Neuroscience

Researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School produced two new papers about the impact of a specific cytokine, or immune molecule, known as IL-17, on the brain when you’re sick. “Cytokines are well-known players in the immune response, helping to control inflammation and coordinate the responses of other immune cells,” reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. “A growing body of evidence suggests that some cytokines also influence the brain, leading to behavioral changes during illness.”

A team of researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School are “deciphering the action of small immune system proteins in the brain and showing how, by exciting or inhibiting populations of neurons, they modulate anxiety and social behaviors,” writes Soline Roy of Le Figaro.  

A new study co-authored by Prof. David Rand found that there was a “20 percent reduction in belief in conspiracy theories after participants interacted with a powerful, flexible, personalized GPT-4 Turbo conversation partner,” writes Annie Duke for The Washington Post. “Participants demonstrated increased intentions to ignore or unfollow social media accounts promoting the conspiracies, and significantly increased willingness to ignore or argue against other believers in the conspiracy,” writes Duke. “And the results appear to be durable, holding up in evaluations 10 days and two months later.”

Prof. Ed Boyden and Prof. Li-Huei Tsai have “found that if gamma waves through non-invasive stimulation, were put back into baseline frequency, it could slow down the process in certain brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” reports Hansa Bhargava for Forbes. 

Writing for Scientific American, former postdoctoral fellow Aza Allsop PhD '16 and his colleagues spotlight bias in the scientific community. “When the significant contributions of Black scientists are excluded, we all lose,” they write. “This is why it is time that awarding committees and beyond finally begin acknowledging the significant discoveries made by Black scientists that benefit all of humanity—and giving them the proper recognition they deserve.”

New Yorker reporter Rivka Galchen visits the lab of Prof. Hugh Herr to learn more about his work aimed at the “merging of body and machine.” Herr and his team are developing bionic prosthetics that can be completely controlled by the human brain and are designed to allow users “to walk approximately as quickly and unthinkingly as anyone else.”  Herr imagines a future where “we will be able to sculpt our own brains and bodies, and therefore our own identities and experiences.”

Prof. Hugh Herr speaks with Nature reporter Fred Schwaller about his work developing bionic limbs. Schwaller notes that “Herr’s research team is focusing on surgical techniques and implants that improve on the electrodes used in current bionic-limb systems, which either penetrate the peripheral nerves or wrap around them.” Herr explains: “We’re reimagining how limbs should be amputated and bionic limbs constructed.” 

MIT researchers have created a detailed map showing how the human brain processes information while watching movies, reports Laura Baisas for Popular Science. Using data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers uncovered 24 different brain networks that are “associated with specific aspects of sensory or cognitive processing,” explains Baisas. 

Prof. Evelina Fedorenko speaks with Scientific American reporter Gary Stix about her research demonstrating that “language and thought are, in fact, distinct entities that the brain processes separately.” Speaking about how large language models could be used to help scientists better understand the neuroscience of how language works, Fedorenko explains that "there are many, many questions that we can now ask that had been totally out of reach: for example, questions about [language] development.”

Profs. Canan Dagdeviren and Hugh Herr speak with CNN discuss their work aimed at empowering patients and doctors. Inspired by her aunt’s experience with breast cancer, Dagdeviren and her students are developing new wearable devices that could help detect cancer at an earlier stage. Says Herr of his work developing prosthetics that can be controlled by the human nervous system: “There will be a point where technology is so sophisticated that we can actually rebuild limbs after amputation that will be as good and, ultimately, they will be better than intact biological limbs.” Herr adds that in the future he hopes “the conversation will not be about human limitation anymore. It will be about human ability and human expression.”

MIT researchers have developed a bionic prosthetic system that allows users to control their prosthetic legs using their own nervous systems, “a groundbreaking advancement that is changing the game for individuals with lower-limb amputations,” reports Kurt Knutsson for Fox News. “This innovative approach could bring us closer to a future of fully integrated, naturally controlled artificial limbs.”

Prof. Li-Huei Tsai, director of the Picower Institute, speaks with NPR host Jon Hamilton about her work identifying a protein called reelin that appears to protect brain cells from Alzheimer's. “Tsai says she and her team are now using artificial intelligence to help find a drug that can replicate what reelin does naturally,” says Hamilton. 

MIT scientists have created a high-resolution brain map of the neurons that encode the meanings of various words, reports Sara Reardon for Nature. “The results hint that, across individuals, the brain uses the same standard categories to classify words,” Reardon explains, “helping us to turn sound into sense.” 

A new surgical procedure and neuroprosthetic interface developed by MIT researchers allows people with amputations to control their prosthetic limbs with their brains, “a significant scientific advance that allows for a smoother gait and enhanced ability to navigate obstacles,” reports Lizette Ortega for The Washington Post. “We’re starting to get a glimpse of this glorious future wherein a person can lose a major part of their body, and there’s technology available to reconstruct that aspect of their body to full functionality,” explains Prof. Hugh Herr. 

Researchers at MIT have developed a novel surgical technique that could “dramatically improve walking for people with below-the-knee amputations and help them better control their prosthetics,” reports Timmy Broderick for STAT. “With our patients, even though their limb is made of titanium and silicone, all these various electromechanical components, the limb feels natural, and it moves naturally, without even conscious thought," explains Prof. Hugh Herr.