SCSB News

Source: [Picower News, David Orenstein | November 21, 2024] At a symposium of the Simons Center for the Social Brain, six speakers described a diversity of recently launched studies aimed at improving understanding of the autistic brain. From studies of the connections between neurons, to interactions between the nervous and immune systems, to the complex […]

System developed by MIT and Open Ephys team provides a fast, light, standardized means for combining multiple instruments with minimal hindrance of lab mouse mobility. [Source: Picower News | November 13, 2024] Individual technologies for recording and controlling neural activity in the brains of research mice have each advanced rapidly but the potential of easily […]

The Simons Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of its prestigious independence awards. The 13 talented early-career scientists will receive support as they transition from mentored training to independent research positions. Each fellow will receive up to two years of postdoctoral support with an annual salary of $85,000, plus a yearly resource and professional […]

Like many big ideas, the Simons Center for the Social Brain started with conversation. In 2003, Jim and Marilyn Simons approached leaders at MIT looking for scientists studying autism. At the time, Mriganka Sur was chair of MIT’s department of brain and cognitive sciences, so he gathered a crew of scientists who, like him, studied brain development […]

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 a longstanding question, but MIT […]

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 contemplated its true purpose. We […]

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 Norwegian Academy of Science and […]

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 for sedation, pain control, general […]

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 objects in black-and-white images. A […]

Source: [Simons Foundation, Thomas Sumner | May 10, 2024] It is with great sadness that the Simons Foundation announces the death of its co-founder and chair emeritus, James Harris Simons, on May 10, 2024, at the age of 86, in New York City. Jim (as he preferred to be called) was an award-winning mathematician, a legend […]