Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Researchers use skeletal keypoint data to match the movements of musicians with the tempo of their part, allowing listeners to isolate similar-sounding instruments.

Identifying a melody by studying a musician’s body language

Music gesture artificial intelligence tool developed at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab uses body movements to isolate the sounds of individual instruments.

June 25, 2020

When keeping track of location a particular region of the brain, the lateral septum, pays special attention to where the reward is located, compared to another region, the hippocampus, that tracks location without that same bias.

Like a treasure map, brain region emphasizes reward location

The lateral septum encodes spatial information with a special emphasis on where the reward lies.

June 23, 2020

Researchers present at the MIT-Takeda launch event earlier this year.

MIT-Takeda program launches

Research projects will harness the power of artificial intelligence to positively impact human health.

June 18, 2020

An MIT-led research team has discovered evidence that a classic visual illusion called simultaneous brightness contrast, such as the one seen here, relies on brightness estimation that takes place in the retina, not the brain’s visual cortex. In this image, the two small discs appear to have different brightness despite having identical luminance.

Study sheds light on a classic visual illusion

Neuroscientists delve into how background brightness influences our perception of an object.

June 16, 2020

In Alzheimer's disease, the blood-brain barrier can become disrupted by the accumulation of amyloid protein, especially in people who carry a genetic variant called APOE4. This 3D rendering of an APOE4-carrying engineered blood vessel shows heavy accumulation of amyloid protein (green).

Study finds path for addressing Alzheimer’s blood-brain barrier impairment

MIT researchers pinpoint mechanism and demonstrate that drugs could help.

June 15, 2020

A set of images documents one participant through multiple interactions with MIT's "Your Baby the Physicist" study. The study is one of many now made more easily accessible to participants through the new Children Helping Science collaborative.

Serious science at home

Children Helping Science, co-led by Professor Laura Schulz, brings research to families, and families to research.

June 9, 2020

Researchers are studying the role of the immune system molecule IL-6 in Huntington's disease, which leads to neurodegeneration in a region of the brain called the striatum. In this figure from a prior study, green staining highlights Stat3 in the striatum. Stat3 is a major transducer of IL-6 signaling.

Research highlights immune molecule’s complex role in Huntington’s disease

Knocking out the immune cytokine IL-6 exacerbates symptoms in HD model mice, affects neural connection genes.

June 8, 2020

A new algorithm, called the Fast Loaded Dice Roller (FLDR), simulates the roll of dice to produce random integers. The dice, in this case, could have any number of sides, and they are “loaded,” or weighted, to make some sides more likely to come up than others.

Algorithm quickly simulates a roll of loaded dice

Approach for generating numbers at random may help analyses of complex systems, from Earth’s climate to financial markets.

May 28, 2020

Students participating in MIT Quest for Intelligence-funded UROP projects include: (clockwise from top left) Alon Kosowsky-Sachs, Isaac Wolverton, Kuan Wei Huang, and Karen Gu.

Undergraduates develop next-generation intelligence tools

UROP students explore applications in robotics, health care, language understanding, and nuclear engineering.

May 26, 2020

MIT scientists have identified a potential new strategy for treating Fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is the leading heritable cause of intellectual disability and autism. The team includes, from left–right: Amanda Coranado, Arnold Heynen, Mark Bear, Rebecca Senter, Laura Stoppel, and Patrick McCamphill.

Scientists find a new way to reverse symptoms of Fragile X

Drug compound, tested in mice, could be effective in treating the leading heritable cause of intellectual disability and autism.

May 20, 2020

Clockwise from upper left: Angela Belcher, Bruce Walker, Jianzhu Chen, Feng Zhang, Siqi Zheng, and Lee Gehrke

Six from MIT awarded research funding to address Covid-19

Multi-institutional MassCPR initiative announces more than $16.5 million to support 62 Boston-area projects.

May 19, 2020

In this figure, neurons in the bottom row, which are missing the HDAC1 gene, show higher levels of DNA damage (green) than normal neurons.

Study finds that aging neurons accumulate DNA damage

Reactivating an enzyme that promotes DNA repair can help to reverse age-related cognitive decline in mice.

May 18, 2020

MIT researchers have found that a protein called SYT7 appears to limit activity at neural connections called synapses. Here, synapses glowing light green are engaged in neurotransmitter release.

Study finds “volume dial” for turning neural communication up or down

The protein Synaptotagmin 7 limits supply of neurotransmitter-containing vesicles for release at synapses.

May 13, 2020

Optogenetics is a technique in which genes for light-sensitive proteins are introduced into specific types of brain cells in order to monitor and control their activity precisely using light signals.

Optogenetics with SOUL

The Feng lab has developed a next-generation optogenetic system for non-invasive stimulation of neurons.

May 7, 2020

Results of the STOPCovid test appear as a single or double line on a paper strip akin to a pregnancy test. In this photo, test strips showing a single line (left panel) indicate no infection. Test strips revealing double lines (right panel) indicate the presence of the virus.

SHERLOCK-based one-step test provides rapid and sensitive Covid-19 detection

New CRISPR-based research tool delivers results in an hour; researchers share protocol and kits to advance research and move toward clinical validation.

May 5, 2020

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