Neurodegenerative disease can progress in newly identified patterns

A machine-learning method finds patterns of health decline in ALS, informing future clinical trial designs and mechanism discovery. The technique also extends to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Lauren Hinkel | MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab • mit
Sept. 27, 2022 ~10 min

Understanding reality through algorithms

Neuroscience PhD student Fernanda De La Torre uses complex algorithms to investigate philosophical questions about perception and reality.

Leah Campbell | School of Science • mit
Sept. 25, 2022 ~10 min


Study reveals how environment and state are integrated to control behavior

A simple animal model shows how stimuli and states such as smells, stressors, and satiety converge in an olfactory neuron to guide food-seeking behavior.

David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory • mit
Sept. 15, 2022 ~8 min

How the brain focuses on what’s in mind

When holding information in mind, neural activity is more focused when and where there are bursts of gamma frequency rhythms.

David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory • mit
Sept. 13, 2022 ~7 min

Axolotls can regenerate their brains – these adorable salamanders are helping unlock the mysteries of brain evolution and regeneration

Axolotls are amphibians known for their ability to regrow their organs, including their brains. New research clarifies their regeneration process.

Ashley Maynard, PhD Candidate in Quantitative Developmental Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich • conversation
Sept. 1, 2022 ~8 min

Cannabis users no less likely to be motivated or able to enjoy life’s pleasure

Adult and adolescent cannabis users are no more likely than non-users to lack motivation or be unable to enjoy life’s pleasure, new research has shown,

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Sept. 1, 2022 ~8 min

How the brain generates rhythmic behavior

MIT neuroscientists have identified an oscillatory circuit that controls the rhythmic movement of mouse whiskers.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
Aug. 31, 2022 ~6 min

Expanding Alzheimer's research with primates could overcome the problem with treatments that show promise in mice but don't help humans

Nonhuman primates like rhesus monkeys share certain characteristics with people that may make them better study subjects than mice for research on neurodegenerative diseases.

Amanda M. Dettmer, Associate Research Scientist, Yale University • conversation
Aug. 31, 2022 ~9 min


Could neurotechnology make lawyers smarter workers?

Neurotechnology could mean law firms soon track ‘billable units of attention’ rather than billable hours.

Ian Daly, Lecturer in Brain-Computer Interfaces, University of Essex • conversation
Aug. 30, 2022 ~8 min

Rapid eye movements in sleeping mice match where they are looking in their dreams, new research finds

Why your eyes move during the REM stage of sleep has puzzled scientists for years. Researchers measured mice brains to look for a possible explanation.

Massimo Scanziani, Professor of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco • conversation
Aug. 25, 2022 ~6 min

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