In an article published by Wired, Jordana Cepelewicz highlights a study co-authored by Prof. Earl Miller that examines the capacity limit for the human brain’s working memory. Cepelewicz explains that the research, “not only provides insights into memory function and dysfunction, but also offers further evidence for a burgeoning theory of how the brain processes information.”

Cate McQuaid of The Boston Globe reviews an MIT Museum exhibit showcasing the drawings of neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Paired with contemporary brain imaging, the exhibition lets observers, “vault through illuminated brain matter as if you were the USS Enterprise shifting into warp drive,” writes McQuaid.

A new study by MIT scientists shows how two proteins work to ensure that memory is encoded within minutes, according to Xinhua. The study, “also provided new hints about how problems involving these two proteins in other parts of the brain, such as the frontal cortex, could undermine cognition in those diseases.”

WBUR’s Maria Garcia explores an exhibit at the MIT Museum of Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s drawings of the human brain. Prof. Robert Desimone, director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, explains that, “there's no question that these kinds of circuit diagrams that Cajal was giving us are telling us a great deal about what makes us, us."

WBUR’s Carey Goldberg recommends a video with neuroscientists at the McGovern Institute “for a quick, light and smart explanation” of the ‘Yanny vs. Laurel’ debate. “The same acoustic information is hitting everyone’s ears,” says graduate student Kevin Sitek. “But the brain is then going to interpret that differently, based on experience.”

“The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal” is currently on exhibit at the MIT Museum through the end of 2018. The show features drawings by Cajal that “so effectively illustrate now-basic neurological concepts that they are still used in neuroscience textbooks today,” writes Zoë Schlanger for Quartz.

MIT researchers have identified the brain circuit required for observational learning, reports Xinhua. According to the study, the area involved in evaluating social information is more active when witnessing an experience and “relays information about the experience” to the region important for processing emotions.

Research by Prof. Susumu Tonegawa suggests that a specific region of the hippocampus plays a role in how memories can trigger a physical stress response, writes Fiona McMillan for Forbes. The findings, McMillan notes, are “providing new insight into the complex interplay between emotion, stress and memory.”

Research published in Neuron may allow for the development of new treatments for disorders associated with memory loss. “It’s possible that further research on the dentate gyrus-CA3 pathway could lead to ways to restore the synapses to allow memory formation again,” Prof. Yingzi Lin told Elise Takahama for the Boston Globe.

A study by MIT scientists has identified the neurons that fire at the beginning and end of activities, which is important for initiating a routine. “This task-bracketing appears to be important for initiating a routine and then notifying the brain once it is complete,” Prof. Ann Graybiel told Xinhua.

Professor John Gabrieli and graduate student Rachel Romeo speak with WBUR’s Carey Goldberg about their new research. "What we found is, the more often parents engaged in back-and-forth conversation with their child, the stronger was the brain response in the front of the brain to language," Gabrieli explains.

In a Boston Globe Magazine article about bioelectronic medicine, writer Jessie Scanlon highlights research by Profs. Ed Boyden and Daniela Rus. Boyden notes that by creating light-sensitive molecules, which can be switched on and off and inserted into neurons, “groups in academia and industry are using the tool to discover patterns of neural activity.”

Newsweek reporter Joseph Frankel writes that MIT researchers have found that the brain relies on a network of neurons to keep track of time. The researchers found that, “neurons appear to fire in a similar pattern, whether operating at fast or slow speeds...But interestingly, the same patterns stretch or compress over time, depending on the rate of the task.”

MIT researchers have found that a network of neurons compress or stretch their activity in order to control the brain’s timing, reports Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. “Instead of passively waiting for a clock to reach a certain point, the team found the system of neurons changes its state independently based on the action being performed.”

Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme spotlights Prof. Li-Huei Tsai’s quest to vanquish Alzheimer’s disease. Ducharme writes that Tsai’s work, including two recent papers outlining potential treatments for Alzheimer’s, “established her as a bona fide rock star in the neuroscience world.”