Mental health

MIT neuroscientists have discovered a neural circuit that helps the brain focus on potential threats

Dopamine primes the brain for enhanced vigilance

Neuroscientists discover a circuit that helps redirect attention to focus on potential threats.

November 7, 2018

MIT researchers have built a system that takes a step toward fully automated smart homes, by identifying occupants even when they’re not carrying mobile devices.

A step toward personalized, automated smart homes

System that automatically identifies people moving around indoors could enable self-adjusting homes.

October 17, 2018

ENGINEERyourHEALTH PLUS is a three-year pilot wellness program for MIT undergraduates.

Pilot program helps students boost wellness

ENGINEERyourHEALTH PLUS is a three-year pilot program to enhance undergraduate student life through fitness, exercise, wellness, and recreational opportunities.

September 17, 2018

MIT neuroscientists have devised a way to measure dopamine in the brain for more than a year, using microfabricated sensors that are so tiny they don’t lead to the formation of scar tissue.

New sensors track dopamine in the brain for more than a year

Tiny probes could be useful for monitoring patients with Parkinson’s and other diseases.

September 12, 2018

MIT researchers have developed a neural-network model that can analyze raw text and audio data from interviews to discover speech patterns indicative of depression. This method could be used to develop diagnostic aids for clinicians that can detect signs of depression in natural conversation.

Model can more naturally detect depression in conversations

Neural network learns speech patterns that predict depression in clinical interviews.

August 29, 2018

Neuroscientists are debating the nature and meaning of neural activity during the critical moment of working memory when people must hold information in mind.

The debate over how working memory works

Scientists present dueling theories in the high-stakes quest to understand how we hold and juggle multiple pieces of information in mind.

August 9, 2018

New findings may help scientists better understand how some of the crippling effects of depression and anxiety arise, and guide them in developing new treatments.

Neuroscientists get at the roots of pessimism

Stimulating the brain’s caudate nucleus generates a negative outlook that clouds decision-making.

August 9, 2018

Students practice meditation in the new Meditation/Fitness course offered through the MIT Physical Education and Wellness Program in the Division of Student Life.

Healthy mind and body

Division of Student Life courses aim to support students’ mental and physical well-being.

July 2, 2018

MindHandHeart Innovation Fund winners, Spring 2018

MindHandHeart announces 12 new Innovation Fund winners

The seventh round of MindHandHeart Innovation Fund projects have been selected to bring creative wellness and mental health programming to campus.

June 29, 2018

Using wireless signals, RF-Pose could serve as a health care system to monitor patients' movements from the other side of a wall.

Artificial intelligence senses people through walls

Wireless smart-home system from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory could monitor diseases and help the elderly “age in place.”

June 12, 2018