Neuroscience

Boston Globe reporter Felicia Gans writes that a number of MIT researchers have been honored “by the Breakthrough Prize organization, which honors scientists worldwide for their pioneering research.”

Prof. Edward Boyden has been honored as one of the recipients of the Breakthrough Prize, reports Sarah McBride for Reuters. Boyden is being recognized for his work “developing and implementing optogenetics,” writes McBride, which could open “a new path to treatments for Parkinson’s, depression, Alzheimer’s and blindness.”

Writing for Scientific American, Simon Makin explores the many applications of optogenetics, a tool developed by Prof. Edward Boyden, for which he was recently honored with a Breakthrough Prize. Makin explains that, “researchers have devised ways of broadening optogenetics to enter into a dynamic dialogue with the signals moving about inside functioning brains.”

In an article for Science, Rhitu Chatterjee writes about Project Prakash, an effort started by Prof. Pawan Sinha to help children with preventable or treatable blindness see. Chatterjee writes that the project has brought hundreds of young people, “into the light—while putting the field of visual neuroscience in a new light as well.”

Writing for BetaBoston, Nidhi Subbaraman reports that Prof. Polina Anikeeva has received a new grant from DARPA to investigate ways to stimulate specific neurons in the body using fibers or nanoparticles. “Zapping key nerves with a current, ultrasound, or with light is expected to treat a range of conditions,” Subbaraman explains. 

MIT researchers have identified the brain circuit that process the “when” and “where” components of memories, reports Robby Berman for Slate. “The newly discovered circuit connects the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex,” writes Berman. “The entorhinal cortex splits each memory into two streams of information: one for location and one for timing.”

Researchers from MIT, Philips and Boston Medical Center are collaborating on new technology to diagnose brain injuries, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “The goal is to investigate whether ultrasound readers can help doctors assess the severity of a head injury,” Subbaraman writes. 

In this video, PBS explores a new technique MIT researchers developed to enlarge brain samples, making them easier to image at high resolutions. Prof. Ed Boyden explains that he hopes the technique could be used to “hunt down very rare things in a tissue.”

Doctoral researcher Daniel Goodwin writes for Scientific American about the need for hackers to sort through the vast amount of neuroscience data. “Particularly in a field like neuroscience, helpers could be invaluable in exploring the daunting wilderness of newly revealed neural networks,” Goodwin explains. 

Karen Weintraub writes for The Boston Globe about Prof. Susumu Tonegawa’s research examining how triggering happy memories could help alleviate depression. “When that kind of technology is invented,” Tonegawa explains, “it could potentially become very powerful therapy.”

In an article for Bloomberg Business about how poverty can impact brain development in children, John Tozzi highlights research by Prof. John Gabrieli examining how family income can affect academic achievement. "It’s only in the last few years that there’s been any systematic research asking about the biological side of the story," explains Gabrieli. 

MIT researchers have found that nitrous oxide or laughing gas is a stronger anesthetic than previously believed, writes Nitya Rajan for The Huffington Post. The researchers found that nitrous oxide caused changes in patient brainwaves and a pattern of electrical firing across the brain. 

New research by Prof. Susumu Tonegawa presents the possibility that depression can be alleviated by recalling happy memories, reports Clive Cookson for The Financial Times. The findings suggest, "new ways to treat depression by manipulating memory neurons.”

MIT researchers were able to reverse depression-like behavior by reactivating happy memories, writes Carolyn Gregorie for The Huffington Post. Graduate student and lead author Steve Ramirez “hopes that scientists will one day find a way to prevent depressive symptoms from occurring in the first place.”

Professor Susumu Tonegawa’s research group has found that artificially stimulating positive memories can ease depression, reports Jonathan Webb for BBC News. Webb explains that the research “demonstrates the power of rekindling happy memories.”