Research Topics

As this gallery of featured people and projects illustrates, Picower Institute scientists study brain structure and function at scales from genes and molecules to cells, circuits and regions. They also study the behaviors and cognitive processes that result, and seek to uncover how disruptions at different scales can result in developmental, psychiatric or neurodegenerative disorders. They employ—and often invent—the newest technologies in their work. To learn more about any of these specific areas, click "Research Topics" above, select areas of interest, and you'll find relevant Picower people, discoveries and events.

June 7, 2024

Research Findings

New camera chip design allows for optimizing each pixel’s timing to maximize signal to noise ratio when tracking real-time visual indicator of neural voltage

May 20, 2024

Research Findings

New research addresses a gap in understanding how ketamine’s impact on individual neurons leads to pervasive and profound changes in brain network function.

May 8, 2024

New Research

With support from The Marcus Foundation, an MIT neuroscientist and a Harvard Medical School immunologist will study the “fever effect” in an effort to devise therapies that mimic its beneficial effects.

April 23, 2024

Research Findings

Bursts of brain rhythms with “beta” frequencies control where and when neurons in the cortex process sensory information and plan responses. Studying these bursts would improve understanding of cognition and clinical disorders, researchers write.

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

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

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.

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.

January 18, 2024

Research Findings

Across mammalian species, brain waves are slower in deep cortical layers, while superficial layers generate faster rhythms.

December 20, 2023

Research Feature

Picower Institute scientists are using single cell genomics techniques to measure gene expression and produce unque insights into nervous system biology and disease

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

November 16, 2023

Research Findings

A new MIT study finds that microglia with mutant TREM2 protein reduce brain circuit connections, promote inflammation and contribute to Alzheimer’s pathology in other ways

With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity

Study models how ketamine’s molecular action leads to its effects on the brain

Autism symptoms sometimes improve amid fever, so a research team will study how to make that a therapy

In the brain, bursts of beta rhythms implement cognitive control

Movement disorder ALS and cognitive disorder FTLD show strong molecular overlaps, new study shows

Livestreaming the Brain

A noninvasive treatment for “chemo brain”

How sensory gamma rhythm stimulation clears amyloid in Alzheimer’s mice

Study reveals a universal pattern of brain wave frequencies

'Cellf' Expression

Nanoparticle-delivered RNA reduces neuroinflammation in lab tests

How a mutation in microglia elevates Alzheimer’s risk