MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Impairments of a brain circuit necessary for processing new information may help to explain why some people with schizophrenia lose touch with reality, according to a new McGovern study.👇 @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT mcgovern.mit.edu/2026/03/18/bra…

New discovery! Three different anesthetics each similarly destabilize neural activity. The insight could lead to a universal anesthesia delivery system to monitor patient consciousness and dosing more effectively. picower.mit.edu/news/three-ane… #neuroscience @mitbrainandcog @mitscience

How the brain handles the “cocktail party problem”: Using a computational model, MIT neuroscientists showed how the brain can selectively focus attention on one voice among others in a noisy environment: news.mit.edu/2026/how-brain…

How does the brain know which neurons to adjust during learning in order to optimize behavior? MIT researchers discovered that brains can use cell-by-cell error signals to do this — surprisingly similar to how AI systems are trained via backpropagation. mcgovern.mit.edu/2026/02/25/neu…

Three new neural network-based tools enable fast, accurate alignment and annotation of images even in wiggly subjects🪱🪼. The tools might offer a way to automate cell tracking in other imaging datasets, too. picower.mit.edu/news/worms-and… #neuroscience #AI @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT

Look 👀 who is #78 on @Forbes list of America's greatest innovators! Congrats Professor @zhangf! forbes.com/sites/alexknap…

🎉We (and 500 fellow local residents) had an awesome time @MITMuseum's After Dark last night. @MillerLabMIT and Matt Wilson's talks anchored the "Memory Lab" theme along with demos (including one by Takato Honda), and Earl and Steve Flavell's band Clever Hans!

Fragile X study uncovers brainwave biomarker bridging humans and mice. picower.mit.edu/news/fragile-x… @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT #Autism @FRAXAresearch

There's still time to apply to our Research Scholars post-baccalaureate program! Applications close Feb. 15. Learn more: bcs.mit.edu/postbac1

Our researchers don't just study the brain - they help young students see themselves as future neuroscientists. @mitbrainandcog research scholar Zadriana Smith + postdoc @HalieOlson recently took time away from their labs to inspire the next generation of neuroscientists! ✨

MIT researchers @_coltoncasto @ev_fedorenko have found a "satellite" component of the brain’s dedicated language network in the cerebellum, a region better known for coordinating movement. Learn more 👉mcgovern.mit.edu/2026/01/22/lan… @NeuroCellPress paper 👉cell.com/neuron/fulltex…

For decades, Prof. Ted Gibson has taught the meaning of language to 1st-year graduate students in MIT's Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. His new book brings together his years of teaching and research to detail the rules of how words combine: bcs.mit.edu/news/simpler-w…

Thinking about flaking on social plans this weekend? You may want to reconsider. BCS Professor Rebecca Saxe explains on @MorningEdition: wgbh.org/culture/2025-1…

Today, we officially welcome @sdorkenw to the McGovern + @mitbrainandcog families! Prof Dorkenwald reconstructs maps of neuronal circuits to investigate how they support complex computations in the brain. Please join us in welcoming him to MIT! 🥳 mcgovern.mit.edu/2025/12/15/all…

How a unique class of neurons may set the table for brain development picower.mit.edu/news/how-uniqu… #neuroscience #brain #development @ScienceMIT @MITBiology @mitbrainandcog

In @CurrentBiology, the lab of @MillerLabMIT provides new evidence that the brain recruits and controls ad hoc groups of neurons for cognitive tasks by applying brain waves to patches of the cortex picower.mit.edu/news/flexibly-… #neuroscience @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT #cognition

New study suggests a way to rejuvenate the immune system: Researchers at MIT's Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Broad Institute have found a way to temporarily program cells in the liver to improve T-cell function: bcs.mit.edu/news/new-study…

Researchers in @zhangf lab have found a way to rejuvenate the immune system by engineering cells in the liver to improve T cell function. If developed for use in patients, this type of treatment could help people lead healthier lives as they age. mcgovern.mit.edu/2025/12/17/new…

As the lab of Li-Huei Tsai has learned how different brain cells mishandle lipid molecules in Alzheimer’s disease, members have used that knowledge to develop possible treatments picower.mit.edu/news/focus-fats #Alzheimer #neuroscience #brain @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT @AgingBrainMIT

Look! 👀 Our favorite polygot @ev_fedorenko talks to @QuantaMagazine about the brain's language network and its similarities to LLMs and AI chatbots. 🧠🤖 Bonus photos of postdocs @HalieOlson + @devarda_a! quantamagazine.org/the-polyglot-n… @mitbrainandcog @sciencemit