A member of a surgical staff holds a mask on the face of an unconscious patient in an operating room
March 17, 2026
Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find
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

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

Livestreaming the Brain

March 15, 2024
Research Feature
To learn how the brain works, Picower Institute labs are advancing technologies and methods to watch it live as it happens

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.