biology

McGovern Institute for Brain Research

McGovern Institute for Brain Research is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand McGovern Institute for Brain Research rather than just read about it. In short: The McGovern Institute for Brain Research is a research institute within MIT. Its mission is to understand the brain and to apply that knowledge to improve human health and well-being.

Key takeaways

McGovern Institute for Brain Research belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect McGovern Institute for Brain Research to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of McGovern Institute for Brain Research from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The McGovern Institute for Brain Research is a research institute within MIT. Its mission is to understand the brain and to apply that knowledge to improve human health and well-being. The institute was founded in 2000 by Patrick McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern with a gift to MIT that is expected to total $350M over 20 years. The institute conducts interdisciplinary research in basic neuroscience, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, brain-body interactions, and therapeutics.

History The McGovern Institute for Brain Research was established at MIT on February 28, 2000, after MIT president Charles M. Vest announced the creation of the institute following a major philanthropic pledge from Patrick J. McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern. The institute was founded with the goal of advancing understanding of the human brain in both health and disease. In the years that followed, the institute grew into one of MIT's main centers for neuroscience research. It later became housed in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex, completed in 2005, alongside the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Role The McGovern Institute conducts research into all aspects of brain function, including perception, cognition and action. It also conducts clinical and translational research on a wide range of brain disorders. The institute's core facilities include the Martinos Imaging Center, which provides neuroimaging technologies for human and animal research, including MRI, EEG and MEG. The McGovern Institute occupies approximately 85,000 sq. ft. (net) within the MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex. This building, which was completed in 2005, also houses the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and is among the largest neuroscience research buildings in the world. The building was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa in collaboration with the Boston-based firm Goody, Clancy & Associates, Inc. It is one of the most distinctive landmarks on the MIT campus, notable especially for the Grand Junction railroad that runs through the center of the building.

Faculty Robert Desimone is the current director of the McGovern Institute and the Doris and Don Berkey Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Prior to joining the McGovern Institute in 2004, he was director of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute for Mental Health, the largest mental health research center in the world. The 24 current faculty members include a Nobel laureate (H. Robert Horvitz), a winner of the U.S. National Medal of Science (Ann Graybiel), Ila Fiete and seven members of the US National Academy of Sciences (Desimone, Horvitz, Graybiel, Boyden, and Feng Zhang, along with Emilio Bizzi and Nancy Kanwisher). The founding director (2000–2004) was Phillip Sharp, also a Nobel laureate.

Public art

SCIENTIA SCIENTIA by Ursula von Rydingsvard is a sculpture permanently on display in front of the McGovern Institute. It is MIT's 52nd piece of public art. The sculpture was commissioned by Lore Harp McGovern, co-founder of the McGovern Institute. The sculpture is roughly 24 feet (7.3 m) tall and 17,000 pounds (7,700 kg). It was constructed out of bronze using sand casting and lost-wax casting.

Schwerpunkt

Schwerpunkt (German for "Center of mass or gravity") is a sculpture by Ralph Helmick. The sculpture consists of one hundred 3D printed metal neurons suspended above the McGovern Institute lobby. When viewed from a specific focal point on the building's third floor atrium, the neurons take on the shape of a human brain.

References

External links Media related to McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Wikimedia Commons

Official website Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center at McGovern Institute Views of MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex on Goody Clancy web site

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with McGovern Institute for Brain Research

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what McGovern Institute for Brain Research claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to McGovern Institute for Brain Research before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about McGovern Institute for Brain Research ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of McGovern Institute for Brain Research

In research: McGovern Institute for Brain Research appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses McGovern Institute for Brain Research in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: McGovern Institute for Brain Research is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cognitive science research institutes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology research institutes, Neuroscience research centers in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for McGovern Institute for Brain Research outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study McGovern Institute for Brain Research in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what McGovern Institute for Brain Research means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is McGovern Institute for Brain Research in simple terms?

The McGovern Institute for Brain Research is a research institute within MIT. Its mission is to understand the brain and to apply that knowledge to improve human health and well-being.

Why does McGovern Institute for Brain Research matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study McGovern Institute for Brain Research?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on McGovern Institute for Brain Research.