How the brain solves complicated problems
Study shows humans flexibly deploy different reasoning strategies to tackle challenging mental tasks — offering insights for building machines that think more like us.
How we really judge AI
Forget optimists vs. Luddites. Most people evaluate AI based on its perceived capability and their need for personalization.
The sweet taste of a new idea
Sendhil Mullainathan brings a lifetime of unique perspectives to research in behavioral economics and machine learning.
Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
Study shows how a dopamine circuit enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has passed, opening new avenues for understanding and potentially treating fear-related disorders.
If time is money, here’s one way consumers value it
A study on ride-sharing opens a window into consumer behavior, measuring the benefits for businesses.
Response to infection highlights the nervous system’s surprising degrees of flexibility
Upon infection, the C. elegans worm reshuffles the roles of brain cells and flips the functions of some of the chemicals it uses to regulate behavior.
Credit where it’s due
MIT Sloan’s Christopher Palmer has produced new insights about household finance, thanks to razor-sharp empirical studies.
Want to climb the leadership ladder? Try debate training
Experiments find debate training boosts careers by enhancing assertiveness and communications techniques.
Why rationality can push people in different directions
Philosopher Kevin Dorst’s work examines how we apply rational thought to everyday life.
Study: Even after learning the right idea, humans and animals still seem to test other approaches
New research adds evidence that learning a successful strategy for approaching a task doesn’t prevent further exploration, even if doing so reduces performance.
Professor Emeritus Gerald Schneider, discoverer of the “two visual systems,” dies at 84
An MIT affiliate for some 60 years, Schneider was an authority on the relationships between brain structure and behavior.
Modeling complex behavior with a simple organism
By studying the roundworm C. elegans, neuroscientist Steven Flavell explores how neural circuits give rise to behavior.
Personal interests can influence how children’s brains respond to language
McGovern Institute neuroscientists use children’s interests to probe language in the brain.
Why open secrets are a big problem
Philosopher Sam Berstler diagnoses the corrosive effects of not acknowledging troubling truths.
Study reveals AI chatbots can detect race, but racial bias reduces response empathy
Researchers at MIT, NYU, and UCLA develop an approach to help evaluate whether large language models like GPT-4 are equitable enough to be clinically viable for mental health support.