Brain Research

Postdoc Profile: Michael VanElzakker, PhD

By Brian Burns | September 19, 2018

Michael VanElzakker, PhD, is a neuroscientist at Mass General who is using brain scans to learn more about chronic fatigue syndrome.

Mass General Researcher Explores Links Between Sleep and Disease

By Brian Burns | September 6, 2018

Even though we sleep so much of our life, we don’t know exactly what goes on in our brain when we sleep. But genetic studies can point a clear path for further investigation into the role of sleep.

Event Highlights Progress on Brain Disease Research

By Brian Burns | August 28, 2018

Collaborative research and new technology have accelerated efforts to solve the challenges of brain diseases, Mass General researchers told patients, families and friends.

Marques Brings the Ivory Tower to the Streets with Mass General Psychiatry Program

By Brian Burns | August 23, 2018

Luana Marques, PhD, a clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, founded Community Psychiatry PRIDE to help minority and at-risk communities get state of the art mental health care and treatment.

Snapshot of Science: Genetic Insights into Our Food Choices, New Diagnostic Device for Lymphoma and More

By MGH Research Institute | August 21, 2018

What’s new in research at Mass General? Here’s a snapshot of studies recently published in top-tier scientific journals: Effect of folic acid on child brain development Have you ever noticed that everything from cereal to pasta to pancake mix has folic acid listed as an ingredient? This is due to a government-mandated folic acid fortification
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Brain Stimulation During Sleep Could Help Schizophrenia Patients with Debilitating Memory Deficits

By Brian Burns | August 16, 2018

A Mass General research team is investigating if boosting a specific brain activity during sleep can help treat learning and memory deficits in schizophrenia patients.

How Insights From Epilepsy Patients Could Lead to New Treatments for PTSD

By Brian Burns | August 14, 2018

Take a quick look at the word below. What color is the text? If it took you a moment to separate the meaning of the word (green) from the color of the text itself (red), don’t feel bad. The conflict is intentional, designed to test your brain’s cognitive flexibility when faced with two competing pieces
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Blueprint Grant Will Help Mass General Researcher Advance Strategies to Limit Stroke Damage

By Brian Burns | July 24, 2018

When it comes to assessing the damage caused by natural disasters, experts often think in terms of primary and secondary effects. A primary effect of a flood, for example, would include the damage to homes and buildings caused by the rushing waters, while a secondary effect would be power outages resulting from downed trees and
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Could There be a Link Between Herpes Virus and Alzheimer’s Disease?

By Brian Burns | July 10, 2018

A new research study from Rudolph Tanzi, PhD, and Robert Moir, PhD, researchers in the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, has uncovered a Jekyll and Hyde role for a naturally occurring protein in the brain most commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In conjunction with new findings from another research team at Icahn School of
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Studying the Connection Between Sleep and Anxiety

By Brian Burns | July 3, 2018

Anxious people often don’t sleep well and poor sleep is a symptom of many psychiatric disorders, including anxiety.

Research at Mass General Brigham