Re-imagining our theories of language
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences faculty members Ev Fedorenko, Ted Gibson, and Roger Levy believe they can answer a fundamental question: What is the purpose of language?
Study decodes surprising approach mice take in learning
In a simple game that humans typically ace, mice learn the winning strategy, too, but refuse to commit to it, new research shows.
Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models
A potential new Alzheimer’s drug represses the harmful inflammatory response of the brain’s immune cells, reducing disease pathology, preserving neurons, and improving cognition in preclinical tests.
Kimberly Rose Bennett awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowship
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellows are selected for their promise as future leaders in their scientific fields and for their commitment to advancing equity and inclusion.
Study connects neural gene expression differences to functional distinctions
Researchers compared a pair of superficially similar motor neurons in fruit flies to examine how their differing use of the same genome produced distinctions in form and function.
Cracking the code that relates brain and behavior in a simple animal
MIT researchers model and create an atlas for how neurons of the worm C. elegans encode its behaviors, make findings available on their “WormWideWeb.”
Summer research offers a springboard to advanced studies
Three graduate students forged a path to the same Picower Institute lab through participating in the MIT Summer Research Program in Biology and Neuroscience.
AI models are powerful, but are they biologically plausible?
A new study bridging neuroscience and machine learning offers insights into the potential role of astrocytes in the human brain.
A cool path to disease deceleration
MIT PhD student Kathrin Kajderowicz is studying how hibernation-like states could pave the way for new hypothermic therapies.
Brain networks encoding memory come together via electric fields, study finds
Electric fields shared among neurons via “ephaptic coupling” provide the coordination necessary to assemble the engrams that represent remembered information.
Brady Weissbourd named Klingenstein-Simons Fellow
Three-year fellowship will support Weissbourd’s research on how the C. hemisphaerica jellyfish survives and thrives by constantly making new neurons.
How Tau tangles form in the brain
A new study shows that truncated versions of the Tau protein are more likely to form the sticky filaments seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
When computer vision works more like a brain, it sees more like people do
Training artificial neural networks with data from real brains can make computer vision more robust.
Without a key extracellular protein, neuronal axons break and synaptic connections fall apart
Scientists find a protein common to flies and people is essential for supporting the structure of axons that neurons project to make circuit connections.
Atlas of human brain blood vessels highlights changes in Alzheimer’s disease
MIT researchers characterize gene expression patterns for 22,500 brain vascular cells across 428 donors, revealing insights for Alzheimer’s onset and potential treatments.