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

Technologies enable 3D imaging of whole human brain hemispheres at subcellular resolution

June 13, 2024
Research Findings
A suite of three innovations by an MIT-based team enables high-throughput imaging of human brain tissue at a full range of scales and mapping connectivity of neurons at single cell resolution.

Consciousness

June 12, 2024
Research Feature
Emerging evidence shows how brain waves help to knit our internal thoughts and external awareness together into an organized, unified whole

With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity

June 7, 2024
Research Findings
New camera chip design allows for optimizing each pixel’s timing to maximize signal to noise ratio when tracking real-time visual indicator of neural voltage

Microscope system sharpens scientists’ view of neural circuit connections

June 4, 2024
Research Findings
A newly described technology improves the clarity and speed of using two-photon microscopy to image synapses in the live brain

Study models how ketamine’s molecular action leads to its effects on the brain

May 20, 2024
Research Findings
New research addresses a gap in understanding how ketamine’s impact on individual neurons leads to pervasive and profound changes in brain network function.

How the brain is flexible enough for a complex world (without being thrown into chaos)

May 13, 2024
Research Findings
Many neurons exhibit “mixed selectivity.” They can integrate multiple inputs and participate in multiple computations. Mechanisms such as oscillations and neuromodulators recruit their participation and tune them to focus on the relevant information.

Autism symptoms sometimes improve amid fever, so a research team will study how to make that a therapy

May 8, 2024
New Research
With support from The Marcus Foundation, an MIT neuroscientist and a Harvard Medical School immunologist will study the “fever effect” in an effort to devise therapies that mimic its beneficial effects.

In the brain, bursts of beta rhythms implement cognitive control

April 23, 2024
Research Findings
Bursts of brain rhythms with “beta” frequencies control where and when neurons in the cortex process sensory information and plan responses. Studying these bursts would improve understanding of cognition and clinical disorders, researchers write.

Paper: To understand cognition—and its dysfunction—neuroscientists must learn its rhythms

April 17, 2024
Research Findings
Thought emerges and is controlled in the brain via the rhythmically and spatially coordinated activity of millions of neurons, scientists argue in a new article. Understanding cognition and its disorders requires studying it at that level.

Tsai presents non-invasive stimulation study at Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress

March 27, 2024
Picower Events
Alana Down Syndrome Center team recruiting volunteers to test whether 40Hz light and sound stimulation produces cognitive benefits.

Plasticity and place: Study shows a key neural mechanism of remembering locations

March 25, 2024
Research Findings
Scientists have now observed how the brain’s place cells stave off inhibitory input in the process of establishing their tuning to specific locations. The study shows that signaling by endocannabinoids is required.

Movement disorder ALS and cognitive disorder FTLD show strong molecular overlaps, new study shows

March 22, 2024
Research Findings
Single-cell gene expression patterns in the brain’s motor and frontal cortex, and evidence from follow-up experiments, reveal many shared cellular and molecular similarities that could be targeted for potential treatment