|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
McGovern Institute in the news
 |
 |
Singing in the Brain: Baby bird chirps use different neural pathway
April 2008
Michale Fee's lab study of how juvenile songbird learn to sing - much the way human babies learn to talk - found two distinct pathways in the brain. Babies use one pathway when learning to sing and switch to the other pathway once they have learned the song. Much like human babies, juvenile songbirds babble before they master complex vocalizations of their adult tutors. The Fee lab found that zebra finches use two distinct neural pathways for generating songs -- one for babbling early in life and one for singing in adulthood.
Listen to:
An interview on CBC's "Quirks and Quarks" and
a podcast by the journal Science
Read articles about this story:
Boston Globe Health and Science section
National Geographic News and
New York Times Science Times
|
 |
 |
Oh, What a Baby Face!
April 2008
Nancy Kanwisher’s seminal work on face recognition was recognized in article in the Wall Street Journal ("Some Scientists Argue We Are Built to Coo At the Sight of a Baby") New York Times ("Blind to Change") and Scientific American MIND ("A Face In The Crowd").
Read the articles in the
Wall Street Journal and
New York Times
|
 |
 |
Cultural insights: Brain scans support surprising differences in perception between Westerners and Asians
January - March 2008
The March 3 Boston Globe’s Health/Science Section featured an article about John Gabrieli’s brain scan study on March 3. This January study was also widely covered in the international media.
Read the Boston Globe article and
see the coverage on MSNBC News
|
 |
 |
Caught on tape: Rat videos reveal whisker secrets
February 27, 2008
A high speed video technique developed in Christopher Moore’s lab that captured rat whiskers in motion captured much media attention.
Read the articles in Scientific American and Time magazines, and on MSNBC
|
 |
 |
Visionary Research: Teaching Computers to See Like a Human
February 2008
Scientific American writes about Tomaso Poggio's brain-inspired computer model of human vision may improve image recognition software. The BBC series "Visions of the Future" and the IEEE Journal: Computing In Science & Engineering also featured this work.
Read the article in Scientific American
|
 |
 |
Chris Moore: Blood flow may be key player in neural processing
January 2008
Scientific American magazine and the Spanish magazine Muy Interesante discussed Moore’s intriguing hemo-neural hypothesis.
Read the article in Scientific American
|
 |
 |
McGovern Institute and Tsinghua University in China enter collaborative research agreement
January 15, 2008
The collaborative agreement will promote advances in basic neuroscience research that can be applied to the study of the human brain, as well as devastating brain diseases and mental disorders
Read the article in China View
|
 |
 |
John Gabrieli's research on sex differences featured on national television news.
January 14, 2008
John Gabrieli's research was featured in a NBC national news report on January 14.
Read more
|
 |
 |
MIT to study genes’ role in mental illness
October 22, 2007
The McGovern Institute establishes the Poitras Center for Affective Disorders with a $20 million commitment from to MIT alumnus James Poitras and his wife Patricia. Read the article in the Boston Globe
|
 |
 |
At nonprofits, asking for money becomes part of the job
September 5, 2007
The McGovern Institute exemplifies a new trend in establishing long-term research collaborations with philanthropists, such as Leadership Board member Tom Peterson’s support for Christopher Moore’s research on his new Hemo-Neural Hypothesis.
Read the article in the Boston Globe
|
 |
 |
Blossoming Brains, Maturing Memories
April, 2007
John Gabrieli and Noa Ofen discover age-related differences in the brain relate to age-related differences in memory formation.
Read the articles in The Economist, The Japan News, and Forbes.
|
 |
 |
When Computer Vision Imitates Life
April, 2007
Tomaso Poggio's computational model's recognizes glimpses of objects as well as humans. Click here for media cover in theEconmist, New Scientist, Science Daily, etc.
|
 |
 |
Which is smarter, the human brain or computers?
May 7, 2007
Leadership Board Chairman Bob Metcalfe writes about brains, computers, networks, and Tomaso Poggio in Forbes magazine. Read more
|
 |
 |
Scientists: A Good Lie Detector is Hard to Find
February 12, 2007
Kanwisher explains to American Academy of Arts and Sciences that 'spin' and fact omission leave no neuro-trace. Read the article in MIT’s Tech Talk
|
 |
 |
Charles Jennings talks with Technology Review about fueling brain research
February 05, 2007
MINT program is developing the next generation of technologies to uncover the hidden secrets of our brain. Read the Article in Technology Review
|
 |
 |
Time Magazine (print edition) reproduces Nancy Kanwisher’s “famous set of brain scans” in a special issue called “A User’s Guide to Brain.”
January 29, 2007
Brain scans show “1) a scanner can spot the difference between a brain recognizing a face and a brain recognizing a place; and 2) imaging faces or places lights up the same neurons as actually seeing them.”
|
 |
 |
The Economist magazine features Nancy Kanwisher
December 23, 2006
See "A Survey of the Brain" in the December 23, 2006 print edition or visit www.economist.com/surveys (online subscription required)
|
 |
 |
Nature Network Boston discusses brain imaging centers
June 26, 2006
Read the Article
|
 |
 |
H. Robert Horvitz wins MIT's Killian Faculty Achievement Award for 2005-2006
May 2006
Read the Article
|
 |
 |
John Gabrieli appeared as a principle expert for a program on intelligence on Boston’s WCVB-TV’s Chronicle
January 31, 2006
|
 |
 |
Nancy Kanwisher appeared on PBS’s Charlie Rose Science Series to discuss cutting edge neuroscience
October 31, 2005
View Episode 1: The Brain
|

|
 |
Still Standing, Pat
May 17 2004
Pat McGovern: From Computer World to scorpion dinners, IDG's McGovern keeps his eye on information everywhere.
Read the article
|

|
 |
Virtual workout beats the boredom for stroke patients
May 10 2004
PEOPLE who have suffered a partial loss of arm and hand control after a stroke might soon be spared the
arduous trip to the hospital for physiotherapy. Instead they'll be able to log on to the Internet at home
and run through the rehabilitation exercises designed by their doctor.
Read the article
|

|
 |
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the McGovern Institute for
Brain Research's new building were held May 19th on the MIT campus.
This state-of-the-art facility, which will house not only the McGovern Institute
for Brain Research, but the Department
of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Picower
Center, is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2005.
Read the article in MIT News
|

|
 |
Phillip Sharp quoted in article published by The Scientist
April 2003
Phillip Sharp was quoted in "Shhh: Silencing Genes with RNA Interference", an article published by The Scientist.
|

|
 |
Graybiel named Killian Award winner for 2002
March 2003
McGovern Institute's Ann Graybiel, Ph.D. is the 2002 winner of the James R. Killian Faculty Achievement Award which recognizes extraordinary
professional accomplishment by full-time members of the MIT faculty.
Read the article in MIT News
|

|
 |
Singing in the Brain
January 2003
Researchers flocked here in December 2002 for the first international conference
devoted to birdsong. New findings presented at the meeting shed light on the neural
circuits that coordinate the intricate movements needed to create song.
Read the Article (pdf / 176K)
Get Adobe Acrobat Reader
|

|
 |
Ann Graybiel is this year's winner of the Robert S. Dow Neuroscience Award
November 2002
McGovern's Ann Graybiel, Ph.D., is this year's winner of the Robert S. Dow Neuroscience Award presented by the OHSU Neurological Sciences
Institute.
Read the article in OHSU News
|

|
 |
Graybiel awarded the National Medal of Science
May 2002
The National Medal of Science is the nation's highest science and technology honor.
It recognizes individuals in a variety of fields for pioneering scientific research and for their lifetime achievements.
Read the article at MIT News
|

|
 |
Horvitz receives the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award For Distinguished Achievement In Neuroscience Research
August 2001
His discovery of the genes responsible for programmed cell death revealed that cell death Is an active biological process and
defined a genetic pathway conserved in humans.
Read the article at Heriditary Foundation News
|
|
|
|
|
|