Changing Channels

HHMI Bulletin | February 2012

Scott Sternson has always wondered what drives behavior, especially those fundamental motivations required for survival. Hunger, for example, is so crucial that it must be evolutionarily “hard-wired” deep within the brain. After all, as Sternson observes, “if the animal doesn’t eat, it dies.” read story

MIT Media Laboratory: The Human Speechome Project

Apple Science Profiles

When Deb Roy and his wife, Rupal Patel, learned of their impending bundle of joy, they did what many first-time parents do: They got a video camera. Actually, they bought 11 video cameras and 14 state-of-the-art microphones. Then they built a temperature-controlled data-storage room in their basement and loaded it with, among other gear, five Apple Xserves and a 4.4TB Xserve RAID, backup tape drives, and robotic tape changers. No, Roy and Patel hadn’t instantly become the world’s most doting parents; instead, they had hatched a plan to record practically every waking moment of their son’s first three years.  iTunes Podcast

Retrieving Lost Memories

HHMI Bulletin | November 2007

“Every morning we took a short walk to the local market for groceries. One day, on the way back, there was a thunderstorm, so we took shelter in a little shed. After the rain, I said, ‘Let’s go home now.’ I looked at my grandmother’s face and it was completely without expression. ‘Home?’ she asked. ‘Where is home?'”  read in full issue (pdf)

Outsmarting the Toughest Bacteria

HHMI Bulletin | August 2007

Superbugs, the disease-causing bacteria that are resistant to even the most high-powered antibiotics, are becoming more commonplace.  One dangerous strain called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), once restricted to hospital wards, is turning up in soccer fields and gym lockers.  read in full issue (pdf)

The No-Brainer That Wasn’t

HHMI Bulletin | August 2007

Imagine your mechanic yanked the engine out of your car. You buckle up, turn the ignition, and off you drive, undoubtedly with a shattered notion of how automobiles work. That’s essentially what researchers led by HHMI investigator Pietro De Camilli experienced earlier this year when they eliminated a brain protein from mice thought to be an engine for transmitting nerve impulses.  read in full issue (pdf)

These Rodents See Red

HHMI Bulletin | August 2007

Some lab mice can see the world in a whole new light, thanks to HHMI investigator Jeremy Nathans and his colleague Gerald H. Jacobs. Their findings provide insight into the remarkable plasticity of mammalian brains, and shed light on a plausible means by which humans may have acquired the ability to see many colors.  read in full issue (pdf)

From the corner of the eye: Paying attention to attention

Salk Institute | July 5, 2007

Every kid knows that moms have “eyes in the back of their heads.” We are adept at fixing our gaze on one object while independently directing attention to others. Salk Institute neurobiologists are beginning to tease apart the complex brain networks that enable humans and other higher mammals to achieve this feat.  read story