Neurons glow green against a black background in a section of a mouse brain. A few red specks can be seen. An inset magnifies one of these cells that has red and green staining.
April 28, 2025
Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
A 2 by 2 array of panels that each show a hairpin-like shape of blue stained cells. The left column is laberled "Ambient light/sound." The right column is labeled "40Hz Stimulation." The panels in the 40Hz column show more yellow arrows pointing white blotches than the panels in the ambient column.
April 24, 2025
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Emery Brown sits behind his desk in his MIT office. A teddy bear rests nestled among some books on a shelf behind him, just over his right shoulder.
April 21, 2025
In kids, EEG monitoring of consciousness safely reduces anesthetic use
In a grayscale image a wiggly worm is seen in a vertical orientation above a lumpy background of bacteria
April 8, 2025
A simple animal’s response to sickness highlights the nervous system’s surprising degrees of flexibility
A black brain shown in a side view glows blue. The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure toward the bottome center stands out especially. In the background there are theater masks signifying emotions.
April 7, 2025
Molecules that fight infection also act on the brain, inducing anxiety or sociability

A noninvasive treatment for “chemo brain”

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.

How sensory gamma rhythm stimulation clears amyloid in Alzheimer’s mice

February 28, 2024
Research Findings
Stimulating a key brain rhythm with light and sound increases peptide release from interneurons, driving clearance of Alzheimer’s protein via the brain’s glymphatic system, new study suggests.

Study reveals a universal pattern of brain wave frequencies

January 18, 2024
Research Findings
Across mammalian species, brain waves are slower in deep cortical layers, while superficial layers generate faster rhythms.

Starting off the year with new skills, new connections

January 9, 2024
Picower People
At MIT’s Quantitative Methods Workshop, more than 80 students and faculty from a dozen partner institutions became immersed at the intersection of computation and life sciences and forged new ties to MIT and each other.

New Picower Investigator advances optical methods to study learning and memory

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.

Evidence early, but emerging, that gamma rhythm stimulation can treat neurological disorders

December 20, 2023
Research Feature
A new review surveys a broadening landscape of studies showing what’s known, and what remains to be found, about the therapeutic potential of non-invasive sensory, electrical or magnetic stimulation of gamma brain rhythms.

Nanoparticle-delivered RNA reduces neuroinflammation in lab tests

December 11, 2023
Research Findings
In mice and human cell cultures, MIT researchers showed that novel nanoparticles can deliver a potential therapy for inflammation in the brain, a prominent symptom in Alzheimer’s disease

Emery N. Brown elected member of American Philosophical Society

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.

How a mutation in microglia elevates Alzheimer’s risk

November 16, 2023
Research Findings
A new MIT study finds that microglia with mutant TREM2 protein reduce brain circuit connections, promote inflammation and contribute to Alzheimer’s pathology in other ways

Anesthesia blocks sensation by cutting off communication within the cortex

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.”

Award honors Elly Nedivi’s research on cortical plasticity

November 6, 2023
Picower People
The Krieg Cortical Kudos Discoverer Award recognizes Nedivi’s ongoing work to understand molecular and cellular mechanisms that enable the brain to adapt to experience

New grant to study possibility of an immunotherapy for autism

November 2, 2023
New Research
Picower Institute-based collaboration will study mechanisms that might enable peripheral immune cells to deliver a potentially therapeutic molecule to the brain.