Yearly Archives: 2024

Source: [Anne Trafton | MIT News | July 15, 2024] Propofol, a drug commonly used for general anesthesia, derails the brain’s normal balance between stability and excitability. There are many drugs that anesthesiologists can use to induce unconsciousness in patients. Exactly how these drugs cause the brain to lose consciousness has been […]

Study reveals how an anesthesia drug induces unconsciousness

Drawing on evidence from neurobiology, cognitive science, and corpus linguistics, MIT researchers make the case that language is a tool for communication, not for thought. Source: [Jennifer Michalowski | McGovern Institute for Brain Research | July 3, 2024] Language is a defining feature of humanity, and for centuries, philosophers and scientists have […]

What is language for?

MIT scientists honored in each of the three Kavli Prize categories: neuroscience, nanoscience, and astrophysics, respectively. Source: [MIT News, School of Science | June 12, 2024] MIT faculty members Nancy Kanwisher, Robert Langer, and Sara Seager are among eight researchers worldwide to receive this year’s Kavli Prizes. A partnership among the […]

Nancy Kanwisher, Robert Langer, and Sara Seager named Kavli Prize ...

New research addresses a gap in understanding how ketamine’s impact on individual neurons leads to pervasive and profound changes in brain network function. Source: [David Orenstein, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory | June 4, 2024] Ketamine, a World Health Organization Essential Medicine, is widely used at varying doses […]

Study models how ketamine’s molecular action leads to its effects ...

The findings also reveal why identifying objects in black-and-white images is more difficult for individuals who were born blind and had their sight restored. Source: [Anne Trafton | MIT News | May 23, 2024] Even though the human visual system has sophisticated machinery for processing color, the brain has no problem recognizing […]

Study explains why the brain can robustly recognize images, even ...

An unmistakable takeaway from sessions of “UnrulyArt” is that all those “n’ts”—can’t, needn’t, shouldn’t, won’t—that can lead people to exclude children with disabilities or cognitive, social and behavioral impairments from creative activities aren’t really rules. They are merely assumptions and stigmas. When a session ends and the paint that was […]

Researchers and staff from MIT, including from the Simons Center ...

A new study co-led by Anna (Anya) Ivanova highlights how human neuroscience is paving the way for AI innovation — and what AI can teach us about ourselves. Source: [Georgia Tech News Center | March 19, 2024] One of the hallmarks of humanity is language, but now, powerful new artificial […]

Researchers Reveal Roadmap for AI Innovation in Brain and Language ...

An MIT study finds the brains of polyglots expend comparatively little effort when processing their native language. Source: [Anne Trafton, MIT News | March 10, 2024] A new study of people who speak many languages has found that there is something special about how the brain processes their native language. In […]

For people who speak many languages, there’s something special about ...

Team-based targeted projects, multi-mentor fellowships ensure that scientists studying social cognition, behavior, and autism integrate multiple perspectives and approaches to pressing questions. The secret to the success of MIT’s Simons Center for the Social Brain is in the name. With a founding philosophy of “collaboration and community” that has supported […]

Simons Center’s collaborative approach propels autism research, at MIT and ...

Across mammalian species, brain waves are slower in deep cortical layers, while superficial layers generate faster rhythms. Source [Anne Trafton, MIT News | January 18, 2024]  Throughout the brain’s cortex, neurons are arranged in six distinctive layers, which can be readily seen with a microscope. A team of MIT and […]

Study reveals a universal pattern of brain wave frequencies