The McGovern Institute faculty comprises one of the most distinguished groups of brain researchers anywhere in the world. Its members include one Nobel laureate, five members of the National Academy of Sciences, and leading experts in many areas of neuroscience. The Institute currently has 18 principal investigators. Along with its 16 full members, these include […]
The November 2012 issue of Wired UK features McGovern neuroscientist, Ed Boyden. “Ed Boyden, an engineer turned neuroscientist, makes tools for brain hackers. In his lab at MIT, he’s built a robot that can capture individual neurons and uses light potentially to control major diseases — all in his quest to ‘solve the brain’.” — […]
This 2-minute video, narrated by McGovern Institute Director Robert Desimone, provides an overview of the Institute including our goals, our research interests, and our accomplishments.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides researchers with a non-invasive method for viewing the human brain in high resolution.
The Friends of the McGovern Institute Student Fellowship has been awarded to Joel Leibo for his work in Prof. Tomaso Poggio’s lab. Leibo’s research asks two key questions: How do we learn to recognize faces? And how can we build machines to do the same? He is applying his background in neuroscience and mathematics to […]
This award-winning video provides viewers with an intimate tour of the McGovern Institute and it explores the tools our researchers are using to unlock the mystery of the human brain.
Neurons in the mouse cerebellum, expressing the synaptic protein SAPAP-4. Image: Louis Tee and Guoping Feng
Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner. However, the brain’s executive command center does not completely relinquish control […]
The prize recognizes outstanding contributions to research in the field of medical engineering. Boyden was awarded the prize for his pioneering research contributions to the field of optogenetics, in which neurons are genetically modified to respond to light. He presented his prize lecture at the McGovern Institute on October 22, 2012.
A team led by MIT neuroscientists has developed a way to monitor how brain cells coordinate with each other to control specific behaviors, such as initiating movement or detecting an odor. The researchers’ new imaging technique, based on the detection of calcium ions in neurons, could help them map the brain circuits that perform such […]
