What better way to commemorate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day than to give three of the world’s most accomplished scientists an opportunity to talk about their careers? On March 7, MindHandHeart invited professors Paula Hammond, Ann Graybiel, and Sangeeta Bhatia to share their career journeys, from the progress they have witnessed to the […]
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From neurons to learning and memory
Mark Harnett, an associate professor at MIT, still remembers the first time he saw electrical activity spiking from a living neuron. He was a senior at Reed College and had spent weeks building a patch clamp rig — an experimental setup with an electrode that can be used to gently probe a neuron and measure […]
Read MoreMIT tops among single-campus universities in US patents granted
In an era defined by unprecedented challenges and opportunities, MIT remains at the forefront of pioneering research and innovation. The Institute’s relentless pursuit of knowledge has once again been recognized, with MIT securing 343 utility patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2023. This marks the 10th consecutive year that the […]
Read MoreReevaluating an approach to functional brain imaging
A new way of imaging the brain with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not directly detect neural activity as originally reported, according to scientists at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research. The method, first described in 2022, generated excitement within the neuroscience community as a potentially transformative approach. But a study from the lab of […]
Read MoreFor people who speak many languages, there’s something special about their native tongue
A new study of people who speak many languages has found that there is something special about how the brain processes their native language. In the brains of these polyglots — people who speak five or more languages — the same language regions light up when they listen to any of the languages that they […]
Read MoreHow the brain coordinates speaking and breathing
MIT researchers have discovered a brain circuit that drives vocalization and ensures that you talk only when you breathe out, and stop talking when you breathe in. The newly discovered circuit controls two actions that are required for vocalization: narrowing of the larynx and exhaling air from the lungs. The researchers also found that this […]
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