Select Topics
Disorders
Cognition and Motivation
Systems Neuroscience
Molecular and Cellular
Neurotechnology

Down Syndrome

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disorder diagnosed in the U.S. and the leading cause of developmental disabilities worldwide. Picower research on the disorder includes creating stem cell lines and lab tissues, providing new insights into the molecular and cell biology of the disorder, and studying systems level interventions.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorder are complex in how they affect emotion in the brain. Picower researchers investigate many aspects of these disorders including the circuits, regions and neuromodulators that are relevant in how they are manifested differently in disease.

Sleep

Not merely a restorative process, sleep also has a crucial role in learning and memory. Ongoing studies at the Picower Institute are producing new insights into how memory is processed during sleep and dreaming.

Higher Level Cognition

We are not only capable of learning and reasoning about complex information, we can exert volitional control over these processes. Research at the Picower Institute includes studies to understand the cells, circuits and systems that allow for these capabilities and how abnormalities can disrupt them.

Cognition and consciousness arise from analog computations, says new theory

August 19, 2026
Research Findings
The brain's ability to generate quick, nimble volitional thought—and a unified awareness of thought and experience—arises from analog computations carried out by electrical waves, MIT neuroscientists argue in a new review

Flexible brain circuits can switch between different tasks

August 17, 2026
Research Findings
Neuroscientists have discovered circuits in the prefrontal cortex that can be repurposed to store different types of information.

High-speed microscopy reveals electrical activity across the brain

August 14, 2026
Research Findings
The new technique could help scientists learn how the entire brain works to generate decisions and emotions.

Brain circuit keeps tabs on what just happened to aid judgement of what’s happening now

August 13, 2026
Research Findings
With the tough job of trying to keep track of what’s going on in front of it, the brain relies not only on what it sees, but also a comparison with what it just saw. A new study in mice pinpoints the circuit that provides that service.

With Mass. Women’s Health Award, team will study how Alzheimer’s risk varies with hormone replacement

July 29, 2026
New Research
Observations conflict about whether hormone replacement therapy increases or decreases Alzheimer’s likelihood for women. With a new award from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, MIT researchers will investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms aff

A new director

July 27, 2026
Picower People
Myriam Heiman becomes the fourth director of The Picower Institute. She shares her outlook in a new Q&A

MIT names Emery N. Brown an "Institute Professor," its highest faculty honor

July 20, 2026
Picower People
Brown, a renowned neuroscientist, anesthesiologist and statistician, has made numerous seminal contributions to basic science and clinical care alike. He joins two other professors in earning the honor this year

Picower Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86

July 15, 2026
Picower People
Tonegawa made landmark discoveries about how the immune system generates antibody diversity and how the brain forms memories.