We probe the nanoscale and cellular processes that are critical to brain function. Our interests span the neuron, from the biophysics and complex computations conducted in dendrites, to the synapses and neurotransmitters that facilitate messaging between neurons. We study the genes and proteins that support these functions, and the devastating disorders that have been linked to disruption of these genes.
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![](https://mcgovern.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/neuronHP_640x960.jpg)
Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience
synapses · vesicles · electrophysiology · protein complexes · signaling · small molecules · disease-linked genes · dendrites · cell death · brain disorders · neurodevelopment
Featured Researcher
Ian Wickersham
Ian Wickersham develops genetic techniques for neuroscience, to provide more powerful and precise ways to study the organization of the brain.
~20-40 nm
The space between 2 neurons at a synapse (a sheet of paper is ~100,000 nm thick).
1%
The percentage of autism cases in which SHANK3, a postsynaptic scaffold protein, is disrupted.
SOURCE: Feng et al.