Weaving memory into textiles
For the MIT Visiting Artist Chloé Bensahel, fabric itself tells the story.
To understand cognition — and its dysfunction — neuroscientists must learn its rhythms
A new framework describes how thought arises from the coordination of neural activity driven by oscillating electric fields — a.k.a. brain “waves” or “rhythms.”
How sensory gamma rhythm stimulation clears amyloid in Alzheimer’s mice
Study finds stimulating a key brain rhythm with light and sound increases peptide release from interneurons, driving clearance of an Alzheimer’s protein.
Study advances understanding of visual recognition memory
Scientists have invested decades in piecing together how our vision is so good at recognizing what’s familiar. A new study overcomes an apparent discrepancy in data to reveal a new insight into how it works.
Re-imagining our theories of language
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences faculty members Ev Fedorenko, Ted Gibson, and Roger Levy believe they can answer a fundamental question: What is the purpose of language?
Canceling noise to improve quantum devices
MIT researchers develop a protocol to extend the life of quantum coherence.
Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models
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.
Brain networks encoding memory come together via electric fields, study finds
Electric fields shared among neurons via “ephaptic coupling” provide the coordination necessary to assemble the engrams that represent remembered information.
Atlas of human brain blood vessels highlights changes in Alzheimer’s disease
MIT researchers characterize gene expression patterns for 22,500 brain vascular cells across 428 donors, revealing insights for Alzheimer’s onset and potential treatments.
40 Hz vibrations reduce Alzheimer’s pathology, symptoms in mouse models
Tactile stimulation improved motor performance, reduced phosphorylated tau, preserved neurons and synapses, and reduced DNA damage, a new study shows.
That moment when you’re nodding off is a sweet spot for creativity
A new study finds people are more creative after waking from the earliest stage of sleep, especially when they are guided to dream about a particular topic.
Neuroscientists identify cells especially vulnerable to Alzheimer’s
Neurons that form part of a memory circuit are among the first brain cells to show signs of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease.
“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.
Festival of Learning 2023 underscores importance of well-designed learning environments
Keynote speaker Bror Saxberg SM ’85, PhD ’89 encourages understanding learners and their contexts.
New technologies reveal cross-cutting breakdowns in Alzheimer’s disease
“Single-cell profiling” is helping neuroscientists see how disease affects major brain cell types and identify common, potentially targetable pathways.