Researchers at MIT have found that the brain can send a burst of noradrenaline when it requires you to pay attention to something crucial, reports Juandre for Popular Mechanics. “The MIT team discovered that one important function of noradrenaline, commonly known as norepinephrine, is to assist the brain in learning from unexpected results,” explains Juandre.
Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Li-Huei Tsai underscores the need for the Alzheimer’s research community to “acknowledge the gaps in the current approach to curing the disease and make significant changes in how science, technology, and industry work together to meet this challenge.” Tsai adds: “With a more expansive mode of thinking, we can bridge the old innovation gaps and cross new valleys of discovery to deliver meaningful progress toward the end of Alzheimer’s.”
Prof. Mark Bear speaks with NPR’s Jon Hamilton about how injecting tetrodotoxin, a paralyzing nerve toxin found in puffer fish, could allow the brain to rewire in a way that restores vision and help adults with amblyopia or "lazy eye." Bear explains that: “Unexpectedly, in many cases vision recovered in the amblyopic eye, showing that that plasticity could be restored even in the adult.”
NPR’s Jon Hamilton spotlights Prof. Li-Huei Tsai’s work developing a noninvasive technique that uses lights and sounds aimed at boosting gamma waves and potentially slowing progression of Alzheimer’s disease. "This is completely noninvasive and could really change the way Alzheimer's disease is treated," Tsai says.
Scientific American reporter Leslie Nemo spotlights postdoctoral fellow Matheus Victor’s photograph of a petri dish full of neurons. Nemo writes that Victor and his colleagues hope the “rudimentary brain tissue will reveal why a new therapy might alleviate Alzheimer’s symptoms.”
Boston Globe reporter Corrie Pikul spotlights Prof. Li-Huei Tsai’s work finding that exposure to a specific pattern of rhythmic lights and sound bursts could potentially serve as a non-invasive treatment for Alzheimer’s. “These are really surprising findings,” says Tsai. “We are seeing multiple different cellular responses that are consistent with increased brain health.”
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, spotlights a video created by Prof. Kwanghun Chung that takes viewers on a voyage through a region of the brain that controls voluntary movement. Thanks to imaging techniques like Chung’s, “mapping the biocircuitry of the brain just keeps getting better all the time,” Collins explains.
Prof. Earl Miller speaks with BuzzFeed reporter Terri Pous about the problems posed by multitasking. When it comes to juggling two tasks like driving and talking on the phone, Miller notes that "when someone is on the phone with you, they have no idea what’s going on in front of you. That’s just plain dangerous for drivers and anyone around them."
Local biotech companies raised money to help MIT’s Bear Lab study Fragile X syndrome by competing in lawn games, writes Allison Hagan for The Boston Globe. The $30,000 raised provides “a very real chance at a success in this disease, and it’s going to have a much broader impact,” says Prof. Mark Bear.
Boston Globe reporter Jonathan Saltzman spotlights postdoctoral associates Matheus Victor, Jarrett Smith and Quinton Smith. They have been selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as Hanna Gray Fellows, a program that aims to encourage emerging young scientists who are underrepresented in life sciences.
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.”
A new study by MIT researchers shows that different types of learning correspond with different brainwave frequencies, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The findings, “could help doctors diagnose and treat learning disabilities and cognitive diseases.”
NBC News reporter Maggie Fox writes that MIT researchers have developed a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that could eventually offer relief to patients with diseases like Parkinson’s and epilepsy without requiring surgery. Fox explains that the method allows for sending, “electrical signals deep into the brain without affecting the layers in between.”
MIT researchers have developed a noninvasive method to stimulate specific neurons deep in the brain that could be used to help treat patients with diseases such as Parkinson’s, reports Meredith Wadman for Science. This new method could also allow scientists to “selectively prod deep-brain neurons into action,” explains Wadman.
Writing for Wired, Abigail Beal highlights how MIT researchers have developed a noninvasive technique to trigger reactions in deep brain cells using low frequency electrical signals. “If we could noninvasively stimulate deep regions, without hitting overlying regions, we might be able to help more people because we could stimulate deep regions selectively, without needing surgery,” explains Prof. Ed Boyden.