Neuroscience

A new microfluidic device that replicates the neuromuscular junction — the vital connection where nerve meets muscle — contains a small cluster of neurons (green) and a single muscle fiber (red). A fluorescence image, bottom, shows the motor neurons sending out axons toward a muscle strip over a distance of about 1 millimeter.

Replicating the connection between muscles and nerves

New chip could help test drugs for ALS, other neuromuscular disorders.

August 3, 2016

Kay Tye, the Whitehead Career Development Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a member of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, has been awarded the 2016 Freedman Prize for Exceptional Basic Research.

Kay Tye receives Freedman Prize for Exceptional Basic Research

Neuroscientist recognized by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation for project on neural circuits for anxiety control.

August 3, 2016

A new technique called magnified analysis of proteome (MAP), developed at MIT, allows researchers to peer at molecules within cells or take a wider view of the long-range connections between neurons.

Imaging the brain at multiple size scales

New technique can reveal subcellular details and long-range connections.

July 25, 2016

Researchers identify genome-modifying enzyme linked to Rett Syndrome

Deletion of the HDAC3 gene in the brains of mice causes cognitive and social impairments consistent with Rett Syndrome.

July 22, 2016

MIT researchers have developed a new way to image proteins and RNA inside neurons of intact brain tissue.

Seeing RNA at the nanoscale

Microscopy technique allows scientists to pinpoint RNA molecules in the brain.

July 4, 2016

Kwanghun Chung receives McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award

June 24, 2016

Two neurons of the basolateral amygdala. MIT neuroscientists have found that these neurons play a key role in separating information about positive and negative experiences.

How the brain processes emotions

Neuroscientists identify circuits that could play a role in mental illnesses, including depression.

March 31, 2016

Children participants in an "Unruly Art" session.

Learning more about the brain

Pawan Sinha explores the cognitive dynamics behind our visual understanding of the world around us.

March 24, 2016

The brain’s thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), highlighted in the center, is responsible for blocking out distracting sensory input. "For autism, schizophrenia, and other neurodevelopmental disorders, it seems like TRN dysfunction may be involved in some patients,” Guoping Feng says.

Study reveals a basis for attention deficits

New findings could help scientists develop treatments for ADHD and other disorders.

March 23, 2016

Pictured is an artist’s interpretation of neurons firing in sporadic, coordinated bursts. “By having these different bursts coming at different moments in time, you can keep different items in memory separate from one another,” Earl Miller says.

A new glimpse into working memory

Study finds bursts of neural activity as the brain holds information in mind, overturns a long-held model.

March 17, 2016

Researchers say the findings raise the possibility of developing future treatments that might reverse some of the memory loss seen in early-stage Alzheimer’s.

“Lost” memories can be found

Neuroscientists retrieve missing memories in mice with early Alzheimer’s symptoms.

March 16, 2016

"[W]e hope that our studies of vps-50 will provide insights into human neuropsychiatric disorders,” H. Robert Horvitz says.

Neuroscientists discover a gene that controls worms’ behavioral state

Gene required for the control of behavioral state is also found in humans, may be linked to autism.

March 3, 2016

It's all in our heads

Political science PhD student Marika Landau-Wells is using psychology and neuroscience to better understand political behavior.

February 23, 2016

Neuroscientists reverse autism symptoms

Turning on a gene later in life can restore typical behavior in mice.

February 17, 2016

In this image of the dorsal raphe nucleus, dopamine neurons are labeled in green, red, or both (appearing yellow).

Pinpointing loneliness in the brain

Scientists identify cells that represent feelings of isolation.

February 11, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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