McGovern Institute

Eight from MIT elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2018

Prestigious honor society announces 213 new members this year.

April 18, 2018

School of Science announces Infinite Mile Awards for 2018

Seven staff members honored for their outstanding contributions to the MIT community.

April 3, 2018

Ed Boyden is a recipient of the 2018 Canada Gairdner International Award.

Ed Boyden receives 2018 Canada Gairdner International Award

MIT scientist is among three recognized for the discovery of optogenetics.

March 27, 2018

MIT graduate student Hilary Richardson helps a child into an MRI scanner for a study of how children's brains develop the ability to think about the mental states of other people.

Study finds early signatures of the social brain

Children as young as 3 have brain network devoted to interpreting thoughts of other people.

March 12, 2018

Catching a bouncing ball or hitting a ball with a racket requires estimating when the ball will arrive. Neuroscientists have long thought that the brain does this by calculating the speed of the moving object. However, a new study from MIT shows that the brain's approach is more complex.

Study reveals how the brain tracks objects in motion

Timing and speed are both important for making accurate estimates of how an object will travel.

March 5, 2018

Researchers at MIT and the Allen Institute for Brain Science have developed a new modified version of the rabies virus that stops replicating once it infects a cell, allowing it to deliver its genetic cargo without harming the cell.

Viral tool traces long-term neuron activity

New technique is nontoxic to cells, should allow scientists to study neuron function for months or years instead of weeks.

March 5, 2018

Y. Eva Tan (left) and McGovern investigator Edward Boyden (right)

Edward Boyden named inaugural Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology

Neuroengineering leader appointed to new professorship at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

March 5, 2018

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

A collection of SHERLOCK paper test strips. (Left) Unused paper strips, (middle) paper tests displaying a negative SHERLOCK readout, and (right) paper tests displaying a positive SHERLOCK readout.

Researchers advance CRISPR-based tool for diagnosing disease

With SHERLOCK, a strip of paper can now indicate presence of pathogens, tumor DNA, or any genetic signature of interest.

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

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

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

From left to right: Polina Anikeeva, the Class of 1942 Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and Feng Zhang, the James and Patricia Poitras ’63 Professor in Neuroscience at the McGovern Institute, a core member of the Broad Institute, and an associate professor in the departments of Brain and C...

Polina Anikeeva and Feng Zhang awarded 2018 Vilcek Prize

Prize recognizes contributions to biomedical research made by immigrant scientists.

February 1, 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

School of Science Infinite Kilometer Awards for 2017

Eight research staffers and postdocs are recognized for their extraordinary contributions and dedication to programs, colleagues, and the Institute.

January 16, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Eight from MIT elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2018

School of Science announces Infinite Mile Awards for 2018

Ed Boyden receives 2018 Canada Gairdner International Award

Study finds early signatures of the social brain

Study reveals how the brain tracks objects in motion

Viral tool traces long-term neuron activity

Edward Boyden named inaugural Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology

Seeing the brain's electrical activity

Researchers advance CRISPR-based tool for diagnosing disease

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

Distinctive brain pattern helps habits form

Study reveals molecular mechanisms of memory formation

Polina Anikeeva and Feng Zhang awarded 2018 Vilcek Prize

Ultrathin needle can deliver drugs directly to the brain

School of Science Infinite Kilometer Awards for 2017

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

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