MIT researchers have developed a non-invasive technique for deep brain stimulation, which could be used to help patients with brain diseases, reports Mo Costandi for The Guardian. “Targets for disorders such as depression, Alzheimer’s, PTSD, and so forth, are deep in the brain, and they might be more selectively stimulatable with our method,” says Prof. Ed Boyden.
TIME reporter Alice Park writes that MIT researchers have modified the CRISPR gene-editing system so that it could be used to diagnose disease. Park explains that the researchers, “used CRISPR to recognize specific substances that bacteria and viruses make. Picking up even the slightest whisper of these products can alert doctors that an infection is active.”
MIT researchers have developed a new technique that uses the CRISPR gene-editing system to diagnose diseases, reports Joel Achenbach for The Washington Post. Achenbach explains that the tool could potentially be used to “detect not only viral and bacterial diseases but also potentially for finding cancer-causing mutations.”
Meg Tirrell of CNBC spotlights research by Prof. Li-Huei Tsai that shows that flashing lights could be used as a non-invasive treatment method for Alzheimer’s disease. Tsai and her colleagues found that flashing light could potentially be used to restore gamma rhythms in the brain, which are often impaired in people with Alzheimer’s.
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that the McGovern Institute has established a new center focused on autism research, thanks to a gift from Lisa Yang and Hock Tan ’75 SM ’75. Graham explains that the center will “focus on trying to make significant jumps through new technologies such as gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9.”
Boston Herald reporter Lindsay Kalter writes that Prof. Ed Boyden is working on a new effort to develop technologies that would allow doctors to explore tumors using virtual reality. Boyden explains that he and his colleagues hope to use virtual reality to explore “what a tumor’s weaknesses are, and what makes it thrive.”
MIT is launching a center for autism research at the McGovern Institute with $20 million in funding from MIT alumnus Hock Tan and Lisa Yang, writes Barb Darrow for Fortune. Darrow writes that Yang told Fortune she was "greatly impressed by both the collegiality and focus of the institute's researchers.”
MIT researchers have found similarities in how the brains of babies and adults respond to visual information, reports Courtney Humphries for The Atlantic. “Every region that we knew about in adults [with] a preference for faces or scenes has that same preference in babies 4 to 6 months old,” explains Prof. Rebecca Saxe.
MIT researchers have found that reduced plasticity in the brains of people with dyslexia may explain why they experience difficulties with reading and with processing spoken speech, writes Kevin Murnane of Forbes. Murnane explains that the findings “indicate that dyslexia is not just about reading. It involves a reduction in neural adaptation to a variety of perceptual stimuli.”
Prof. Ann Graybiel speaks with Forbes contributor Pat Brans about age and habit formation. Graybiel explains that she does not think “it’s ever too late to change habits or to make new ones,” adding that “‘habit’ patterns in the brain have to get renewed reinforcement from time to time.”
Scientific American reporter Veronique Greenwood highlights a study by MIT researchers examining why some people seem to have an aptitude for languages. The researchers explored the structure of neuron fibers in white matter in beginning Mandarin students and found that students “who had more spatially aligned fibers in their right hemisphere had higher test scores after four weeks of classes.”
TIME reporter Alice Park writes about a study by Prof. John Gabrieli that shows that the difficulty people with dyslexia experience when reading could be caused by reduced plasticity in the brain. “We need to figure out a curriculum or approach that matches the differences they have,” explains Gabrieli.
A new study co-authored by Prof. John Gabrieli shows that the brains of people with dyslexia respond differently not only to words, but also objects and faces, reports Felice Freyer for The Boston Globe. The findings point to “the core biological difference in the brains of people with dyslexia,” explains Prof. John Gabrieli.
MIT researchers have found that flashing lights could potentially be used to stave off Alzheimer’s disease, writes Oscar Williams for The Huffington Post. “Light stimulation directed to the hippocampus, the part of the brain that processes memories, led to a reduction of…beta amyloid,” which is found in Alzheimer’s disease.
Financial Times reporter Clive Cookson writes that MIT researchers have found evidence that flashing lights could potentially be used as a noninvasive treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that “lights flashing on and off 40 times per second restored ‘gamma oscillation’ waves that were suppressed in the disease.”