking how our brains use categories to make sense of the world
Researchers propose a challenge to the traditional view of how the brain uses its ability to categorize.
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Rett syndrome study highlights potential for personalized treatments
Using advanced human cell cultures, MIT researchers tracked how two different mutations alter neural circuit development, and how each could be addressed with distinct potential therapeutics.
How neurons sense bacteria in the gut
Neural interaction with bacteria has important effects on animal brains. A new study investigates how neurons sense bacteria by revealing, in nematodes, the bacterial signals that a key neuron detects.
With navigating nematodes, scientists map out how brains implement behaviors
MIT scientists create a detailed map of exactly what happens in the brains of C. elegans worms when they “follow their nose” to savor attractive odors or avoid unappealing ones.
Leading with rigor, kindness, and care
“We cannot be effective scientists if we are unhappy or unhealthy outside of the lab,” says “Committed to Caring” honoree Sara Prescott.
After 16 years leading Picower Institute, Li-Huei Tsai will sharpen focus on research, teaching
Tsai, who has grown the MIT neuroscience institute, will increase focus on research including Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome.
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.
Scientists discover genetics behind leaky brain blood vessels in Rett syndrome
By showing the problem derives from genetic mutations that lead to overexpression of a microRNA, MIT researchers’ study points to potential treatment.
Fragile X study uncovers brain wave biomarker bridging humans and mice
Researchers find mice modeling the autism spectrum disorder fragile X syndrome exhibit the same pattern of differences in low-frequency waves as humans — a new marker for treatment studies.
MIT faculty, alumni named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows
Annual award honors early-career researchers for creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments.
AI algorithm enables tracking of vital white matter pathways
Opening a new window on the brainstem, a new tool reliably and finely resolves distinct nerve bundles in live diffusion MRI scans, revealing signs of injury or disease.
How a unique class of neurons may set the table for brain development
Somatostatin-expressing neurons follow a unique trajectory when forming connections in the visual cortex that may help establish the conditions needed for sensory experience to refine circuits.
Biology-based brain model matches animals in learning, enables new discovery
New “biomimetic” model of brain circuits and function at multiple scales produced naturalistic dynamics and learning, and even identified curious behavior by some neurons.
To flexibly organize thought, the brain makes use of space
MIT researchers tested their theory of spatial computing, which holds that the brain recruits and controls ad hoc groups of neurons for cognitive tasks by applying brain waves to patches of the cortex.
Celebrating worm science
Time and again, an unassuming roundworm has illuminated aspects of biology with major consequences for human health.