Neuroscience

In this video, Mashable highlights how CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that can help lift heavy objects by mirroring human activity. The system uses sensors that monitor muscle activity and detect changes in the user’s arm.

Popular Science reporter Rob Verger writes that MIT researchers have developed a new mechanical system that can help humans lift heavy objects. “Overall the system aims to make it easier for people and robots to work together as a team on physical tasks,” explains graduate student Joseph DelPreto.

Popular Science reporter Nicole Wetsman writes that MIT researchers have found light pulses could potentially be used to help ease the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that “light pulses and gamma oscillations protect against neurodegeneration and change the expression of genes involved with inflammation and neuron health in the brains of mice.”

A gift from alumnus Charles Broderick will enable researchers at MIT and Harvard to investigate how cannabis effects the brain and behavior, reports Felice Freyer for The Boston Globe. Prof. John Gabrieli explains that it has been “incredibly hard” to get funding for marijuana research. “Without the philanthropic boost, it could take many years to work through all these issues,” he notes.

WBUR reporter Carey Goldberg spotlights how a gift from alumnus Charles Broderick is funding research on cannabis and its impacts on the brain. "We were saying, 'Wouldn't it be great to study this?'” says Prof. Myriam Heiman of the need to study the impacts of cannabis. "And then this gift comes along and really is enabling us to do everything we wanted to do."

CNBC contributor Tom Popomaronis highlights a study by MIT researchers that demonstrates how back-and-forth exchanges could help children develop stronger communications skills.  

Boston Globe reporters Ysabelle Kempe and Felice Freyer write that MIT is launching a new Down syndrome research center with a gift from the Alana Foundation. “I really want people with different conditions and different ability to feel they are not different, to feel that they belong, and to enhance their capability to interact and to enjoy life,” explains Prof. Li-Huei Tsai.

MIT is launching a new Down syndrome research center thanks to a gift from the Alana Foundation, reports the AP. The center “will combine the expertise of scientists and engineers in an effort to increase understanding of the biology and neuroscience of Down syndrome.”

In this video, Mashable spotlights how MIT researchers have developed an origami-inspired soft robotic gripper that can grasp a wide variety of objects. 

Los Angeles Times reporter Melissa Healy writes that a new study by MIT researchers provides evidence that acoustic and visual stimulation could improve Alzheimer’s symptoms. “The study’s central finding — that inducing electrical synchrony touched off such a widespread range of effects — suggests there might be a single key lever that can preserve or restore order in brains made 'noisy' by age and disease,” Healy explains.

A study by MIT researchers shows that exposing patients to flashing light and pulsing sounds could reverse Alzheimer’s symptoms, reports Angus Chen for Scientific American. “This is the first time we’ve seen that this noninvasive stimulation can improve cognitive function,” says Prof. Li-Huei Tsai. 

New York Times reporter Pam Belluck writes that MIT researchers have found exposure to a specific combination of light and sound could improve Alzheimer’s symptoms. “It’s stunning that the intervention had beneficial effects on so many different aspects of Alzheimer-like pathology,” said Dr. Lennart Mucke, director of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease.

Fast Company reporter Mark Wilson writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a new soft robotic gripper that is modeled after a Venus flytrap. “Dubbed the Magic Ball, it’s a rubber and plastic structure that can contract around an object like an origami flower,” Wilson explains.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, details how MIT researchers have developed a new low-energy imaging approach called three-photon microscopy that allows exploration of all six layers of the visual cortex in a mammal’s brain. Collins notes that the researchers are proving themselves to be “biological explorers of the first order.”

CSAIL researchers have developed a new robotic gripper that contains an origami skeleton, enabling the device to open and close like a flower and grasp a variety of delicate and heavy objects, reports James Vincent for The Verge “By combining this foldable skeleton with the soft exterior, we get the best of both worlds,” explains Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL.