Talk Title: Sensory cortical computations for learningTalk Abstract:Learning about sensory cues from the environment is essential for animal survival. The sensory cortex is thought to subserve this learning by increasing the saliency of behaviorally relevant cues at the timescale of behavioral improvements. However, reports suggest that the acquisition of task knowledge may occur faster than performance improvements, challenging the stimulus-related plasticity model of sensory cortical plasticity. To investigate the relationship between learning and sensory cortical representations, I trained mice on a novel behavioral paradigm that dissociated the rapid acquisition of task contingencies (learning) from its slower expression (performance). I combined longitudinal two-photon imaging in the auditory cortex to track thousands of neurons across weeks, cutting-edge tensor decomposition algorithms to reveal latent dynamics at multiple timescales, and behaviorally closed-loop optogenetics. Rather than enhancement or expansion of cue representations, we found that the sensory cortex manifests higher-order computations, reward prediction and action suppression, that separably drive rapid learning and slower performance improvements, respectively. These results reshape our understanding of the fundamental role of the sensory cortex. At the end of my seminar, I will briefly discuss my future directions focusing on investigating multi-region neural dynamics that underlie memory-guided behaviors.This talk will not be live streamed

All kids from newborn age to 3.5 years old are welcome! You can bring siblings as well.It's a chance for kids to have fun while parents can chat, share parenting tips, and socialize.Please register if you plan to attend the group. Contact Maria at mwiegandl@udd.cl if you have any questions.This group is sponsored by the Executive Committees of Westgate and the Graduate Tower at Site 4, and MIT Spouses & Partners Connect, a dedicated network for the significant others of MIT students, postdocs, staff and faculty who have relocated to the Boston area.

February 26, 2025 - July 17, 2025Hidden within MIT’s Distinctive Collections, many architectural elements from the earliest days of the Institute’s architecture program still survive as part of the Rotch Art Collection. Among the artworks that conservators salvaged was a set of striking windows of gypsum and stained-glass, dating to the late 18th- to 19th c. Ottoman Empire. This exhibition illuminates the life of these historic windows, tracing their refracted histories from Egypt to MIT, their ongoing conservation, and the cutting-edge research they still prompt.The Maihaugen Gallery (14N-130) is open Monday through Thursday, 10am - 4pm, excluding Institute holidays.

What is Gender Ideology?11-12pm | 9-255Catherine D’Ignazio (Assoc. Prof., DUSP, Director, Data + Feminism Lab), and an MIT PostdocAn activity of the AAUP Day of ActionScience Engagement for Better Society2-3PM | 45-230Amy Brand (Director, MIT Press), Marzyeh Ghassemi (Assoc. Professor EECS), Crystal Lee (Ass't Professor, CoC and CMS/W), Seth Mnookin (Assoc. Prof. CMS/W), Deb Roy (Prof. Media Arts and Sciences, Director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication)An activity of the AAUP Day of ActionLegal Challenges to Ideological Deportation3-4 PM | 45-230Carrie DeCell (Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia), Rachel Davidson (ACLU of Massachusetts), in conversation with Malick Ghachem (Prof, History)An activity of the AAUP Day of ActionAn activity of the AAUP Day of Action

Date: April 17th at 11amZoom link: https://mit.zoom.us/j/92091786511?pwd=SluDifJieYQFOMjAC70Gh3ziteHnSk.1Password: ODPIn-Person Location: 46-3310Title: Non-invasive tuning of experience-dependent plasticity in the primary visual cortexAbstract: The cerebral cortex exhibits a remarkable capacity for experience-dependent plasticity, a feature that is predominantly confined to critical periods (CPs) during early postnatal development. In the mouse primary visual cortex (V1), ocular dominance plasticity (ODP) has served as a premier model for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation and stabilization of cortical circuits. During the CP, short-term monocular deprivation (MD) induces both functional and anatomical changes in binocular V1, characterized by a weakening of deprived-eye responsiveness via mechanisms of synaptic long-term depression. As the critical period closes, increased inhibitory drive and the emergence of perineuronal nets (PNNs) stabilize neural circuits and restrict further experience-dependent plasticity. In Chapter 1, I review the key literature on ODP and provide a survey of interventions that have been shown to enhance ODP in adulthood. In Chapter 2, I present our findings that repeated anesthetic ketamine treatment can reinstate ‘juvenile-like’ plasticity in the adult mouse V1. Importantly, I demonstrate that this effect relies on the microglia-mediated depletion of PNNs, and that interfering with microglial purinergic P2Y12 receptor activation blocks the ketamine-induced enhancement of ODP. Building on these insights, Chapter 3 investigates the use of non-invasive light-flicker stimulation at different temporal frequencies as a means to unlock different forms of ODP in the adult mouse V1. Our results reveal that 60 Hz light-flicker stimulation reduces PNN levels and promotes a depression of deprived-eye responses following short-term MD, whereas 40 Hz stimulation – without altering PNN levels – enhances an adult form of ODP characterized by the strengthening of non-deprived eye responses following short-term MD. Furthermore, we show that in mice subjected to long-term MD initiated early in life, 40 Hz light-flicker treatment promotes recovery of visual function, as evidenced through physiological and behavioral assays. Finally, Chapter 4, outlines a series of future experiments designed to further elucidate the mechanisms by which light-flicker stimulation promotes enhanced ODP in adult V1. Together, the findings presented in this thesis introduce novel, minimally invasive (ketamine) and non-invasive (light-flicker) interventions that show promise as therapeutic strategies for ameliorating deficits arising from early life sensory deprivation.

Eversource is hosting an in-person Q&A session to provides information about specific impacts to the MIT community and what to expect during construction of the Greater Cambridge Energy Program throughout MIT's Cambridge campus. Eversource plans to begin construction on Ames Street in April of 2025.The Greater Cambridge Energy Program (GCEP), being led and implemented by Eversource and the City of Cambridge, is designed to address the region’s growing electric demand and enhance the resiliency and flexibility of the transmission system and the grid. Find more details about the project and impacts here.