News
Following the Most Vulnerable Neurons: Dr. Jean-Pierre Roussarie’s Path to Alzheimer’s Research
Why do some brain cells die early in Alzheimer’s disease, while other survive? This question drives Jean-Pierre Roussarie’s research at Boston University, where his lab studies the molecular mechanisms that make certain neurons more vulnerable to neurodegeneration. The answer could help scientists better understand the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, before... More
BU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Receives $24 Million in Fresh Funding
The funding renewal comes at an exciting time in Alzheimer’s disease research, with advances in detection and treatment—such as the FDA clearance of a blood test for early diagnosis—that could translate to other neurodegenerative diseases, like CTE. Researchers also recently developed a drug that has been successful in clearing away... More
New Video Game Could Help Reveal How People with Autism Perceive the World
Benjamin Scott and his colleagues have created a more inclusive approach, a video game that measures how people with autism understand and interpret information—and that can be played by those across the disorder’s spectrum of symptom severity, including by people who are nonverbal. The researchers say it could spur fresh... More
From Biomedical Engineering to the Brain’s Motor Circuits: The Journey of Mike Economo
Born in Danville, a small town in Southern Virginia, to Canadian parents of Greek heritage, Dr. Economo moved to Durham, North Carolina, during his teenage years, a move that ultimately placed him on his academic journey. Dr. Economo was surrounded by a significant scientific and academic community. He attended Duke as... More
Bernhard Zimmermann, the Man Behind the NINJA: One of BU’s Most Used fNIRS Devices
The NinjaNIRS, or NINJA, is a wearable fNIRS helmet that has thrust the field of neuroscience into new heights, and which almost all Boston University graduate students affiliated with neuroscience subjects have come across in their research. In essence, this fNIRS innovation has allowed subjects’ whole heads to be tested while... More
Why do Mosquitoes Bite Some People More than Others?
The majority of mosquito bites in the United States are nothing but an itchy annoyance, but the flying insects are responsible for a rising number of cases of West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis—both are potentially fatal.
BU-Led Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program Receives $31.5 Million Funding Renewal
A Boston University-led research effort to advance our understanding and treatment of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease has received a $31.5 million funding renewal. The Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program is one of the nation’s leading investigations into cognitive decline.
Lea Stith: Translating Brain Signals into Research Solutions
It was in the Yassa Lab that Stith discovered her first research niche: HSAM, or Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory. “With translational neuroscience research,” Stith explains, “you can take these insights about how the brain works and translate them into real-world applications.” Today, Stith has continued pursuing her passion for translational neuroscience within... More
Adolescence Is Not Simply a Period of Vulnerability, but a Window of Opportunity: New Insights into Adolescent Emotion from Dr. Heidi Meyer
Assistant Professor Heidi Meyer, Psychological & Brain Sciences (College of Arts & Sciences), explores how safety learning shapes the adolescent brain Neuroscience wasn’t where Heidi Meyer expected to land. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, she was drawn early on to big questions about being human: What makes us who we... More
Researchers Develop New Tool to See How Different Brain Cell Types Work Together
Brains are composed of cell types that perform different roles in computation and are differentially affected by certain psychiatric disorders or drugs. Without a deep understanding of how cell types orchestrate the overall activity patterns, we cannot develop the next generation of therapies.