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.

August 23, 2023

Research Findings

Researchers compared a pair of superficially similar motor neurons in fruit flies to examine how their differing use of the same genome produced distinctions in form and function

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.

June 22, 2023

Research Feature

Why studying simple organisms—none larger than the palm of your hand—is so integral to understanding nervous system health, disease and evolution.

June 1, 2023

Research Findings

MIT researchers characterize gene expression patterns for 22,500 brain vascular cells across 428 donors, revealing insights for Alzheimer’s onset and potential treatments.

March 31, 2023

Picower Events

Teens from area high schools got the chance to learn about advanced biology and brain research on field trips to MIT

March 10, 2023

On March 10 the FDA approved Trofinetide, a drug based on the protein IGF-1, as the first drug available to treat Rett syndrome. The original research showing that IGF-1 could treat Rett syndrome was published by MIT in 2009.

February 2, 2023

Research Findings

First detailed mapping and modeling of thalamus inputs onto visual cortex neurons show brain leverages “wisdom of the crowd” to process sensory information

February 2, 2023

Study reveals key cell structures and gene expression changes near amyloid plaques and tau tangles in mouse brain tissue

January 20, 2023

Research Findings

A new study identifies cells that are the most vulnerable within a brain structure involved in mood and movement

January 2, 2023

Research Findings

‘Single-cell profiling’ is helping neuroscientists see how disease affects major brain cell types and identify common, potentially targetable pathways

November 16, 2022

Research Findings

In people carrying the APOE4 risk variant, a key brain cell type mismanages cholesterol needed to insulate neurons properly—another sign that APOE4 contributes to disease by disrupting lipids in the brain

Study connects neural gene expression differences to functional distinctions

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

Summer research opportunity can be a springboard to advanced studies

Petite & Profound

Atlas of human brain blood vessels highlights changes in Alzheimer’s disease

Spring break tours give high schoolers a chance to see science up close

3 questions for Mriganka Sur: The basic research origin of the first approved drug to treat Rett syndrome

Sparse, small, but diverse neural connections help make perception reliable, efficient

Researchers map brain cell changes in Alzheimer’s disease

How Huntington’s disease affects different neurons

New technologies revealing cross-cutting breakdowns in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s risk gene undermines insulation of brain’s “wiring”