A new piece to the autism puzzle
Most cases of autism are not caused by a single genetic mutation. However, several disorders with autism-like symptoms, including the rare Fragile X syndrome, can be traced to a specific mutation....
View ArticleFour from MIT named AAAS fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the distinction of fellow to 539 members, including four members of the MIT community.Fellows are recognized by their peers...
View ArticleJames DiCarlo to head Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
James DiCarlo, associate professor of neuroscience, has been named head of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. His five-year term will begin March 1. DiCarlo succeeds Mriganka Sur, who will...
View ArticleReversing Alzheimer’s gene ‘blockade’ can restore memory, other cognitive...
MIT neuroscientists have shown that an enzyme overproduced in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients creates a blockade that shuts off genes necessary to form new memories. Furthermore, by inhibiting that...
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Researchers show that memories reside in specific brain cells
Our fond or fearful memories — that first kiss or a bump in the night — leave memory traces that we may conjure up in the remembrance of things past, complete with time, place and all the sensations of...
View ArticleInhibitory and excitatory synapse dynamics in the brain
The brain adapts to the environment in part by persistently modifying and rearranging the diverse synaptic connections between neurons. These changes include strengthening or weakening existing links,...
View ArticlePicower Institute researchers identify brain cell aberration tied to autism
A gene linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) actually alters individual brain cells’ ability to process information, researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the...
View ArticleMIT neuroscientists achieve 'dream engineering' in rats
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory Neuroscientist Matt Wilson has shown not only that animals dream, but that they dream about what they experience. In a lab rat’s world, that means navigating...
View ArticleHow attention helps you remember
A new study from MIT neuroscientists sheds light on a neural circuit that makes us likelier to remember what we’re seeing when our brains are in a more attentive state.The team of neuroscientists found...
View ArticleBelfer gift creates consortium targeting neurodegenerative diseases
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT is one of three entities that will share a $25 million gift from the Robert A. and Renee E. Belfer Family Foundation to create the Neurodegeneration...
View ArticleBrain waves encode rules for behavior
One of the biggest puzzles in neuroscience is how our brains encode thoughts, such as perceptions and memories, at the cellular level. Some evidence suggests that ensembles of neurons represent each...
View ArticleIn search of better antidepressants
A new study from researchers at MIT and Stanford University pinpoints brain cells that appear to be critically involved in depression, offering a possible target for new, more effective...
View ArticleNew insights into how brain synapses transmit information
Throughout the animal kingdom, cells encapsulate molecules and proteins — that they move within or between — in tiny vesicles, which release their contents when they fuse with another membrane....
View ArticleStudy finds a new culprit for epileptic seizures
Epileptic seizures occur when neurons in the brain become excessively active. However, a new study from MIT neuroscientists suggests that some seizures may originate in non-neuronal cells known as...
View ArticleResearchers reverse Fragile X Syndrome symptoms in adult mice
Neuroscientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the March 18 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that they have reversed autism symptoms in adult mice...
View ArticleComplex brain function depends on flexibility
Over the past few decades, neuroscientists have made much progress in mapping the brain by deciphering the functions of individual neurons that perform very specific tasks, such as recognizing the...
View ArticleReducing caloric intake delays nerve cell loss
Activating an enzyme known to play a role in the anti-aging benefits of calorie restriction delays the loss of brain cells and preserves cognitive function in mice, according to a study published in...
View ArticleNeuroscientists plant false memories in the brain
The phenomenon of false memory has been well-documented: In many court cases, defendants have been found guilty based on testimony from witnesses and victims who were sure of their recollections, but...
View ArticleBrain circuit can tune anxiety
Anxiety disorders, which include posttraumatic stress disorder, social phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder, affect 40 million American adults in a given year. Currently available treatments, such...
View ArticleDNA damage may cause ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — is a neurodegenerative disease that destroys the neurons that control muscle movement. There is no cure for ALS, which kills...
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