Quantcast

Without A Key Extracellular Protein, Neuronal Axons Break And Synaptic Connections Fall Apart

Scientists find a protein common to flies and people is essential for supporting the structure of axons that neurons project to make circuit connections.

Brady Weissbourd named Klingenstein-Simons Fellow

Three-year fellowship will support Weissbourd’s research on how the C. hemisphaerica jellyfish survives and thrives by constantly making new neurons.

Latest News

Brain Waves Guide Us In Spotlighting Surprises

The brain uses different frequency rhythms and cortical layers to suppress expected stimulation and increase activity for what’s novel.

How The Brain Helps Us Remember What We’ve Seen

Research finds that as one looks around, mental images bounce between right and left brain as they shift around in our visual system.

Basic Cell Health Systems Wear Down In Huntington’s Disease, Analysis Shows

A new computational approach for analyzing complex datasets shows that as disease progresses, neurons and astrocytes lose the ability to maintain homeostasis.

Anesthesia Doesn't Simply Turn Off The Brain — It Changes Its Rhythms

Simultaneous measurement of neural rhythms and spikes across five brain areas reveals how propofol induces unconsciousness.

Memory-Making Involves Extensive DNA Breaking

To quickly express learning and memory genes, brain cells snap both strands of DNA in many more places and cell types than previously realized, a new study shows.

Brain’s “Memory Center” Is Needed To Recognize Image Sequences, But Not Single Sights

The visual cortex stores and remembers individual images, but mice can’t recognize image sequences without guidance from the hippocampus.

Novel Approach Reverses Amblyopia In Animals

By temporarily suspending retinal activity in the non-amblyopic eye of animal models, neuroscientists restrengthen the visual response in the "lazy" eye, even at ages after the critical period when patch therapy fails.

Statistical Model Defines Ketamine Anesthesia’s Effects On The Brain

Neuroscientists at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital develop a statistical framework that describes brain-state changes patients experience under ketamine-induced anesthesia.

Behind The Scenes, Brain Circuit Ensures Vision Remains Reliable

A study of mice watching movies shows our brain cells rely on a circuit of inhibitory neurons to help ensure that the same images are represented consistently.

Study Shows Fragile X Treatment Can Incur Resistance, Suggests Ways Around It

While the brain acquires resistance to continuous treatment with mGluR5 inhibitor drugs, lasting effects may still arise if dosing occurs intermittently and during a developmental-critical period.

Feast Or Forage? Study Finds Circuit That Helps A Brain Decide

By integrating multiple sensory inputs, a loop of mutual inhibition among a small set of neurons allows worms to switch between long-lasting behavioral states.

3 Questions: Mriganka Sur On The Research Origins Of The First Approved Drug To Treat Rett Syndrome

On March 10 the FDA approved Trofinetide, a drug based on the protein IGF-1. The MIT professor's original research showing that IGF-1 could treat Rett was published in 2009.

“Spatial Computing” Enables Flexible Working Memory

The brain applies rhythms to physical patches of the cortex to selectively control just the right neurons at the right times to do the right things.

Astrocyte Cells Critical For Learning Skilled Movements

When astrocyte function is disrupted, neurons in the brain’s motor cortex struggle to execute and refine motion, a new study in mice shows.

Studying Consciousness Without Affecting It

A new study tests an alternative to external stimulation for measuring when subjects lose and regain responsiveness during sedation and anesthesia.