Estimating suicide risk from text
A new language-processing tool could help identify the highest-risk individuals from natural language, enabling swifter interventions.
How the brain keeps its options straight at decision time
Making a decision requires juggling a set of options without getting them confused or losing track of them. A new MIT study shows how neurons encode information to maximize clarity throughout the process.
Poitras Center to fuel early careers of 50 young scientists dedicated to psychiatric disorders research
Patricia and James Poitras ’63 provide fellowships for graduate students and postdocs who will shape the future of mental health research.
Injectable nanodevices could provide effective treatment for drug-resistant glioblastoma
MIT researchers show implanted nanoantennas can be activated wirelessly to kill brain cancer cells without damage to healthy tissue.
A burst of “pink noise” may lead to more restorative sleep
Delivered at just the right time, this type of auditory stimulus can strengthen the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which clears debris from the brain and keeps it healthy.
Cognition and consciousness arise from analog computations, says new theory
The brain's ability to generate quick, nimble volitional thought — and a unified awareness of thought and experience — arises from analog computations, MIT neuroscientists argue in a new review.
Atlas of the brain’s striatum could guide researchers to new drug treatments
A new study reveals insights into populations of neurons affected by Huntington’s disease, schizophrenia, addiction, and other disorders.
Brain circuit keeps tabs on what just happened to aid judgment of what’s happening now
To keep track of what’s going on in front of it, the brain relies not only on what it sees, but also a comparison with what it just saw. A new study pinpoints the circuit that provides that service.
Tackling rare genetic disorders with patient-focused science
Shannon Knight, a brain and cognitive sciences PhD candidate and McGovern Institute researcher, focuses on developing a novel gene therapy.
DNA shaper steers nervous system development
A study of worms finds a protein that helps shape the structure of the genome is critical for establishing the identity of some neurons.
Flexible brain circuits can switch between different tasks
Neuroscientists have discovered circuits in the prefrontal cortex that can be repurposed to store different types of information.
Diana Grass: Listening to the body’s language
The PhD candidate builds soft bioelectronic technologies to decode signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86
Tonegawa made landmark discoveries about how the immune system generates antibody diversity and how the brain forms memories.
Electric fields help guide neural activity, even from moment to moment
A new study adds evidence that electric fields in the brain help to organize and shape underlying neural activity via “ephaptic coupling.”
How visual learning happens in the brain
Scientists find that learning to identify a new object subtly reshapes visual processing in the brain.