Alexandre Stipanovich writes for The Huffington Post about Professor Earl Miller’s research into understanding consciousness. "Some parts of consciousness are very subjective, but the most objective thing about conscious thoughts is that it is a limited capacity,” explains Miller.
Philip Ball of The Guardian speaks with graduate student Steve Ramirez about the potential for neuroscientist to one day be able to replace bad memories with good ones. “I see a world where we can reactivate any kind of memory we like, or erase unwanted memories,” says Ramirez.
Thomas Burton of The Wall Street Journal writes that MIT researchers were among those awarded the first research grants under President Obama’s new BRAIN Initiative. Burton writes that one of the MIT grants will go toward “determining which exact brain circuits are involved in generating short-term memories that influence decisions.”
Boston Globe reporter Deborah Kotz writes that MIT researchers have been awarded new grants from the National Institutes of Health to further brain research. “Biophysicist Alan Jasanoff received a grant to develop imaging agents for functional MRI imaging that would target the flow of calcium into and out of brain cells,” writes Kotz of one of the MIT grants.
MIT neuroscientists were among the recipients of new grants for brain research from the National Institutes of Health, reports Jon Hamilton for NPR. Hamilton explains that as part of one grant, “Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will try to adapt functional MRI so that it can show the activity of individual brain cells.”
The BBC’s Science Hour highlights new MIT research exploring how emotions are linked to memories. Researchers found that the emotional associations of specific memories could be reversed in mice.
Amina Khan of the Los Angeles Times explores new MIT research into how the brain links memories with positive and negative emotions. “Recording memory is not like playing a tape recorder, but it is a creative process -- sometimes even leading to an entirely false memory,” explains Prof. Susumu Tonegawa.
Boston Magazine reporter Andrea Timpano writes about how MIT researchers have developed a technique to reverse the emotions associated with specific memories in mice. The new technique uses light to manipulate brain cells and control neuron activity.
Emily Tamkin of Slate writes about how MIT scientists have developed a technique to manipulate the emotional associations linked with memories in mice. “Scientists are excited by the potential impact these findings could have on, for example, treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder,” writes Tamkin.
Writing for Wired, Greg Miller explores new MIT research into the emotional association of memories. “This study and others like it are illuminating the neural mechanisms of memory in unprecedented detail, and showing that it’s possible to activate, alter, or even create memories just by tweaking the right neurons,” writes Miller.
Washington Post reporter Rachel Feltman examines how MIT researchers have uncovered the brain circuitry that links memories to emotion and how to manipulate it. In rodent tests, “neurons that had once conjured up fearful memories had been switched to pleasant ones,” writes Feltman of the MIT study.
Gautam Naik of The Wall Street Journal writes about new MIT research showing how the brain associates memories with emotion and that circuits in the brain could potentially be rewired to change bad memories to good ones. "We identified the circuit, and we've showed that we can manipulate such circuits artificially," says Dr. Roger Redondo.
Reuters reporter Sharon Begley writes about the new MIT study showing that memories can be rewired in the brain. "We could switch the mouse's memory from positive emotions to negative, and negative to positive," says Professor Susumu Tonegawa of the research.
New York Times reporter Pam Belluck examines new MIT research exploring how the brain links emotions to memories. The study provides a basis for using psychotherapy to help patients “reduce the feelings of a bad memory they have,” says Professor Susumu Tonegawa.
Penny Sarchet writes for New Scientist about how MIT researchers have successfully altered emotions associated with specific memories in mice. "Emotion is intimately associated with the memory of past events and episodes, and yet, the emotional value of the memories is malleable," says Professor Susumu Tonegawa.