Identification of bacterial signals that modulate enteric sensory neurons to influence behavior in C. elegans Estrem et al. show that bacterial polysaccharides, including peptidoglycans, activate the enteric sensory neuron NSM to regulate feeding and locomotion in C. elegans, while pathogen-derived metabolite...

Study in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by Cassi Estrem in the lab of Steve Flavell: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Little worms wriggle through a red-tinted gel.

How neurons sense bacteria in the gut: To understsand the mechanisms that enable the bacterial microbiome to influence brain function, a new study examines the mechanisms at work in a model “bacterial specialist,” C. elegans. picower.mit.edu/news/how-neu... #neuroscience @mitbcs.bsky.social

Full study in Nature Communications led by Tatsuya Osaki in the lab of Mriganka Sur: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Three different views of a cerebral organoid-a roundish arrangement of brain cells in a lab culture-show the cells lit up in different colors such as green and magenta

A new study of Rett syndrome highlights potential for personalized treatment. MIT researchers tracked how two different mutations alter neural circuit development in organoids and how each could be addressed with distinct potential therapeutics. picower.mit.edu/news/rett-sy... @mitbcs.bsky.social

Alana Down Syndrome Center symposium highlights studies from brain to heart Seven researchers from MIT, Rutgers University and the University of São Paulo shared the research they are doing to help people with trisomy 21 throughout their lifespan.

At the Alana Down Syndrome Center's symposium last week, 7 researchers from MIT, Rutgers and the University of São Paulo shared the work they are doing to help people with trisomy 21 throughout their lifespan. picower.mit.edu/news/alana-d... @mitbcs.bsky.social #downsyndrome

Categorization is ‘baked’ into the brain - Nature Reviews Neuroscience Categorization, the grouping of objects, living organisms, actions or events into equivalence clusters, is fundamental to adaptive behaviour. In this Perspective, Barrett and Miller discuss evidence t...

Article by @earlkmiller.bsky.social @lisafeldmanbarrett.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A complete rethinking of how our brains use categories to make sense of the world Challenging the classic view, two cognitive scientists argue in a new review that categorization is not a late, specialized stage of sensory processing. Instead, it is a core function operating at eve...

A new paper in @natrevneuro.nature.com challenges decades of dogma about how and why the brain boils down what it sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels into categories. picower.mit.edu/news/complet... #neuroscience #cognition @mitbcs.bsky.social

Neural sequences underlying directed turning in Caenorhabditis elegans - Nature Neuroscience During olfactory navigation, Caenorhabditis elegans can execute error-correcting turns. Whole-brain imaging and perturbation experiments identify an ensemble of neurons that control reorientation and turning behaviors.

Open access study in @natneuro.nature.com by the lab of Steve Flavell: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How do nervous systems produce behaviors? A new MIT study provides a detailed mechanistic mapping of exactly what happens in the brains of C. elegans worms when they “follow their nose” to savor attractive odors or avoid unappealing ones. picower.mit.edu/news/navigat... #neuroscience

Leading with rigor, kindness, and care “We cannot be effective scientists if we are unhappy or unhealthy outside of the lab,” says “Committed to Caring” honoree Sara Prescott.

What does it mean that Assistant Professor Sara Prescott is "Committed to Caring"? She cultivates a lab where students are challenged to think boldly while feeling genuinely supported, and where they are seen not only as researchers, but as whole people. Read more: picower.mit.edu/news/leading...

Melvyn Goodale - Linking Past and Present Worlds in the Visual Control of Behaviour YouTube video by MIT Consciousness Club

Melvyn Goodale at the MIT Consciousness Club
Linking Past and Present Worlds in the Visual Control of Behaviour
youtu.be/kThwjMtbe6I?...
#neuroscience #conciousness

Autism advances Rooted in fundamental curiosity about how the brain works, Picower scientists continue to break new ground in understanding autism and devising treatment strategies

A review of #autism research across our institute as we recognize World #AutismAwarenessDay: picower.mit.edu/news/autism-...

Accelerating Research for Down Syndrome

🗓️Join us online April 9 when researchers from MIT, University of São Paulo and Rutgers University will present short talks on their research on Down syndrome and related conditions. Registration is open and free! picower.mit.edu/events/accel... #downsyndrome

A newsletter cover uses a bottom-left to upper-right white line to divide the main image between a tissue culture made of cells and a printed circuit. Each has a nearly matching light-blue hue.

Our spring newsletter is out now! In a dish or on a computer, brain simulations can advance basic discovery and biomedical research. Read our cover story (picower.mit.edu/news/brain-s...) and subscribe for free (picower.mit.edu/news/subscribe)! #neuroscience @earlkmiller.bsky.social

Research led by @adamjeisen.bsky.social, @earlkmiller.bsky.social and Ila Fiete in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Doctors place a mask on the faced of a woman lying unconscious on an operating table

New discovery! Several different anesthetics each similarly destabilize neural activity. The insight could lead to a universal anesthesia delivery system to monitor patient consciousness and dosing more effectively. picower.mit.edu/news/three-a.... #neuroscience @mitbcs.bsky.social

Tsai has led a period of substantial growth for the Institute: From 11 labs to 16, and from a community of about 200 faculty, students and staff to a community of about 400.

After 16+ years leading Picower Institute, Li-Huei Tsai will sharpen focus on research, teaching Tsai, who has grown the MIT neuroscience institute, will increase focus on research including Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome

Li-Huei Tsai, who has led The Picower Institute since 2009, will step down as director at the end of the academic year. Her decision frees her to focus on research, including her leadership of MIT’s Aging Brain Initiative and the Alana Down Syndrome Center. picower.mit.edu/news/after-1...

The MIT BCS Postdoc Association is looking for a Rising Star 🌟

Showcase your work and meet folks in the department! Deadline 31st May 2026!
@picowerinstitute.bsky.social

From robots to brain games, new tools in the fight against Alzheimer’s Technology is opening new paths for patients living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Last night @wcvb5.bsky.social aired an update on local technologies to help people with Alzheimer's, including by Li-Huei Tsai's lab www.wcvb.com/article/alzh...

Immune and Nervous Systems Shut Down Socializing When Sick This social isolation helps curb the spread of disease across species, researchers found.

This social isolation helps curb the spread of disease across species, researchers found. vist.ly/4qg98

Is The Brain an Analog Computer? Consciousness as Dynamic Brainwave Organization | Earl Miller YouTube video by Mind-Body Solution

Is The Brain an Analog Computer? Consciousness as Dynamic Brainwave Organization | Earl Miller Mind-Body Solution podcast.
youtu.be/vZ1B-MvGMgw?...
#neuroscience

miR126-mediated alteration of vascular integrity in Rett syndrome - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - miR126-mediated alteration of vascular integrity in Rett syndrome

Study in Molecular Psychiatry: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In Rett syndrome, leaky brain blood vessels traced to microRNA MIT neuroscientists have found that either of two genetic mutations that cause Rett syndrome undermine the structural integrity of developing blood vessels. By showing that the problem derives from ov...

MIT neuroscientists have found that mutations that cause Rett syndrome undermine the structural integrity of developing blood vessels. By showing that the problem derives from overexpression of a microRNA,the new study points to a potential treatment. picower.mit.edu/news/rett-sy... #neuroscience

The glassy entrance to the Picower Institute's building is faced by a giant snow pile yards away. In the middle are clear dry pavers.

Wow, that was a lot of snow! ❄ Snow much snow. But quick work by MIT Facilities Grounds Services has pushed the wall back from the doors so we'll be back to neurosciencing tomorrow! Photo by Layla Gonzalez.

Deep neural networks to register and annotate cells in moving and deforming nervous systems New machine vision tools are used to align densely packed cells recorded from live, deforming tissues and automatically annotate the identities of the recorded cell types.

Full study in @elife.bsky.social by the labs of Steven Flavell and Brady Weissbourd elifesciences.org/articles/108...

As worms and jellyfish wriggle, new AI tools track their neurons Three new neural network-based tools enable fast, accurate alignment and annotation of images even in very wiggly subjects. The tools might offer a way to automate cell tracking in other imaging datas...

Three new neural network-based tools enable fast, accurate alignment and annotation of images even in very wiggly subjects🪱🪼. The tools might offer a way to automate cell tracking in other imaging datasets, too. picower.mit.edu/news/worms-a... #neuroscience #AI @mitbcs.bsky.social

Careers

🧠 If you are looking to work in #neuroscience #research, check out and bookmark our #careers page right now because we have 10 ‼️ openings listed (and more to come). picower.mit.edu/about/careers

Neuroblox

Innovations and Inventions at @picowerinstitute.bsky.social Neuroblox
picower.mit.edu/innovations-...
#neuroscience

Sloan Fellowship will help Fan advance technology to study how brain circuits change amid learning Linlin Fan uses innovative optical tools to precisely investigate how connections change among neurons during memory formation. With Sloan Foundation support, she plans to give the technology a signif...

Congratulations Linlin Fan, a new Sloan Foundation research fellow! Fan uses innovative optical tools to investigate how connections change among neurons during memory formation. The fellowship will help her give the technology a big upgrade picower.mit.edu/news/sloan-f... #Neuroscience