Feng Zhang wins NSF's Alan T. Waterman Award
Waterman Award is NSF's highest honor recognizing an outstanding researcher under the age of 35.
Department
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
How the brain pays attention
Neuroscientists identify a brain circuit that’s key to shifting our focus from one object to another.
The brain on his mind
First-generation senior Salvador Esparza finds roles in the lab, in the dorm, and onstage.
New respect for primary visual cortex
A previously underappreciated brain region performs complex sequence learning.
MRI reveals genetic activity
New MIT technique could help decipher genes’ roles in learning and memory.
Seeking a ‘parts list’ for the retina
New technique classifies retinal neurons into 15 categories, including some previously unknown types.
3 Questions: Suzanne Corkin on new study of neuroscience’s most famous patient
Preliminary analysis of H.M.’s brain tissue lays groundwork for more comprehensive studies.
A common brain pathway for anxiety and social behavior
MIT neuroscientist Kay Tye finds a discrete brain circuit that controls social interaction, which is impaired in many brain disorders.
Never forget a face
New algorithm uses subtle changes to make a face more memorable without changing a person’s overall appearance.
Crossing disciplines, and international borders
Rhodes Scholar John Mikhael, who calls both the U.S. and Lebanon home, is also comfortable in many scientific fields.
Even when test scores go up, some cognitive abilities don’t
MIT neuroscientists find even high-performing schools don’t influence their students’ abstract reasoning.
Balancing old and new skills
MIT model explains how the brain can learn novel tasks while still remembering what it has already learned.
Schizophrenia linked to abnormal brain waves
Neuroscientists discover neurological hyperactivity that produces disordered thinking.
New role for ‘hunger hormone’
MIT study finds that ghrelin, produced during stressful situations, primes the brain for post-traumatic stress disorder.