Scientists uncover new clues about Parkinson’s disease
Tool developed at MIT simultaneously measures chemical and electrical brain signals, revealing unexpectedly complex relationship between brain signals.
Department
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Alzheimer’s risk gene disrupts endocytosis, but another disease-linked gene could help
Astrocytes with the APOE4 gene variant show deficits of a key cellular function, but overexpressing the gene PICALM overcame the defect.
Neuroscientists discover a molecular mechanism that allows memories to form
Modifications to chromosomes in “engram” neurons control the encoding and retrieval of memories.
How we make moral decisions
In some situations, asking “what if everyone did that?” is a common strategy for judging whether an action is right or wrong.
Live imaging method brings structure to mapping brain function
Scientists distinguish brain regions based on what they do, but now have a new way to overlay information about how they are built.
MIT undergraduates pursue research opportunities through the pandemic
Working remotely this summer, students worked to better understand human intelligence and to advance machine learning applications.
Rapid test for Covid-19 shows improved sensitivity
A CRISPR-based test developed at MIT and the Broad Institute can detect nearly as many cases as the standard Covid-19 diagnostic.
School of Science appoints 12 faculty members to named professorships
Those selected for these positions receive additional support to pursue their research and develop their careers.
As information flows through brain’s heirarchy, higher regions use higher-frequency waves
Study also finds specific frequency bands of brain waves associated with encoding, or inhibiting encoding, of sensory information across the cortex.
Six strategic areas identified for shared faculty hiring in computing
New faculty in these areas will connect the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and a department or school.
Face-specific brain area responds to faces even in people born blind
Study finds that the fusiform face area is active when blind people touch 3D models of faces.
A scientific approach to education reform
Challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the need to reinvent education. Sanjay Sarma’s new book points a way.
Key brain region was “recycled” as humans developed the ability to read
Part of the visual cortex dedicated to recognizing objects appears predisposed to identifying words and letters, a study finds.
Ila Fiete studies how the brain performs complex computations
The MIT professor takes a mathematical approach to exploring memory, navigation, and other neural functions.
Looking into the black box
Recent advances give theoretical insight into why deep learning networks are successful.