Tackling rare genetic disorders with patient-focused science
Shannon Knight, a brain and cognitive sciences PhD candidate and McGovern Institute researcher, focuses on developing a novel gene therapy.
DNA shaper steers nervous system development
A study of worms finds a protein that helps shape the structure of the genome is critical for establishing the identity of some neurons.
Flexible brain circuits can switch between different tasks
Neuroscientists have discovered circuits in the prefrontal cortex that can be repurposed to store different types of information.
Diana Grass: Listening to the body’s language
The PhD candidate builds soft bioelectronic technologies to decode signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86
Tonegawa made landmark discoveries about how the immune system generates antibody diversity and how the brain forms memories.
Electric fields help guide neural activity, even from moment to moment
A new study adds evidence that electric fields in the brain help to organize and shape underlying neural activity via “ephaptic coupling.”
How visual learning happens in the brain
Scientists find that learning to identify a new object subtly reshapes visual processing in the brain.
Separating logic and language
Neuroscientists find logical reasoning does not involve language-processing parts of the brain.
The brain’s internal ruler
A simple brain circuit measures objects’ distance from the body using touch signals from a rodent’s whiskers, MIT scientists find.
Toward a future that preserves benefits of neurotechnology for all
PhD student Rachel Sava, winner of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize, explores transformative improvements and dystopian risks of neural technology.
The brain’s language network is more extensive than previously thought
A new study reveals that parts of the brain located far from the canonical language-processing centers are also involved in language comprehension.
Myriam Heiman named director of The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Heiman, who studies neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, will lead the institute beginning July 1.
Brighter MRI signals
New MRI sensors developed at MIT sensitively detect target molecules in the brain and body.
The rules neurons follow to make sense of what we see
Brain cells take in many signals through thousands of circuit connections. A new study discerns the rules that turn inputs into a functional arrangement for neurons that process vision.
Four from MIT named 2026 Searle Scholars
Computational neuroscientist Sven Dorkenwald and cell biologist Whitney Henry, along with two MIT alumni, are recognized for their exceptional early-career research contributions.