How the brain distinguishes between ambiguous hypotheses
Neural activity patterns can encode competing hypotheses about which landmark will lead to the correct destination.
Former MIT researchers advance a new model for innovation
Focused research organizations (FROs) undertake large research efforts and have begun to yield scientific advances.
Different anesthetics, same result: unconsciousness by shifting brainwave phase
MIT study finds an easily measurable brain wave shift may be a universal marker of unconsciousness under anesthesia.
Rationale engineering generates a compact new tool for gene therapy
Researchers redesign a compact RNA-guided enzyme from bacteria, making it an efficient editor of human DNA.
Overlooked cells might explain the human brain’s huge storage capacity
MIT researchers developed a new model of memory that includes critical contributions from astrocytes, a class of brain cells.
Daily mindfulness practice reduces anxiety for autistic adults
After six weeks of practicing mindfulness with the help of a smartphone app, adults with autism reported lasting improvements in their well-being.
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
New evidence suggests sensory stimulation of gamma-frequency brain rhythm may promote broad-based restorative neurological health response.
Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
Study shows how a dopamine circuit enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has passed, opening new avenues for understanding and potentially treating fear-related disorders.
In kids, EEG monitoring of consciousness safely reduces anesthetic use
Clinical trial finds several outcomes improved for young children when an anesthesiologist observed their brain waves to guide dosing of sevoflurane during surgery.
Response to infection highlights the nervous system’s surprising degrees of flexibility
Upon infection, the C. elegans worm reshuffles the roles of brain cells and flips the functions of some of the chemicals it uses to regulate behavior.
A brief history of expansion microscopy
Since an MIT team introduced expansion microscopy in 2015, the technique has powered the science behind kidney disease, plant seeds, the microbiome, Alzheimer’s, viruses, and more.
MIT’s McGovern Institute is shaping brain science and improving human lives on a global scale
A quarter century after its founding, the McGovern Institute reflects on its discoveries in the areas of neuroscience, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, brain-body connections, and therapeutics.
Making AI-generated code more accurate in any language
A new technique automatically guides an LLM toward outputs that adhere to the rules of whatever programming language or other format is being used.
A visual pathway in the brain may do more than recognize objects
New research using computational vision models suggests the brain’s “ventral stream” might be more versatile than previously thought.
Molecules that fight infection also act on the brain, inducing anxiety or sociability
New research on a cytokine called IL-17 adds to growing evidence that immune molecules can influence behavior during illness.