Neuroscience

Younger brains are easier to rewireStudy of blind patients supports the idea that there is a period early in a person’s development when brain regions can switch functions.

Nerve-cell regeneration quest is fast trackedMicrochip technology rapidly identifies compounds for regrowing nerves, in live animals.

Feng Zhang, expert on genetic control of brain function, to join BCS faculty

Lunch with a Laureate: Robert HorvitzPresented by the MIT Museum and the Cambridge Science Festival

Proteins linked to longevity also linked to Alzheimer’sSirtuins appear to control production of the devastating protein fragments that form plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Protein linked to aging may boost memory and learning abilityDiscovery could lead to new drugs to fight Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

Postdoc awarded Otto Hahn medal of the Max Planck SocietyHonored for thesis on neural correlates of visual illusions

Guoping Feng, expert on synapses and psychiatric disorders, joins MIT faculty

McGovern Institute video wins Telly AwardGiven top honors in fundraising category

Multitasking is no problem for these brain cellsScientists find that neurons in the brain’s planning center can handle more than one kind of job.

Earl Miller wins MERIT award from National Institute of Mental HealthNational Institute of Mental Health

Moral judgments can be altered ... by magnetsBy disrupting brain activity in a particular region, neuroscientists can sway people’s views of moral situations.

NIMH Director Tom Insel on AutismHosted by the Simons Initiative on Autism and the Brain at MIT

No harm, no foulStudy of moral judgment finds that patients with a specific brain defect lack the emotional reaction necessary to find fault with attempted murderers

A change of mindOne protein appears to control neurons’ ability to react to new experiences, MIT scientists show.

McGovern Institute to acquire new brain imaging technology

New technique offers a more detailed view of brain activity‘Cleverly designed' MRI sensors detect dopamine, offering a high-resolution look at what’s happening inside the brain.

McGovern Institute honors pioneers in neurogeneticsThe McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT announced today that Lily Jan and Yuh-Nung Jan will be the joint winners of the 2010 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience.

Mapping the brainMIT scientists are making computers smart enough to see the connections between the brain's neurons

Silencing the brain with lightMIT neuroengineers find a new way to quickly and reversibly shut off neurons with multiple colors of light, which could lead to new treatments for epilepsy and chronic pain.

HHMI lists Tsai team’s advance among 10 biggest stories of 2009Howard Hughes Medical Institute honors discovery of gene protein that could lead to safer drug treatments for Alzheimer’s and other diseases.

Rethinking artificial intelligenceBroad-based MIT project aims to reinvent AI for a new era. By going back and fixing mistakes, researchers hope to produce ‘co-processors’ for the human mind.

3 Questions: Suzanne Corkin on the world’s most famous amnesicThis week, scientists plan to slice the brain of H.M., the amnesia patient who died last year and whose condition helped shed light on how memories are formed.

Back to (brain) basicsMIT neuroscientists are using their knowledge of the brain to generate promising treatments for autism, mental retardation and Alzheimer’s disease.

A head of timeFor the first time, neuroscientists find brain cells that keep track of time with extreme precision.

In Profile: Matt WilsonBy listening in on rat brains, the Picower Institute neuroscientist tries to understand the role of sleep in learning and memory

Rats' mental 'instant replay' drives next movesMIT study illuminates thoughts and memories

MIT researchers: The mind's eye scans like a spotlightNew role discovered for brain waves