Want to get exercise mid-day but don’t want to go outside? Join the tunnel walk for a 30-minute walk led by a volunteer through MIT’s famous tunnel system. This walk may include stairs/inclines. Wear comfortable shoes. Free.Location details: Meet in the atrium by the staircase. Location photo below.Tunnel Walk Leaders will have a white flag they will raise at the meeting spot for you to find them.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: Tunnel walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend checking this calendar just before you head out. [As of Feb 12, this calendar is defaulting to the year 1899. Click "today" to be brought to the current month.]Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These tunnel walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.

Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

As part of MIT's Day of Climate, this professional development session provides training for the Climate Change Charades activity.Focused on elementary school-aged learners, climate change charades will address the gap in accessible, engaging, and interactive climate education.Learners act out or describe climate change-related concepts, helping to reinforce their understanding in a fun, collaborative way. Inspired by Climate Fresk workshops, which break down the complexities of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, this activity will utilize a similar concept to make learning about climate change more accessible.By acting out different environmental and climate phenomena, students will deepen their comprehension of key climate concepts while also building communication and teamwork skills. The interactive play allows for the responsible introduction of potentially climate-anxiety inducing topics to impressionable ages. This game can be used as an icebreaker, an introduction to more advanced topics, or a way to reinforce content already covered in class.Register for this online session.

Speaker: Ju Tan (Boston University)Title: Deformation spaces of Lagrangian immersions and quiver varieties.Abstract: Quiver possesses a rich representation theory, deeply connected to instantons and coherent sheaves as illuminated by the ADHM construction and the works of many others. Besides, quivers also capture the formal deformation space of a Lagrangian submanifold. In this talk, we will discuss these relations from the perspective of SYZ mirror symmetry. In particular, we will introduce the framed Lagrangian immersions, the Maurer-Cartan deformation spaces of which are Nakajima quiver varieties. If time permits, we will discuss our ongoing projects on the Hecke correspondence and Nakajima's raising operators. This is based on the joint work with Jiawei Hu and Siu-Cheong Lau, and an ongoing project with Siu-Cheong Lau.

Dacheng Xiu (University of Chicago, Booth School of Business)

Colloquium on the Brain and Cognition with Li-Huei Tsai, PhD, MITDate: Thursday, February 27, 2025Time: 4:00pmLocation: 46-3002, Singleton Auditorium (Third floor of MIT Building 46)Zoom: https://mit.zoom.us/j/94635707197Frequency Matters: Harnessing 40 Hz Stimulation for Alzheimer's Disease and NeuroprotectionRhythmic neural activity in the gamma range (30–80 Hz) plays a crucial role in cognitive function and is disrupted in several neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We developed a method called Gamma ENtrainment Using Sensory stimuli (GENUS), which uses patterned light and sound stimulation at 40 Hz in AD model mice to assess the effects of enhancing gamma oscillations. Our findings demonstrate that GENUS increases gamma power across multiple brain regions. Moreover, daily application significantly reduces amyloid and tau pathology, mitigates neuronal and synaptic degeneration, and improves cognitive function in various AD mouse models.In addition, GENUS induces morphological and gene expression changes in glial cells and the vasculature. It also enhances cerebrospinal fluid influx and facilitates glial-mediated and lymphatic-like brain waste clearance—known as glymphatic clearance—through a vasoactive intestinal peptide interneuron-dependent mechanism. We provide evidence that enhanced glymphatic clearance is essential for the reduction of amyloid burden in the cortex following GENUS.Our current efforts focus on deciphering the cellular, molecular, and neural circuit mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of gamma entrainment. I will discuss our latest findings on how gamma oscillations regulate multiple neuromodulatory systems to drive protective effects, including the modulation of visceral organs. If time permits, I will also present clinical findings using GENUS and explore the feasibility of this non-invasive sensory stimulation approach for treating neurological disorders in human patients. These results highlight the potential of GENUS as a promising therapeutic avenue for Alzheimer’s disease, offering a non-invasive approach to engage neuromodulatory systems and restore brain function.