Cognition and Motivation

Picower Institute scientists study behaviors and cognitive processes including learning, memory, emotion, reasoning and consciousness. To learn more about these or other areas of inquiry, select them under Research Topics and you'll find relevant Picower people, discoveries and events.

March 25, 2024

Research Findings

Scientists have now observed how the brain’s place cells stave off inhibitory input in the process of establishing their tuning to specific locations. The study shows that signaling by endocannabinoids is required.

March 15, 2024

Research Feature

To learn how the brain works, Picower Institute labs are advancing technologies and methods to watch it live as it happens

March 6, 2024

Research Findings

Stimulating gamma brain waves may protect cancer patients from memory impairment and other cognitive effects of chemotherapy, a new mouse study suggests.

January 18, 2024

Research Findings

Across mammalian species, brain waves are slower in deep cortical layers, while superficial layers generate faster rhythms.

January 2, 2024

Picower People

Assistant Professor Linlin Fan launches a lab to shine a finely focused, innovative spotlight on the neural basis of encoding knowledge.

November 28, 2023

Picower People

Brown elected to 2023 class of new members of the oldest learned society in the United States, co-founded by Benjamin Franklin.

November 8, 2023

Research Findings

Under propofol general anesthesia, sensory input still reaches the brain, but signals do not spread. Results suggest consciousness requires cortical regions to all be “on the same page.”

November 1, 2023

Picower Events

Seed projects, posters represent a wide range of labs working on technologies, therapeutic strategies, and fundamental research to advance understanding of age-related neurodegenerative disease

October 31, 2023

Research Findings

An advanced closed-loop anesthesia delivery system that monitors brain state to tailor propofol dose and achieve exactly the desired level of unconsciousness could reduce post-op side effects

October 20, 2023

Research Findings

A flexible new tool both monitors and manipulates neural activity in the brains of large animals.

September 27, 2023

Research Findings

Scientists have invested decades in piecing together how our vision is so good at recognizing what’s familiar. A new study overcomes an apparent discrepancy in data to reveal a new insight into how it works.

September 27, 2023

Research Findings

In C. elegans worms, a single neuron named HSN uses multiple chemicals and connections to orchestrate egg-laying and locomotion over the course of several minutes

Plasticity and place: Study shows a key neural mechanism of remembering locations

Livestreaming the Brain

A noninvasive treatment for “chemo brain”

Study reveals a universal pattern of brain wave frequencies

New Picower Investigator advances optical methods to study learning and memory

Emery N. Brown elected member of American Philosophical Society

Anesthesia blocks sensation by cutting off communication within the cortex

Aging Brain Initiative symposium showcases ‘cutting edge’ research across MIT

Anesthesia technology precisely controls unconsciousness in animal tests

A multifunctional tool for cognitive neuroscience

Resolving a seeming contradiction, study advances understanding of visual recognition memory

Study shows how a single neuron’s parallel outputs can coordinate many aspects of behavior