Scientists uncover new clues about Parkinson’s disease

Tool developed at MIT simultaneously measures chemical and electrical brain signals, revealing unexpectedly complex relationship between brain signals.

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Tags: neuroscience disease research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences mcgovern-institute parkinsons

Neuroscientists discover a molecular mechanism that allows memories to form

Modifications to chromosomes in “engram” neurons control the encoding and retrieval of memories.

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Tags: dna genetics neuroscience memory research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences picower-institute

Live imaging method brings structure to mapping brain function

Scientists distinguish brain regions based on what they do, but now have a new way to overlay information about how they are built.

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Tags: neuroscience imaging microscopy vision research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences picower-institute 3-d-imaging

As information flows through brain’s heirarchy, higher regions use higher-frequency waves

Study also finds specific frequency bands of brain waves associated with encoding, or inhibiting encoding, of sensory information across the cortex.

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Tags: neuroscience memory research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences picower-institute

New gene regulation model provides insight into brain development

A well-known protein family binds to many more RNA sequences than previously thought in order to help neurons grow.

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Tags: genetics neuroscience development biology data research school-of-science computer-modeling

Face-specific brain area responds to faces even in people born blind

Study finds that the fusiform face area is active when blind people touch 3D models of faces.

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Tags: neuroscience research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences national-science-foundation-nsf national-institutes-of-health-nih mcgovern-institute mit-ibm-watson-ai-lab mit-quest-for-intelligence

Key brain region was “recycled” as humans developed the ability to read

Part of the visual cortex dedicated to recognizing objects appears predisposed to identifying words and letters, a study finds.

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Tags: neuroscience learning research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences center-for-brains-minds-and-machines mcgovern-institute

Mapping the brain’s sensory gatekeeper

New analysis could help uncover potential drug targets for attention deficits and sensory hypersensitivity.

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Tags: neuroscience mental-health autism broad-institute research school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences national-institutes-of-health-nih mcgovern-institute

A new way to control experimentation with dreams

Device not only helps record dream reports, but also guides dreams toward particular themes.

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Tags: neuroscience memory sleep research media-lab school-of-architecture-and-planning brain-and-cognitive-sciences undergraduate-research-opportunities-program-urop

Neural vulnerability in Huntington’s disease tied to release of mitochondrial RNA

Unique survey of gene expression by cell type in humans and mice reveals several deficits affecting the most vulnerable neurons.

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Tags: neuroscience rna immunology broad-institute research cells school-of-science brain-and-cognitive-sciences computer-science-and-artificial-intelligence-laboratory-csail picower-institute huntingtons