HHMI - Howard Hughes Medical Institue

Cellular structures once thought to be inactive fat storage centers may actually help regulate metabolism.

As a rat approaches a maze juncture, neural activity rapidly cycles between two sets of cells. The discovery suggests the rodents are envisioning turning left or right. A similar phenomenon may underlie how humans make decisions.

Janelia and Google scientists have constructed the most complete map of the fly brain ever created, pinpointing millions of connections between 25,000 neurons. Now, a wiring diagram of the entire brain is within reach.

The method melds the best of super-resolution fluorescence and electron microscopy to show how proteins relate to cells’ fine structure.

Scientists have found a new way to home in on the proteins covering a particular cell’s surface. The feat offers insight into how brain cells form intricate networks during development.

Scientists have discovered that a brain region that controls hand and arm movement also offers a window into studying speech. The work brings researchers a step closer to building medical devices that help people who cannot speak.

Flies use visual cues to finesse their mental maps of the environment. Two new studies use virtual reality to show how. 

HHMI is seeking to appoint approximately 20 new Investigators through a national open competition. This effort will expand HHMI’s community of nearly 300 Investigators, who perform basic biological research across the nation.

Activity goes awry for hundreds of genes in Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. Scientists have now found a way to calm the disordered activity – and restore cognitive abilities in mice.

HHMI's Driving Change initiative aims to effect genuine and lasting culture change on research university campuses so that undergraduate students from all backgrounds, particularly those who belong to historically excluded groups, will excel in STEM. Letters of intent due February 7, 2020.