A diagram shows hundreds of dots interconnected by gray lines. Many of the dots show combinations of different colors, denoting which serotonin receptors they express.
September 6, 2024
Better living through brain chemistry
Two panels show the emergence of seizures. Calm, narrow dark blue squiggles representing a tight range of low voltages at various currents explode into vibrant, wide squiggles with warmer colors as current and voltage increases at a broadening range of frequencies.
August 21, 2024
Study assesses seizure risk from stimulating thalamus
Two green-stained cross sections of a mouse brain, one labeled Cuprizone Control and one labeled Cuprizone 40Hz,, are accompanied by insets showing magnifications of parts specific brain regions. The green staining in each inset is greater and brighter in the 40Hz insets vs. the control insets.
August 8, 2024
Study reveals ways in which 40Hz sensory stimulation may preserve brain’s ‘white matter’
Two panels show blue cells on a black background. Some cells have magenta and green speckles. Below, each panel two subpanels show magnified views.
July 24, 2024
Study across multiple brain regions discerns Alzheimer’s vulnerability and resilience factors
A portrait of Steven Flavell in a library
July 23, 2024
HHMI honor will advance Flavell’s studies of how internal brain states arise and affect behavior

The Sleeping Brain

September 14, 2023
Neural activity during sleep has a signature structure that the brain uses to make profound improvements in our thinking and wellness

Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models

August 29, 2023
Research Findings
A potential new Alzheimer’s drug represses the harmful inflammatory response of the brain’s immune cells, reducing disease pathology, preserving neurons and improving cognition in preclinical tests

Study connects neural gene expression differences to functional distinctions

August 23, 2023
Research Findings
Researchers compared a pair of superficially similar motor neurons in fruit flies to examine how their differing use of the same genome produced distinctions in form and function

Cracking the code that relates brain and behavior in a simple animal

August 21, 2023
Research Findings
MIT researchers model and map how neurons across the tiny brain of a C. elegans worm encode its behaviors, revealing many new insights about the robustness and flexibility of its nervous system

Summer research opportunity can be a springboard to advanced studies

August 3, 2023
Picower People
The paths three graduate students forged to the same Picower Institute lab illustrate the value of participating in the MIT Summer Research Program in Biology and Neuroscience.

Study finds tracking brain waves could reduce post-op complications

July 17, 2023
Research Findings
Distinctive EEG patterns indicate when a patient’s state of unconsciousness under general anesthesia is more profound than necessary.

Brain networks encoding memory come together via electric fields, study finds

July 10, 2023
Research Findings
New research provides evidence that electric fields shared among neurons via “ephaptic coupling” provide the coordination necessary to assemble the multi-region neural ensembles (“engrams”) that represent remembered information.

New award funds study of a remarkable example of neural regeneration

July 1, 2023
New Research
A three-year fellowship will support Brady Weissbourd’s research on how the C. hemisphaerica jellyfish survives and thrives by constantly making new neurons.

Petite & Profound

June 22, 2023
Research Feature
Why studying simple organisms—none larger than the palm of your hand—is so integral to understanding nervous system health, disease and evolution.

Picower postdoc earns Burroughs Wellcome Fund award

June 13, 2023
Picower People
‘Career Award at the Scientific Interface’ recognizes Rebecca Pinals’ research to create a nanosensor-integrated brain-on-a-chip model of Alzheimer’s disease.

Without key extracellular protein, neuronal axons break and synaptic connections fall apart

June 12, 2023
Research Findings
MIT scientists find evidence that a protein common to flies and people is essential for supporting the structure of axons that neurons project to make circuit connections. When those break down, the connections follow suit.

Mind to molecules: Does brain’s electrical encoding of information ‘tune’ sub-cellular structure?

May 22, 2023
Research Findings
Brain waves carry information. A new “Cytoelectric Coupling” hypothesis posits that fluctuating electric fields optimize brain network efficiency and stability by shaping the brain’s molecular infrastructure.