Alzheimer's disease (or "AD"), the leading cause of dementia, is a progressive brain disorder that causes problems with memory and thinking. More than five million patients in the United States are currently diagnosed with AD. The goal of our research is to help each person... click to read more

Imagine the following sequence of events. First, you walk through the tropical rainforests of Australia and hear an (unfamiliar) booming sound then see an (unknown) bird-like animal. Some days later, you see a photograph of the bird (the cassowary) with the caption "extremely dangerous". Finally,... click to read more

"Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future." Elie Wiesel

Memory is essential for animal survival and gives human beings the extraordinary ability to develop consciousness and ultimately the self. The brain mechanisms that allow us... click to read more

An old photograph, the smell of warm apple pie, or even a long-forgotten name overheard at a party all have the potential to unleash a flood of related memories. In many ways, our conscious experience is dictated by the reminders we encounter in daily life.... click to read more

The author Tonegawa won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987.

The human brain is composed of over 100 billion electrically-active brain cells (called neurons), and what makes the neuron a special cell type is that it sends out extensions (known as axons) that... click to read more