Two vials of propofol, a milky liquid, rest on a hospital shelf next to a small yelllow bin
July 15, 2024
Study reveals how an anesthesia drug induces unconsciousness
Brady Weissbourd stands at a large whiteboard that displays diagrams of the jellyfish he studies
July 8, 2024
Award will enable detailed study of an organism that constantly adds new neurons
Linlin Fan smiles as she stands in a glassy room with reflections of large tropical plants in the windows behind her.
July 1, 2024
Fellowship enables study of how the brain makes memories of places
Sara Prescott smiles as she stands in the foreground of a brightly lit hallway with many windows.
June 18, 2024
Pew award will fund study of neural role in respiratory disease
Three panels show a zoomed out chunk of colorfully labeled brain tissue and two magnified insets. One shows that the imaged tissue is 3mm thick. The other shows different brain cells and vasculature distinguished by staining in 12 different colors.
June 13, 2024
Technologies enable 3D imaging of whole human brain hemispheres at subcellular resolution

Study reveals how an anesthesia drug induces unconsciousness

July 15, 2024
Research Findings
Propofol, a drug commonly used for general anesthesia, derails the brain’s normal balance between stability and excitability.

Fellowship supports student’s work to advance Alzheimer’s research and equity

July 9, 2024
Picower People
With strong personal motivation and up to three years of support from the HHMI Gilliam Fellows Program, graduate student Mingus Rae Zoller will probe mysteries of Alzheimer’s and its possible treatment.

Award will enable detailed study of an organism that constantly adds new neurons

July 8, 2024
Picower People
With an eye on implications for regenerative medicine, Assistant Professor Brady Weissbourd will use the support of being named a Searle Scholar to study how jellyfish excel at building and regenerating their neural networks.

Fellowship enables study of how the brain makes memories of places

July 1, 2024
Picower People
With a new Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship in Neuroscience, Assistant Professor Linlin Fan will seek to strengthen understanding of how neural connections change to encode memories of specific locations.

Pew award will fund study of neural role in respiratory disease

June 18, 2024
Picower People
As a newly named Pew Biomedical Scholar, Assistant Professor Sara Prescott and her lab plan to test whether and how neurons have a role in airway remodeling, which goes awry in many diseases.

Technologies enable 3D imaging of whole human brain hemispheres at subcellular resolution

June 13, 2024
Research Findings
A suite of three innovations by an MIT-based team enables high-throughput imaging of human brain tissue at a full range of scales and mapping connectivity of neurons at single cell resolution.

Consciousness

June 12, 2024
Research Feature
Emerging evidence shows how brain waves help to knit our internal thoughts and external awareness together into an organized, unified whole

With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity

June 7, 2024
Research Findings
New camera chip design allows for optimizing each pixel’s timing to maximize signal to noise ratio when tracking real-time visual indicator of neural voltage

Microscope system sharpens scientists’ view of neural circuit connections

June 4, 2024
Research Findings
A newly described technology improves the clarity and speed of using two-photon microscopy to image synapses in the live brain

Study models how ketamine’s molecular action leads to its effects on the brain

May 20, 2024
Research Findings
New research addresses a gap in understanding how ketamine’s impact on individual neurons leads to pervasive and profound changes in brain network function.

How the brain is flexible enough for a complex world (without being thrown into chaos)

May 13, 2024
Research Findings
Many neurons exhibit “mixed selectivity.” They can integrate multiple inputs and participate in multiple computations. Mechanisms such as oscillations and neuromodulators recruit their participation and tune them to focus on the relevant information.

Autism symptoms sometimes improve amid fever, so a research team will study how to make that a therapy

May 8, 2024
New Research
With support from The Marcus Foundation, an MIT neuroscientist and a Harvard Medical School immunologist will study the “fever effect” in an effort to devise therapies that mimic its beneficial effects.