Brain and Cognitive Sciences

An $11.6 million artificial intelligence computing cluster donated by IBM to MIT will come online this fall at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

IBM gives artificial intelligence computing at MIT a lift

Nearly $12 million machine will let MIT researchers run more ambitious AI models.

August 26, 2019

An MIT study suggests that mindfulness can improve mental health and academic performance in middle school students.

Two studies reveal benefits of mindfulness for middle school students

Focusing awareness on the present moment can enhance academic performance and lower stress levels.

August 26, 2019

Picower Professor Earl Miller teamed up with the lab of former postdoc Markus Siegel at the University of Tuebingen to devise a method for learning more about the different kinds of neurons that can be measured with electrodes.

New method classifies brain cells based on electrical signals

Making electrophysiology more informative, team shows how to distinguish four classes of cells by spike waveform.

August 22, 2019

Diagram illustrates the structure of the tiny bubbles, called liposomes, used to deliver drugs. The blue spheres represent lipids, a kind of fat molecule, surrounding a central cavity containing magnetic nanoparticles (black) and the drug to be delivered (red). When the nanoparticles are heated, the drug can escape into the body.

A new way to deliver drugs with pinpoint targeting

Magnetic particles allow drugs to be released at precise times and in specific areas.

August 19, 2019

MIT researchers have found a circuit of thousands of neurons in the mammalian brain (blue) traces out a one-dimensional ring during complex navigation behaviors. “In the absence of this ring,” explains Associate Professor Ila Fiete, “we would be lost in the world.”

Finding the brain’s compass

A powerful method has allowed McGovern researchers to discover how the brain represents the complex world in simple shapes.

August 12, 2019

Researchers are examining how quickly drivers can detect and correctly respond to road hazards, to improve safety of “semiautonomous” cars.

Study measures how fast humans react to road hazards

In “semiautonomous” cars, older drivers may need more time to take the wheel when responding to the unexpected.

August 7, 2019

Images from two-photon microscopy track the comings and goings of dendritic spines (key infrastructure for neural connections called synapses) in a mouse brain. Top row: A spine present on day 14 is gone by two weeks later. Bottom row: A spine emerges around day 28 and sticks around.

How brain cells pick which connections to keep

Novel study shows protein CPG15 acts as a molecular proxy of experience to mark synapses for stabilization.

August 6, 2019

Speeding up drug discovery for brain diseases

Whitehead Institute team finds drugs that activate a key brain gene; initial tests in cells and mice show promise for rare, untreatable neurodevelopmental disorder.

July 31, 2019

SHANK3 (green) is expressed along with a neural marker (NeuN) in the mouse anterior cingulate cortex.

Neuroscientists identify brain region linked to altered social interactions in autism model

In a mouse model, restoring activity of a specific forebrain region reverses social traits associated with autism.

July 26, 2019

New faculty of the MIT School of Science: (clockwise from top left) Netta Engelhardt, Evelina Fedorenko, Erin Kara, Pulin Li, Morgan Sheng, Seychelle Vos, and Xiao Wang.

New faces in the School of Science faculty

Departments of Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Chemistry, and Physics welcome new faculty members.

July 23, 2019

MIT neuroscientists have identified patterns of brain activity that underlie our ability to interpret sensory input based on our expectations and past experiences.

How expectation influences perception

Neuroscientists find brain activity patterns that encode our beliefs and affect how we interpret the world around us.

July 15, 2019

The tiny coils in the fiber developed by MIT researchers curl even tighter when warmed up. This causes the fiber to contract, much like a muscle fiber.

Artificial “muscles” achieve powerful pulling force

New MIT system of contracting fibers could be a boon for biomedical devices and robotics.

July 11, 2019

The CRISPR family enzyme Cas13 (pink) is at the heart of the RESCUE platform, where it uses a special guide (red) to target RNAs in the cell (blue).

New CRISPR platform expands RNA editing capabilities

The new system, dubbed RESCUE, allows RNA edits to be made that were not previously possible.

July 11, 2019

Top row, left to right: Yogesh Surendranath, Tracy Slatyer, and Yen-Jie Lee. Bottom row, left to right: Joseph Checkelsky, Kwanghun Chung, Benedetto Marelli, and James LeBeau.

Seven MIT faculty win 2019 Presidential Early Career Awards

Checkelsky, Chung, LeBeau, Lee, Marelli, Slatyer, and Surendranath receive the highest U.S. award for young scientists and engineers.

July 10, 2019

Shawn Robinson, senior research associate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, helped kick off the first-ever MIT Science of Reading event dressed in full superhero attire as Doctor Dyslexia Dude — the star of a graphic novel series he co-created to engage and encourage young readers, rooted in his own experiences as a student with dyslexia.

Bridging the gap between research and the classroom

MIT’s first-ever Science of Reading event brings together researchers and educators to discuss how to use research to improve literacy outcomes.

June 27, 2019

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Department