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.
Department
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
MIT affiliates named 2024 AAAS Fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science recognizes six current affiliates and 27 additional MIT alumni for their efforts to advance science and related fields.
At the core of problem-solving
Stuart Levine ’97, director of MIT’s BioMicro Center, keeps departmental researchers at the forefront of systems biology.
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.
Evidence that 40Hz gamma stimulation promotes brain health is expanding
A decade of studies provide a growing evidence base that increasing the power of the brain’s gamma rhythms could help fight Alzheimer’s, and perhaps other neurological diseases.
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.
Study suggests new molecular strategy for treating fragile X syndrome
Enhancing activity of a specific component of neurons’ “NMDA” receptors normalized protein synthesis, neural activity, and seizure susceptibility in the hippocampus of fragile X lab mice.
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.
Study: Even after learning the right idea, humans and animals still seem to test other approaches
New research adds evidence that learning a successful strategy for approaching a task doesn’t prevent further exploration, even if doing so reduces performance.
MIT method enables ultrafast protein labeling of tens of millions of densely packed cells
Tissue processing advance can label proteins at the level of individual cells across large samples just as fast and uniformly as in dissociated single 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.
Professor Emeritus Gerald Schneider, discoverer of the “two visual systems,” dies at 84
An MIT affiliate for some 60 years, Schneider was an authority on the relationships between brain structure and behavior.
Modeling complex behavior with a simple organism
By studying the roundworm C. elegans, neuroscientist Steven Flavell explores how neural circuits give rise to behavior.
Three MIT students named 2026 Schwarzman Scholars
Yutao Gong, Brandon Man, and Andrii Zahorodnii will spend 2025-26 at Tsinghua University in China studying global affairs.