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Anesthesia technology precisely controls unconsciousness in animal tests

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

Mark Bear wins SfN’s Julius Axelrod Prize

October 30, 2023
Picower People
Society for Neuroscience Award recognizes Professor Mark Bear’s synaptic plasticity research, its translation to potential amblyopia and autism treatments, and his career of mentorship.

A multifunctional tool for cognitive neuroscience

October 20, 2023
Research Findings
A flexible new tool both monitors and manipulates neural activity in the brains of large animals.

Morgan Sheng among 12 with MIT ties elected to the National Academy of Medicine for 2023

October 10, 2023
Picower People
Five MIT faculty, along with seven additional affiliates, are honored for outstanding contributions to medical research.

Decoding the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease

September 28, 2023
Research Findings
By analyzing epigenomic and gene expression changes that occur in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers identify cellular pathways that could become new drug targets

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

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

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

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.

Individual neurons mix multiple RNA edits of key synapse protein, fly study finds

September 18, 2023
Research Findings
Neurons stochastically generated up to eight different versions of a protein regulating neurotransmitter release, which could vary how they communicate with other cells

The Sleeping Brain

September 14, 2023
Neural activity during sleep has a signature structure that the brain uses to make profound improvements in our thinking and wellness

Study decodes surprising approach mice take in learning

September 14, 2023
Research Findings
Neurotypical humans readily optimize performance in ‘reversal learning’ games, but while mice learn the winning strategy, they refuse to commit to it, a new study shows. The research provides a mathematical way to track the rodents’ more mixed tactics

Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models

August 29, 2023
Research Findings
A potential new Alzheimer’s drug represses the harmful inflammatory response of the brain’s immune cells, reducing disease pathology, preserving neurons and improving cognition in preclinical tests

Study connects neural gene expression differences to functional distinctions

August 23, 2023
Research Findings
Researchers compared a pair of superficially similar motor neurons in fruit flies to examine how their differing use of the same genome produced distinctions in form and function