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.

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.”

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

September 28, 2023

Research Findings

By analyzing epigenomic and gene expression changes that occur in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers identify cellular pathways that could become new drug targets

September 18, 2023

Research Findings

Neurons stochastically generated up to eight different versions of a protein regulating neurotransmitter release, which could vary how they communicate with other cells

September 14, 2023

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

August 29, 2023

Research Findings

A potential new Alzheimer’s drug represses the harmful inflammatory response of the brain’s immune cells, reducing disease pathology, preserving neurons and improving cognition in preclinical tests

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

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.

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 12, 2023

Research Findings

MIT scientists find evidence that a protein common to flies and people is essential for supporting the structure of axons that neurons project to make circuit connections. When those break down, the connections follow suit.

Anesthesia blocks sensation by cutting off communication within the cortex

Anesthesia technology precisely controls unconsciousness in animal tests

Decoding the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease

Individual neurons mix multiple RNA edits of key synapse protein, fly study finds

The Sleeping Brain

Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models

Study connects neural gene expression differences to functional distinctions

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

Study finds tracking brain waves could reduce post-op complications

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

Petite & Profound

Without key extracellular protein, neuronal axons break and synaptic connections fall apart