Prof. Ann Graybiel speaks with Forbes contributor Pat Brans about age and habit formation. Graybiel explains that she does not think “it’s ever too late to change habits or to make new ones,” adding that “‘habit’ patterns in the brain have to get renewed reinforcement from time to time.”
Scientific American reporter Veronique Greenwood highlights a study by MIT researchers examining why some people seem to have an aptitude for languages. The researchers explored the structure of neuron fibers in white matter in beginning Mandarin students and found that students “who had more spatially aligned fibers in their right hemisphere had higher test scores after four weeks of classes.”
MIT researchers have found that flashing lights could potentially be used to stave off Alzheimer’s disease, writes Oscar Williams for The Huffington Post. “Light stimulation directed to the hippocampus, the part of the brain that processes memories, led to a reduction of…beta amyloid,” which is found in Alzheimer’s disease.
Financial Times reporter Clive Cookson writes that MIT researchers have found evidence that flashing lights could potentially be used as a noninvasive treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that “lights flashing on and off 40 times per second restored ‘gamma oscillation’ waves that were suppressed in the disease.”
Writing for Fortune, Prof. Earl Miller makes the case that humans cannot multitask successfully and that trying to do so ruins productivity, causes mistakes and interferes with creativity. “When you try to multitask, you typically don’t get far enough down any road to stumble upon something original because you’re constantly switching and backtracking,” explains Miller.
MIT researchers have found that flashing light may reduce the buildup of beta amyloid protein in the brain, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, writes Michelle Roberts for the BBC News. The researchers hope that “clearing beta amyloid and stopping more plaques from forming could halt Alzheimer's and its symptoms.”
Writing for The Atlantic, Ed Yong spotlights a study by MIT researchers that identifies a potential new treatment for Alzheimer’s – using pulses of light to stimulate brain waves. Yong writes that the study “heralds a completely new approach to dealing with Alzheimer’s—changing neural activity, rather than delivering drugs or chemicals.”
MIT researchers have found that exposure to flickering lights at a precise frequency may help fight off Alzheimer’s disease, reports Melissa Healy for The Los Angeles Times. The technique recruits “neurons and other cell types in the brain to sort of enable the brain’s inner ability to repair itself,” explains Prof. Li-Huei Tsai, director of the Picower Institute.
Guardian reporter Hannah Devlin writes about a new study by MIT researchers that shows that strobe lighting can reduce levels of toxic proteins found in Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that “exposure to flickering light stimulated brain waves, called gamma oscillations, that are known to be disturbed in Alzheimer’s patients.”
A study by MIT researchers is providing more information about how the brain stores and processes social memories, writes Hallie Smith for Boston Magazine. Smith explains that, in the future, the findings may be applicable to autism research and therapy.
STAT reporter Meghana Keshavan speaks with Prof. Guoping Feng about his new research that shows glial cells “very actively participate in direct neuronal function — particularly in the brain areas that control appetite, energy and metabolism.” The findings could help spur the development of weight loss medications.
Adam Piore spotlights Prof. Earl Miller’s research into the mechanisms behind working memory in an article for Discover. “Earl is kind of a rock star,” says Prof. Brad Postle of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “When he says something, a lot more people notice it.”
MIT researchers have identified a region of the brain responsible for forming habits, reports Anil Ananthaswamy for New Scientist. The researchers found that when performing an action, the prefrontal cortex, communicates with the striatum. “Over time, input from the prefrontal circuits fades, to be replaced by loops linking the striatum to the sensorimotor cortex,” Ananthaswamy explains.
Writing for The New York Times, Steve Lohr features Prof. Tomaso Poggio’s work “building computational models of the visual cortex of the brain, seeking to digitally emulate its structure, even how it works and learns from experience.” Lohr notes that efforts like Poggio’s could lead to breakthroughs in computer vision and machine learning.
Writing for The New York Times, Katie Hafner highlights how MIT researchers have identified a region of the brain that they believe could be responsible for producing feelings of loneliness. Hafner explains that “the region, known as the dorsal raphe nucleus, or D.R.N., is best known for its link to depression.”