When Alzheimer’s degrades cells that cross hemispheres, visual memory suffers

Research reveals cells that span brain hemispheres to coordinate activity in visual processing centers, shows Alzheimer’s degrades their structure and function.

David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory • mit
Aug. 24, 2022 ~7 min

How microglia contribute to Alzheimer’s disease

A breakdown of lipid metabolism in these brain cells promotes inflammation and interferes with neuron activity, a new study finds.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
Aug. 4, 2022 ~7 min


Chemists reveal how tau proteins form tangles

Two types of tau proteins mix together in a nearly random way to generate the tangles seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
May 27, 2022 ~5 min

Study links gene to cognitive resilience in the elderly

The findings may help explain why some people who lead enriching lives are less prone to Alzheimer’s and age-related dementia.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
Nov. 3, 2021 ~6 min

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.

David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory • mit
July 26, 2021 ~7 min

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.

David Orenstein | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory • mit
July 14, 2021 ~7 min

3 Questions: Anna Jagielska on printing artificial axons

How 3D-printed models of neuronal axons could accelerate development of new therapies to treat neurodegenerative disorders.

Shirley Goh | Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation • mit
June 29, 2021 ~7 min

An on-off switch for gene editing

New, reversible CRISPR method can control gene expression while leaving underlying DNA sequence unchanged.

Eva Frederick | Whitehead Institute • mit
April 14, 2021 ~9 min


Study offers an explanation for why the APOE4 gene enhances Alzheimer’s risk

The gene variant disrupts lipid metabolism, but in cell experiments the effects were reversed by choline supplements.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
March 3, 2021 ~7 min

Silencing gene expression to cure complex diseases

Immuneering uses bioinformatics to develop new medicines while also helping large pharmaceutical companies improve their treatments.

Zach Winn | MIT News Office • mit
Oct. 26, 2020 ~9 min

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