National Institutes of Health (NIH)

MIT researchers have developed a light-sensitive protein that can be embedded into neuron membranes, where it emits a fluorescent signal that indicates how much voltage a particular cell is experiencing. This could allow scientists to study how neurons behave, millisecond by millisecond, as the brain performs a particular function.

Seeing the brain's electrical activity

Fluorescent sensor allows imaging of neurons' electrical communications, without electrodes.

February 26, 2018

Using a state-of-the-art type of electron microscopy, an MIT-led team has discovered the structure of an enzyme that is crucial for maintaining an adequate supply of DNA building blocks in human cells.

Scientists deliver high-resolution glimpse of enzyme structure

New finding suggests differences in how humans and bacteria control production of DNA’s building blocks.

February 20, 2018

New Whitehead Institute research may prove to be a useful paradigm for targeting diseases caused by abnormal methylation.

Study: Fragile X syndrome neurons can be restored

Whitehead Institute researchers are using a modified CRISPR/Cas9-guided activation strategy to investigate the most frequent cause of intellectual disability in males.

February 15, 2018

MIT cognitive scientists have found that conversation between an adult and a child appears to change the child’s brain.

Back-and-forth exchanges boost children’s brain response to language

Study finds engaging young children in conversation is more important for brain development than “dumping words” on them.

February 13, 2018

In this image of a mouse visual cortex, astrocytes (stained red) appear about as abundant as neurons (green).

MIT neuroscientists give "invisible" cells a new look

With a new grant, a Picower Institute team is studying the role of astrocytes, which may partner with neurons to process information in the brain.

February 12, 2018

This image shows neurons in the CA3 region of the hippocampus, which is important for memory encoding and retrieval. Nuclei of the CA3 neurons are labeled in green and their dendrites in red, and the smaller specks of green above represent axons projecting to the CA3 neurons from the dentate gyrus.

Study reveals molecular mechanisms of memory formation

Neuroscientists discover a cellular pathway that encodes memories by strengthening specific synapses.

February 8, 2018

Our daily lives include hundreds of routine habits, made up of many smaller actions, such as picking up our toothbrush, squeezing toothpaste onto it, and then lifting the brush to our mouth. This process of grouping behaviors together into a single routine is known as “chunking.” MIT neuroscientists have now found that certain neurons in the brain are responsible for marking the beginning and ...

Distinctive brain pattern helps habits form

Study identifies neurons that fire at the beginning and end of a behavior as it becomes a habit.

February 8, 2018

Dagdeviren (center) developed the device while working as a postdoc in the labs of Graybiel (left), Cima (right), and Langer (far left).

Ultrathin needle can deliver drugs directly to the brain

Miniaturized system could be used to treat neurological disorders that affect specific brain regions.

January 24, 2018

MIT biologists have designed a new peptide that can disrupt a key protein that many types of cancers, including some forms of lymphoma, leukemia, and breast cancer, need to survive.

Biologists’ new peptide could fight many cancers

Drug that targets a key cancer protein could combat leukemia and other types of cancer.

January 15, 2018

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a capsule that can deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. The new capsule is designed so that patients can take it just once a week, and the drug will release gradually throughout the week.

New drug capsule may allow weekly HIV treatment

Replacing daily pills with a weekly regimen could help patients stick to their dosing schedule.

January 9, 2018

MIT scientists have determined the structure of an enzyme that is found in ocean microbes and can produce a precursor to methane.

Researchers establish long-sought source of ocean methane

An abundant enzyme in marine microbes may be responsible for production of the greenhouse gas.

December 7, 2017

DNA loops create what Whitehead Institute researchers call “insulated neighborhoods” for genes and their promoters and enhancers.

Rethinking transcription factors and gene expression

Study shows that, like proteins, genomes must fold appropriately to function properly and that some transcription factors provide the structural support.

December 7, 2017

MIT engineers have devised a 3-D printing technique that uses a new kind of ink made from genetically programmed living cells.

Engineers 3-D print a “living tattoo”

New technique 3-D prints programmed cells into living devices for first time.

December 5, 2017

Cells pass through an sSMR device, which consists of multiple sensors that are fluidically connected in series and separated by delay channels (not all is shown). This design enables a stream of cells to flow through the device such that different sensors can concurrently weigh flowing cells in the stream.

Cell-weighing method could help doctors choose cancer drugs

Technique may predict which therapies a patient is most sensitive or resistant to.

November 20, 2017

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that making decisions, especially when choosing between two options that have both positive and negative elements, can be dramatically affected by chronic stress.

Stress can lead to risky decisions

Neuroscientists find chronic stress skews decisions toward higher-risk options.

November 16, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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