Monthly Archives: November 2015

  Spectrum brings to you the most noteworthy news and analysis of advances in autism research in a way that explains the context and impact of each finding. The Spectrum wiki is intended to be a live collaboration, written and edited by researchers. Entries can include text, links, images, charts, […]

Introducing Spectrum’s wiki for autism research

[Source: Smithsonian Magazine, November 19, 2015]   MIT neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe steps away from her research and places herself inside an MRI machine, alongside her infant son. The resulting image reflects differences in the size and substance of the two brains but also the universal symbol of love between a […]

MRI image becomes a tribute to motherhood

[Source: MIT News, November 9, 2015]   MIT researchers took home several awards last night at the 2016 Breakthrough Prize ceremony at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Edward Boyden, an associate professor of media arts and sciences, biological engineering, and brain and cognitive sciences, was one of five […]

Edward Boyden wins 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

[Source: Spectrum, November 2, 2015]   Electrically stimulating a particular circuit in the brain improves learning and memory in a mouse model of Rett syndrome. The findings, detailed 14 October in Nature, suggest that some of the cognitive problems associated with the syndrome are reversible1. Cognitive impairment is a core feature […]

Brain stimulation could ease memory problems in Rett syndrome

[Source: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, November 2, 2015] by Anne Trafton New protein nanoparticles allow scientists to track cells and interactions within them. MIT engineers have designed magnetic protein nanoparticles that can be used to track cells or to monitor interactions within cells. The particles, described today in […]

Engineers design magnetic cell sensors