2022

A commonly used screening test creates a gender gap that may hinder diagnosis and treatment for women and girls. [Anne Trafton | MIT News Office | September 8, 2022] In recent years, researchers who study autism have made an effort to include more women and girls in their studies. However, despite these efforts, most studies of autism […]

Using organoids to model early development, researchers used an emerging microscopy technology to see that new neurons struggled to reach their developmental destination. [David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory | August 3, 2022] Using an innovative microscopy method, scientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT observed how newborn neurons struggle […]

To ensure a quick halt, brain circuit architecture avoids a slow process of integration in favor of quicker differentiation, study finds. [David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory | July 28, 2022] Your new apartment is just a couple of blocks down the street from the bus stop, but today you are late and you […]

Studying speakers of 45 languages, neuroscientists found similar patterns of brain activation and language selectivity. [Anne Trafton | MIT News Office | July 18, 2022] Over several decades, neuroscientists have created a well-defined map of the brain’s “language network,” or the regions of the brain that are specialized for processing language. Found primarily in the left hemisphere, […]

[Leah Campbell | Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences | June 21, 2022] A team of cognitive scientists and doctors finds that patients with aphasia use different cognitive tools to compensate for language deficits. Bruce Willis’s recent announcement that he was retiring from acting brought widespread public attention to the neurological condition aphasia. While everyone struggles occasionally […]

[Anne Trafton | MIT News | June 1, 2022] Unexpected outcomes trigger release of noradrenaline, which helps the brain focus its attention and learn from the event. When your brain needs you to pay attention to something important, one way it can do that is to send out a burst of noradrenaline, according to a new MIT […]

Source: [Anne Trafton | MIT News Office, May 25, 2022] Modeling study suggests that the muffled environment in utero primes the brain’s ability to interpret some types of sound. Inside the womb, fetuses can begin to hear some sounds around 20 weeks of gestation. However, the input they are exposed to is limited to low-frequency sounds because […]

Source: [Jason Sparapani | Department of Materials Science and Engineering | MIT News | May 13, 2022] Professor Polina Anikeeva’s innovation in the treatment of neurological disorders highlights the interdisciplinary nature of her field. A pivotal moment in Polina Anikeeva’s career was when she looked at an MRI scan of Parkinson’s disease patient, about a decade ago. […]

Source: [David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory | May 2, 2022] Innovative brain-wide mapping study shows that an “engram,” the ensemble of neurons encoding a memory, is widely distributed and includes regions not previously realized. A new study by scientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT provides the most comprehensive […]

Source: [MIT News Office | April 28, 2022] Prestigious honor society announces more than 250 new members. Seven MIT faculty members are among more than 250 leaders from academia, the arts, industry, public policy, and research elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced Thursday. One of the nation’s most prestigious […]