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
A 3 by 2 array shows three different cross sections of the brainstem in two rows. The top row shows the new tool which highlights in different colors distinct shapes within the brainstem. The bottom row shows finer tracings of fibers, colored the same way, through the brainstem.
February 6, 2026
Opening a new window on the brainstem, AI algorithm enables tracking of its vital white matter pathways

Even after learning the right idea, humans and animals still seem to test other approaches, study suggests

February 18, 2025
Research Findings
New research adds evidence that learning a successful strategy for approaching a task doesn’t prevent further exploration, even if it reduces performance.

MIT method enables ultrafast protein labeling of tens of millions of densely packed cells in organ-scale tissues

January 24, 2025
Research Findings
Tissue processing advance can label proteins at the level of individual cells across whole, intact rodent brains and other large samples just as fast and uniformly as in dissociated single cells.

Emery N. Brown, innovative neuroscientist, statistician and anesthesiologist earns National Medal of Science

January 3, 2025
Picower People
President Biden bestowed the nation’s highest scientific honor on Brown, fellow winners, at a White House ceremony.

From Molecules to Memory

December 20, 2024
Research Feature
On a biological foundation of ions and proteins, the brain forms, stores, and retrieves memories to inform intelligent behavior

Study suggests how the brain, with sleep, learns meaningful maps of spaces

December 10, 2024
Research Findings
Place cells are well known to encode individual locations, but new experiments and analysis indicate that stitching together a “cognitive map” of a whole environment requires a broader ensemble of cells, aided by sleep, to build a richer network over seve

New autism research projects represent a broad range of approaches to achieving a shared goal

November 21, 2024
Recent Events
At a symposium of the Simons Center for the Social Brain, six speakers described a diversity of recently launched studies aimed at improving understanding of the autistic brain.

Open technology platform enables new versatility for neuroscience research with more naturalistic behavior

November 13, 2024
Research Findings
System developed by MIT and Open Ephys team provides a fast, light, standardized means for combining multiple instruments with minimal hindrance of lab mouse mobility.

The way sensory prediction changes under anesthesia tells us how conscious cognition works

October 7, 2024
Research Findings
New study adds evidence that consciousness requires communication between sensory and cognitive regions of the brain’s cortex

Learning the secrets of neural longevity could benefit the aging brain and body alike, research project posits

October 3, 2024
New Research
With a new Glenn Foundation Discovery Award, the Heiman Lab will study the genetic and molecular basis for the exceptional longevity of neurons in hopes of using that insight to help sustain aging cells.

Mixing joy and resolve, event celebrates women in science and addresses persistent inequalities

October 2, 2024
Picower Events
The Kuggie Vallee Distinguished Lectures and Workshops presented inspiring examples of success, even as the event evoked frank discussions of the barriers that still hinder many women scientists.

Research quantifying “nociception” could help improve management of surgical pain

September 23, 2024
Research Findings
New statistical models based on rigorous physiological data from more than 100 surgeries provide objective, accurate measures of “nociception,” the body’s subconscious perception of pain.

Better living through brain chemistry

September 6, 2024
Research Feature
Studying neuromodulators such as serotonin and norepinephrine could help make them better targets for psychiatric or psychedelic drugs