Li-Huei Tsai stands at a podium embossed with an MIT logo. In the foreground is an attentive audience. In the background is the Picower Institute logo
March 11, 2026
After 16+ years leading Picower Institute, Li-Huei Tsai will sharpen focus on research, teaching
Two panels show blue cells surrounded by thin green outlines. The outlines are much more consistent and prevalent in the image on the left, which is labeled as the wild type, than on the right which is labeled Rett syndrome.
February 25, 2026
In Rett syndrome, leaky brain blood vessels traced to microRNA
a series of small blocky spots of color appear in the aggregate to make up the shape of a worm as it stretches horizonally across a black background
February 24, 2026
As worms and jellyfish wriggle, new AI tools track their neurons
Linlin Fan stands in her lab with microscope equipment in the foreground.
February 17, 2026
Sloan Fellowship will help Fan advance technology to study how brain circuits change amid learning
Wearing white lab coats in the lab, Mark Bear stands behind Sara Kornfeld-Sylla as she sits in a stool at a lab bench
February 11, 2026
Fragile X study uncovers brainwave biomarker bridging humans and mice

Scope advance reveals first look through all cortical layers of awake brain

January 11, 2019
Research findings
Refinement of three-photon microscopy allows unprecendented neuroscience

Study shows how specific gene variants may raise bipolar disorder risk

January 9, 2019
Research findings
Findings could help inform new therapies, improve diagnosis

Chung leads collaboration to make the best brain map yet

January 2, 2019
News Feature
Project will reveal the entire human brain, down to subcellular features

Gut-brain connection signals worms to alter behavior while eating

December 20, 2018
Research findings
Study may lead to a better understanding of the digestive tract’s nervous system

Mapping the brain, cell by cell, with SHIELD

December 17, 2018
Research findings
Technique for preserving tissue allows researchers to create maps of neural circuits with single-cell resolution

How returning to a prior context briefly heightens memory recall

December 11, 2018
Research findings
Going back to a scene makes engram cells more electrically excitable

Brown wins 2018 Dickson Prize in Science

December 5, 2018
Picower People
CMU award recognizes 'physician-scientist'

Neurotechnology provides real-time readouts of where rats think they are

December 4, 2018
Research findings
Open-source system provides for fast, accurate neural decoding

MIT biologists discover an unusual hallmark of aging in neurons

November 27, 2018
Research findings
Snippets of RNA that accumulate in brain cells could interfere with normal function

Dozens from Picower present research at SfN

November 13, 2018
Recent Events
Researchers take part in field's largest annual exchange of ideas

With fellowship, postdoc will work to solve Alzheimer’s myelin mystery

November 8, 2018
Picower People
Joel Blanchard wins 2018 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in Aging Research

Dopamine primes the brain for enhanced vigilance

November 7, 2018
Research findings
Neuroscientists discover a circuit that helps redirect attention to focus on potential threats