“Spatial computing” enables flexible working memory
The brain applies rhythms to physical patches of the cortex to selectively control just the right neurons at the right times to do the right things.
Festival of Learning 2023 underscores importance of well-designed learning environments
Keynote speaker Bror Saxberg SM ’85, PhD ’89 encourages understanding learners and their contexts.
New technologies reveal cross-cutting breakdowns in Alzheimer’s disease
“Single-cell profiling” is helping neuroscientists see how disease affects major brain cell types and identify common, potentially targetable pathways.
Holding information in mind may mean storing it among synapses
Comparing models of working memory with real-world data, MIT researchers find information resides not in persistent neural activity, but in the pattern of its connections.
Professor Emeritus Richard Wurtman, influential figure in translational research, dies at 86
Longtime MIT professor of neuroscience led research behind 200 patents, laying the groundwork for numerous medical products.
Cognitive scientists develop new model explaining difficulty in language comprehension
Built on recent advances in machine learning, the model predicts how well individuals will produce and comprehend sentences.
Putting a new spin on computer hardware
Luqiao Liu utilizes a quantum property known as electron spin to build low-power, high-performance computer memories and programmable computer chips.
Small studies of 40-hertz sensory stimulation confirm safety, suggest Alzheimer’s benefits
MIT researchers report early-stage clinical study results of tests with noninvasive 40-hertz light and sound treatment.
Silent synapses are abundant in the adult brain
These immature connections may explain how the adult brain is able to form new memories and absorb new information.
Alzheimer’s risk gene undermines insulation of brain’s “wiring”
In people carrying APOE4, a key brain cell mismanages cholesterol needed to insulate neurons properly — another sign APOE4 contributes to disease by disrupting brain lipids.
Ila Fiete wins Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience
Society for Neuroscience honors BCS professor for breakthrough research modeling a component of the brain’s navigational system.
Celebrating 20 years of discovery, Picower Institute looks ahead to continuing impact
At an exhibition marking two decades since a transformative gift from the Picower Foundation, current and alumni members described research at the forefront of neuroscience and beyond.
With fractured genomes, Alzheimer’s neurons call for help
Study indicates ailing neurons may instigate an inflammatory response from the brain’s microglia immune cells.
A “golden era” to study the brain
“We can’t think of the brain only as neurons,” says PhD student Mitch Murdock, who explores the cellular basis of Alzheimer’s disease.
How the brain focuses on what’s in mind
When holding information in mind, neural activity is more focused when and where there are bursts of gamma frequency rhythms.