Molecular and Cellular

Picower Institute scientists probe the role of genes, proteins and molecules in the physiology and action of neurons and glia, including how synaptic connections change. 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.

Picower Professor of Neuroscience

The Tsai lab is interested in elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms underlying neurological disorders that impact learning and memory by taking a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the molecular, cellular, and circuit basis of neurodegenerative disorders.

Research Areas

Alzheimer's dementia, Down syndrome, Single Cell Transcriptomics and Epigenomics, iPSCs, Brain Rhythms, Neuroimmune interactions, myelination, ApoE, lipid metabolism, Neuronal DNA damage

Doherty Assistant Professor of Biology

Brady Weissbourd uses jellyfish to study nervous system evolution, development, regeneration, and function.

Research Areas

Evolution, neural systems, Internal states, neuromodulation, development, Single Cell Transcriptomics and Epigenomics

Sherman Fairchild Professor in Neurobiology

Research in the Wilson laboratory focuses on the study of information representation across large populations of neurons in the mammalian nervous system, as well as on the mechanisms that underlie formation and maintenance of distributed memories, and the role of sleep in memory.

Research Areas

hippocampus, place cells, LFP, oscillations, functional connectivity, synchronization, replay, reverse replay

May 14, 2026

Research Findings

Brain cells take in many signals through thousands of circuit connections. A new study in mice discerns the rules that turn what could be a cacophony of inputs into a functional arrangement for neurons that process vision.

April 26, 2026

Research Feature

FINGERS-7B integrates lifestyle, clinical, genomic, and proteomic data from tens of thousands of at-risk individuals to discover multi-omic biomarkers for preclinical Alzheimer's

April 20, 2026

Research Findings

Neural interaction with bacteria, e.g. in the gut microbiome, has important effects on brains of animals from worms to people. A new study investigates how neurons sense bacteria by revealing, in nematodes, the bacterial signals that a key neuron detects

April 14, 2026

Picower Events

Seven researchers from MIT, Rutgers University and the University of São Paulo shared the research they are doing to help people with trisomy 21 throughout their lifespan.

February 17, 2026

Picower People

Linlin Fan uses innovative optical tools to precisely investigate how connections change among neurons during memory formation. With Sloan Foundation support, she plans to give the technology a significant upgrade

January 14, 2026

Research Findings

A new MIT study finds that somatostatin-expressing neurons follow a unique trajectory when forming connections in the brain’s visual cortex that may help establish the conditions needed for sensory experience to refine circuits.

November 20, 2025

Research Findngs

When MIT neurobiologists tracked how more than 200 motor neurons in fruit flies each edited their RNA, they cataloged hundreds of target sites and widely varying editing rates. Scores of edits altered proteins involved in neural communication and function

November 19, 2025

Research Findngs

Temporarily anesthetizing the retina briefly reverts the activity of the visual system to that observed in early development and enables growth of responses to the amblyopic eye, new research shows

November 3, 2025

New Research

Assistant Professor Sara Prescott and Research Affiliate Ravikiran Raju are key collaborators in a new Broad Institute research project to better understand physiological and medical effects of acute and chronic life stressors.

Li-Huei Tsai

Brady Weissbourd

Matthew Wilson

The rules neurons follow to make sense of what we see

MIT-based team releases first AI foundation model for Alzheimer's prevention

How neurons sense bacteria in the gut

Alana Down Syndrome Center symposium highlights studies from brain to heart

Sloan Fellowship will help Fan advance technology to study how brain circuits change amid learning

How a unique class of neurons may set the table for brain development

RNA editing study finds many ways for neurons to diversify

MIT study shows how vision can be rebooted in adults with amblyopia

Q&A: Picower researchers join effort to investigate the ‘Biology of Adversity’