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.

November 8, 2023

Research Findings

Under propofol general anesthesia, sensory input still reaches the brain, but signals do not spread. Results suggest consciousness requires cortical regions to all be “on the same page.”

November 1, 2023

Picower Events

Seed projects, posters represent a wide range of labs working on technologies, therapeutic strategies, and fundamental research to advance understanding of age-related neurodegenerative disease

October 31, 2023

Research Findings

An advanced closed-loop anesthesia delivery system that monitors brain state to tailor propofol dose and achieve exactly the desired level of unconsciousness could reduce post-op side effects

October 20, 2023

Research Findings

A flexible new tool both monitors and manipulates neural activity in the brains of large animals.

September 27, 2023

Research Findings

Scientists have invested decades in piecing together how our vision is so good at recognizing what’s familiar. A new study overcomes an apparent discrepancy in data to reveal a new insight into how it works.

September 27, 2023

Research Findings

In C. elegans worms, a single neuron named HSN uses multiple chemicals and connections to orchestrate egg-laying and locomotion over the course of several minutes

September 14, 2023

Neural activity during sleep has a signature structure that the brain uses to make profound improvements in our thinking and wellness

September 14, 2023

Research Findings

Neurotypical humans readily optimize performance in ‘reversal learning’ games, but while mice learn the winning strategy, they refuse to commit to it, a new study shows. The research provides a mathematical way to track the rodents’ more mixed tactics

August 21, 2023

Research Findings

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

August 3, 2023

Picower People

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.

July 17, 2023

Research Findings

Distinctive EEG patterns indicate when a patient’s state of unconsciousness under general anesthesia is more profound than necessary.

July 10, 2023

Research Findings

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.

Anesthesia blocks sensation by cutting off communication within the cortex

Aging Brain Initiative symposium showcases ‘cutting edge’ research across MIT

Anesthesia technology precisely controls unconsciousness in animal tests

A multifunctional tool for cognitive neuroscience

Resolving a seeming contradiction, study advances understanding of visual recognition memory

Study shows how a single neuron’s parallel outputs can coordinate many aspects of behavior

The Sleeping Brain

Study decodes surprising approach mice take in learning

Cracking the code that relates brain and behavior in a simple animal

Summer research opportunity can be a springboard to advanced studies

Study finds tracking brain waves could reduce post-op complications

Brain networks encoding memory come together via electric fields, study finds