MIT's Undergraduate research Opportunities ProgramUROP
Basic InformationFor StudentsFor Supervisors & DepartmentsCurrent ResearchResources
Current Research

Project Openings

***

Research Profiles

***

Supervisor Index

***

Other Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picower Institute for Learning & Memory (PILM)

The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT was established in May 1994 as an independent research center between the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Department of Biology. The primary interests of this multidisciplinary center include:

  • Neuroscience of learning and memory, and associated cognitive functions.
  • Neuroscience of synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity.
  • Neurobiology of developmental plasticity.
In order to fully understand complex cognitive phenomena such as learning and memory, it is necessary to analyze them at multiple levels of complexity: at the molecular level, at the synaptic level, at the cellular level, at the neuronal ensemble level, and at the level of behavior of a whole living animal.

At the Institute we accomplish these challenging objectives by applying, in combination, an assortment of cutting edge experimental technologies that include behavioral mutants of fly, molecular and cell biology, genomics, electrophysiology of cultured neurons and brain slices, two photon laser microscopy, combined behavioral and single-unit recording and analysis of monkeys, large scale recording of the activity of neuronal ensembles of freely behaving rodents, and a wide array of behavioral paradigms .

For information regarding UROP opportunities in PILM, check the UROP Project Openings Page or see the PILM UROP Coordinator. Further Information: See the Awards & Funds section of this site for special funding that may pertain to your research.

Prof. Yasunori Hayashi, E18-270, x2-2662, yhayashi@mit.edu

 
Prof. J. Troy Littleton, 42-3243, x2-2605, troy@mit.edu
Molecular mechanisms underlying synapse formation, function and plasticity.

Prof. Guosong Liu, E18-221, x8-9737, liu@mit.edu
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity in central nervous system.

Prof. Earl Miller, E25-236, x2-1584, ekm@ai.mit.edu
Neural basis of visual memory and cognition.


Prof. Elly Nedivi, Rm. E18-670, x3-2344, nedivi@mit.edu
Molecular Basis of Synaptic Plasticity


William Quinn, Ph.D., E25-436, x3-6307, cquinn@mit.edu
Genetic and Molecular Studies of Learning and Memory in Drosophila
Prof. Morgan Sheng, E18-266, 452-3691

Prof. Mriganka Sur, E25-235, x3-8784, x3-8785, msur@ai.mit.edu
Development and plasticity of the visual system; mechanisms of learning and memory in the adult brain; activity-dependent mechanisms of synaptic dification and development.

Prof. Susumu Tonegawa, E17-353, x3-6461, tonegawa@mit.edu
Mechanism of cell differentiation, immunology, and neurobiology.

Prof. Matthew A. Wilson, E18-370, x3-2046, wilson@ai.mit.edu
How is experience represented and stored within the brain? A fundamental tenet of modern brain theory has been that information is coded in the coordinated activity of neuronal ensembles.
MIT
Massachuesetts Institute of Technology


77 Massachusetts Avenue, Bldg. 7-104, Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617-253-7306, Fax: 617-258-8816

UROP Contacts

UROP Coordinator:

Prof. J Troy Littleton
46-3243, (617) 452-2605
troy@mit.edu

Center Director:

Prof. Susumu Tonegawa
E17-353, x3-6459
tonegawa@mit.edu

UROP Payroll:

Suzette Clinton
46-1303, x2-2242
sclinton@mit.edu