Brain and cognitive sciences

In this image of the dorsal raphe nucleus, dopamine neurons are labeled in green, red, or both (appearing yellow).

Pinpointing loneliness in the brain

Scientists identify cells that represent feelings of isolation.

February 11, 2016

Cartoon stoplight with red "on" light illuminated. Green "off" light is dark.

A day in the life of a synapse reveals new facets of the adult brain

February 4, 2016

“We wanted to find the link,” Gloria Choi says. “How do you go all the way from the immune system in the mother to the child’s brain?”

How severe maternal inflammation can lead to autism-like behavior

Immune molecules in infected mothers tied to brain and behavior abnormalities in offspring.

January 28, 2016

Edward Boyden wins BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Three neuroscientists share biomedicine prize for development of optogenetics

January 27, 2016

MIT researchers scanned the brains of children who were not depressed but had a parent who had suffered from the disorder. Such children are three times more likely to become depressed later in life, usually between the ages of 15 and 30.

Diagnosing depression before it starts

Brain scans may identify children who are vulnerable to depression, before symptoms appear.

January 21, 2016

Two professors to join the School of Science faculty this spring

January 20, 2016

MIT neuroscientists discovered that the protein CPG2 connects the cytoskeleton (represented by the scaffold of the bridge) and the endocytic machinery (represented by the cars) during the reabsorption of glutamate receptors. Each "car" on the “bridge" carries a vesicle containing glutamate receptors.

How neurons lose their connections

Scientists identify protein that allows brain cells to dampen their sensitivity.

January 14, 2016

School of Science honors research staff with 2016 Infinite Kilometer Awards

January 4, 2016

MIT researchers fed their physics prediction system videos of collisions, shown as screenshots in (a) and (b), which were then converted into simulations generated by the 3-D physics engine, shown in (c) and (d).

Computer model matches humans at predicting how objects move

“3-D physics engine” from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory simulates the human brain to infer physical properties.

January 4, 2016

Clockwise from top left: B. Gloria Choi, Christopher Cummins, James DiCarlo, Mehrdad Jazayeri, Jonathan Kelner, and Jared Speck

The School of Science appoints six faculty to named professorships

December 28, 2015

Researchers have developed a computational model of visual representation intended to reflect the way the brain works.

Machines that learn like people

Algorithms could learn to recognize objects from a few examples, not millions; may better model human cognition.

December 23, 2015

(Left to right) Caroline Robertson and Nancy Kanwisher.

Study finds altered brain chemistry in people with autism

Neuroscientists link autism to reduced activity of key neurotransmitter in human brain.

December 17, 2015

“One of the core debates surrounding music is to what extent it has dedicated mechanisms in the brain and to what extent it piggybacks off of mechanisms that primarily serve other functions,” Josh McDermott says.

Music in the brain

For the first time, scientists identify a neural population highly selective for music.

December 16, 2015

Susan Hockfield chosen to serve as AAAS president-elect

Former MIT president to begin three-year term on AAAS Board of Directors in February.

December 16, 2015

Humans and machines were given an image of a novel character (top) and asked to produce new versions. A machine generated the nine-character grid on the left.

Computer system passes “visual Turing test”

Character-drawing machines can fool human judges.

December 10, 2015

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