Brain and cognitive sciences

The primary region of the human auditory cortex (outlined in white) responds differently (blue) to natural sound when background noise is present.

Hearing through the clatter

Study reveals brain regions that respond differently to the presence of background noise, suggesting the brain progressively hones in on and isolates sounds.

September 9, 2019

MIT engineers have developed robotic thread (in black) that can be steered magnetically and is small enough to work through narrow spaces such as the vasculature of the human brain. The researchers envision the technology may be used in the future to clear blockages in patients with stroke and aneurysms.

Robotic thread is designed to slip through the brain’s blood vessels

Magnetically controlled device could deliver clot-reducing therapies in response to stroke or other brain blockages.

August 28, 2019

An $11.6 million artificial intelligence computing cluster donated by IBM to MIT will come online this fall at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

IBM gives artificial intelligence computing at MIT a lift

Nearly $12 million machine will let MIT researchers run more ambitious AI models.

August 26, 2019

An MIT study suggests that mindfulness can improve mental health and academic performance in middle school students.

Two studies reveal benefits of mindfulness for middle school students

Focusing awareness on the present moment can enhance academic performance and lower stress levels.

August 26, 2019

Picower Professor Earl Miller teamed up with the lab of former postdoc Markus Siegel at the University of Tuebingen to devise a method for learning more about the different kinds of neurons that can be measured with electrodes.

New method classifies brain cells based on electrical signals

Making electrophysiology more informative, team shows how to distinguish four classes of cells by spike waveform.

August 22, 2019

Diagram illustrates the structure of the tiny bubbles, called liposomes, used to deliver drugs. The blue spheres represent lipids, a kind of fat molecule, surrounding a central cavity containing magnetic nanoparticles (black) and the drug to be delivered (red). When the nanoparticles are heated, the drug can escape into the body.

A new way to deliver drugs with pinpoint targeting

Magnetic particles allow drugs to be released at precise times and in specific areas.

August 19, 2019

MIT researchers have found a circuit of thousands of neurons in the mammalian brain (blue) traces out a one-dimensional ring during complex navigation behaviors. “In the absence of this ring,” explains Associate Professor Ila Fiete, “we would be lost in the world.”

Finding the brain’s compass

A powerful method has allowed McGovern researchers to discover how the brain represents the complex world in simple shapes.

August 12, 2019

Researchers are examining how quickly drivers can detect and correctly respond to road hazards, to improve safety of “semiautonomous” cars.

Study measures how fast humans react to road hazards

In “semiautonomous” cars, older drivers may need more time to take the wheel when responding to the unexpected.

August 7, 2019

Images from two-photon microscopy track the comings and goings of dendritic spines (key infrastructure for neural connections called synapses) in a mouse brain. Top row: A spine present on day 14 is gone by two weeks later. Bottom row: A spine emerges around day 28 and sticks around.

How brain cells pick which connections to keep

Novel study shows protein CPG15 acts as a molecular proxy of experience to mark synapses for stabilization.

August 6, 2019

Speeding up drug discovery for brain diseases

Whitehead Institute team finds drugs that activate a key brain gene; initial tests in cells and mice show promise for rare, untreatable neurodevelopmental disorder.

July 31, 2019