Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models
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
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
Cracking the code that relates brain and behavior in a simple animal
MIT researchers model and map how neurons across the tiny brain of a C. elegans worm encode its behaviors, revealing many new insights about the robustness and flexibility of its nervous system
Summer research opportunity can be a springboard to advanced studies
The paths three graduate students forged to the same Picower Institute lab illustrate the value of participating in the MIT Summer Research Program in Biology and Neuroscience.
Brain networks encoding memory come together via electric fields, study finds
New research provides evidence that electric fields shared among neurons via “ephaptic coupling” provide the coordination necessary to assemble the multi-region neural ensembles (“engrams”) that represent remembered information.
New award funds study of a remarkable example of neural regeneration
A three-year fellowship will support Brady Weissbourd’s research on how the C. hemisphaerica jellyfish survives and thrives by constantly making new neurons.
Picower postdoc earns Burroughs Wellcome Fund award
‘Career Award at the Scientific Interface’ recognizes Rebecca Pinals’ research to create a nanosensor-integrated brain-on-a-chip model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Without key extracellular protein, neuronal axons break and synaptic connections fall apart
MIT scientists find evidence that a protein common to flies and people is essential for supporting the structure of axons that neurons project to make circuit connections. When those break down, the connections follow suit.
Mind to molecules: Does brain’s electrical encoding of information ‘tune’ sub-cellular structure?
Brain waves carry information. A new “Cytoelectric Coupling” hypothesis posits that fluctuating electric fields optimize brain network efficiency and stability by shaping the brain’s molecular infrastructure.