Rationale engineering generates a compact new tool for gene therapy
Researchers redesign a compact RNA-guided enzyme from bacteria, making it an efficient editor of human DNA.
Department
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Overlooked cells might explain the human brain’s huge storage capacity
MIT researchers developed a new model of memory that includes critical contributions from astrocytes, a class of brain cells.
Daily mindfulness practice reduces anxiety for autistic adults
After six weeks of practicing mindfulness with the help of a smartphone app, adults with autism reported lasting improvements in their well-being.
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
New evidence suggests sensory stimulation of gamma-frequency brain rhythm may promote broad-based restorative neurological health response.
Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
Study shows how a dopamine circuit enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has passed, opening new avenues for understanding and potentially treating fear-related disorders.
In kids, EEG monitoring of consciousness safely reduces anesthetic use
Clinical trial finds several outcomes improved for young children when an anesthesiologist observed their brain waves to guide dosing of sevoflurane during surgery.
Response to infection highlights the nervous system’s surprising degrees of flexibility
Upon infection, the C. elegans worm reshuffles the roles of brain cells and flips the functions of some of the chemicals it uses to regulate behavior.
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.
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.
Making AI-generated code more accurate in any language
A new technique automatically guides an LLM toward outputs that adhere to the rules of whatever programming language or other format is being used.
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.
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.