Cognition and Motivation

Picower Institute scientists study behaviors and cognitive processes including learning, memory, emotion, reasoning and consciousness. To learn more about these or other areas of inquiry, select them under Research Topics and you'll find relevant Picower people, discoveries and events.

September 5, 2022

Research Findings

When holding information in mind, neural activity is more focused when and where there are bursts of gamma frequency rhythms

August 19, 2022

Research Findings

New research reveals cells that span brain hemispheres to coordinate activity in visual processing centers and shows that Alzheimer’s degrades their structure and therefore their function

August 15, 2022

Picower People

As he works to solve an advanced problem at the intersection of computing and neurobiology, Picower Institute post-baccalaureate scholar Eric Bueno is also thinking of how he could pay his experience forward

August 5, 2022

Research Findings

By tracking feedback during tasks, the anterior cingulate cortex notices when a new step has become necessary and signals the motor cortex to adjust

July 28, 2022

Research Findings

To ensure a quick halt, brain circuit architecture avoids a slow process of integration in favor of quicker differentiation, study finds

June 1, 2022

Research Findings

Unexpected outcomes trigger release of noradrenaline, which helps the brain focus its attention and learn from the event

May 17, 2022

Picower People

Emery N. Brown and three other scientists recognized for advancing statistical, theoretical analyses of neuroscience data

April 27, 2022

Research Findings

Under propofol general anesthesia very slow frequency traveling waves transform and dominate, redirecting and disrupting the higher frequency traveling waves associated with conscious function

April 11, 2022

Research Findings

Innovative brain-wide mapping study shows that “engrams,” the ensembles of neurons encoding a memory, are widely distributed, including among regions not previously realized

March 25, 2022

Picower People

Pierre Galletti Award recognizes contributions to neural signal processing, anesthesiology advances

March 14, 2022

Research Feature

A Picower Institute primer on ‘plasticity,’ the brain’s amazing ability to constantly adapt to and learn from experience

March 14, 2022

Research Findings

A new study suggests that electric fields may represent information held in working memory, allowing the brain to overcome “representational drift,” or the inconsistent participation of individual neurons

How the brain focuses on what’s in mind

When Alzheimer’s degrades cells that cross hemispheres, visual memory suffers

At a research forefront, young scholar looks ahead to graduate school, chance to mentor others

When a task adds more steps, this circuit helps you notice

Sprint then stop? Brain is wired for the math to make it happen

How the brain responds to surprising events

Brown wins share of 2022 Gruber Neuroscience Prize

Anesthetic drastically diverts the travels of brain waves

A single memory is stored across many connected brain regions

Emery Brown earns AIMBE’s highest honor

The model remodeler

Neurons are fickle. Electric fields are more reliable for information.