McGovern in the Media

In the fifth episode of WBUR’s “BrainWaves” series, host Meghna Chakrabarti discusses brain health with Prof. Polina Anikeeva, director of the K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center at MIT.

By tapping into the powerful gut-brain connection,  Anikeeva says, we may unlock new treatment methods for complex brain disorders.

In the first episode of WBUR’s “BrainWaves” series, host Meghna Chakrabarti discusses the mysteries of the brain with Prof. Nancy Kanwisher.

“The fact that different parts of the brain do different things is actually a real lever that we have as scientists to help us understand it,” says Kanwisher.

In 2015, MIT scientists led by Prof. Ed Boyden physically magnified objects using a key moisture-absorbing ingredient in diapers.

This technique, called expansion microscopy, has opened an unprecedented view of the microbial world, writes Molly Herring of Quanta Magazine.

In an interview with reporter John Pavlus, Prof. Evelina Fedorenko describes the language network in the brain.

“It’s like a map, and it tells you where in the brain you can find different kinds of meaning. It’s basically a glorified parser that helps us put the pieces together — and then all the thinking and interesting stuff happens outside of [its] boundaries.”

Michael T. Nietzel reports that several universities, including MIT, have launched major initiatives in brain science and neurological research.

MIT will use a private gift from alumni Ana Méndez ’and Rajeev Jayavant to establish the Rare Brain Disorders Nexus — or RareNet — at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

Tech Review names Nidhi Seethapathi among 35 innovators under 35 who are “driving scientific progress and finding real-world applications for their work.”

Seethapathi was recognized for her work to create a unified model of human movement for wearables and rehab devices.

Researchers at MIT have developed a “tissue-integrated, above-the-knee prosthesis that gives people more control over their movements,” reports Amber X. Chen for Smithsonian Magazine.

“I want to be in the business of building bodies, not powerful devices,” says Prof. Hugh Herr. “I want to fully integrate humanity into electromechanics, not just build a better hammer.”

A new study by MIT researchers in Prof. Nancy Kanwisher’s lab has identified the parts of the brain’s visual cortex that respond more when we look at things (rigid objects like a stone skipping or a bouncing ball) vs stuff (liquids or something more granular like sand).

Understanding this distinction may help our brains better plan how to interact with various materials,” explains the researchers.

Researchers at MIT have developed a bionic knee that can “integrate with a patient’s bones and nervous system, allowing users to control the prosthesis with their mind,” reports Angela Mathew for The Boston Globe.

“In conventional prosthesis, there’s an energy exchange, but there’s not much of an information exchange with the brain,” explains Prof. Hugh Herr. “Because the prosthesis is so intimately connected to the skeleton, if you just tap the toe in a really modest way, the person can feel it exquisitely.”

Longtime supporter and board member K. Lisa Yang has been recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the “100 most influential people shaping the future of giving.”

“The things that we’re most passionate about are the things that touch our own lives,” says Yang, who has two children on the autism spectrum.

Yasemin Saplakoglu reports on how the brain’s astounding cellular diversity and networked complexity could show how to make AI better. Her story includes interviews with top computational neuroscientists including Professors Tomaso Poggio and Evelina Fedorenko.

Gene editing and many other useful biotechnology tools came from studies of bacteria fighting off viral invaders. But scientists have only begun to unlock the secrets of this ancient arms race, reports Amber Dance.

She describes how Prof. Feng Zhang has discovered another efficient CRISPR-like system, called TIGR-Tas.