Brain and cognitive sciences

MIT neuroscientists achieve 'dream engineering' in rats

Stroke disrupts how brain controls muscle synergiesDistinctive patterns could allow doctors to develop better rehab programs for stroke patients.

Simple mathematical computations underlie brain circuitsDiscovery of how some neurons inhibit others could shed light on autism, other neurological disorders.

Thinking about others is not child’s playMIT study reveals changes in brain activity as children learn to read other people’s behavior.

Introduction to Psychology now available in MIT OpenCourseWare’s innovative OCW Scholar formatCourse is the sixth of seven courses MIT OCW will publish this year specifically to meet the needs of independent learners.

Five MIT researchers win presidential early career honorsJarillo-Herrero, Lu, Pathak, Sinha and Thaler among 96 winners.

Nutrient mixture improves memory in patients with early Alzheimer’sIn clinical trial, mixture developed at MIT appears to help overcome loss of connections between brain cells.

Angus MacDonald, longtime MIT Corporation member, dies at 86Alumnus’ wide-ranging MIT interests included neuroscience, aeronautics, political science and the arts and humanities.

All things big and small: the brain’s discerning taste for sizeNew research shows brain has distinct regions for identifying different sized objects.

Picower Institute researchers identify brain cell aberration tied to autism

Dresselhaus, Graybiel, Luu receive 2012 Kavli PrizesBiennial prizes in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience include a $1 million cash award in each field.

Robots that reveal the inner workings of brain cellsNew method offers automated way to record electrical activity inside neurons in the living brain.

Institute faculty share prestigious neuroscience prizeEd Boyden and Feng Zhang awarded the Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize

Inhibitory and excitatory synapse dynamics in the brain

McGovern investigator Feng Zhang named Searle Scholar

Two MIT juniors named Truman ScholarsMcCord, Okuneye awarded $30,000 for graduate study toward careers in government, non-profits.

Researchers show that memories reside in specific brain cellsSimply activating a tiny number of neurons can conjure an entire memory.

New tools to answer timeless questionsAlan Jasanoff is designing imaging sensors that could help reveal the brain’s inner workings.

The power of being heardWhen it comes to intergroup conflict, the group with less power benefits more from sharing its perspective.

Rebecca Saxe named Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum

Reversing Alzheimer’s gene ‘blockade’ can restore memory, other cognitive functionsNeuroscientists show that HDAC2 enzyme could be a good target for new drugs.

Neuroscientists link brain-wave pattern to energy consumptionNew model of neuro-electric activity could help scientists better understand quiescent brain states such as coma.

My connectome, myselfNeuroscientist Sebastian Seung is on a quest to map brain connections that reveal how our memories and personalities take root.

James DiCarlo to head Department of Brain and Cognitive SciencesNew department head succeeds Mriganka Sur, who will lead the new Simons Center for the Social Brain at MIT.

MIT faculty speak at the World Economic Forum in DavosTalks explore the mind/machine interface and the science of predicting the economy, among other topics.

Seeking the neurological roots of conflictMIT neuroscientists explore how longstanding conflict influences empathy for others.

The advantage of ambiguityCognitive scientists develop a new take on an old problem: why human language has so many words with multiple meanings.

How does our brain know what is a face and what’s not?New research from MIT neuroscientists helps explain how the brain makes this decision.