About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/prof-michal-schwartz-will-change-your-mind/
Sep 22, 2015... September 21st is World Alzheimer’s Day – and, not coincidentally, the release date for Prof. Michal Schwartz’s new book. Published by Yale University Press, Neuroimmunity: A New Science That Will Revolutionize How We Keep Our Bodies Healthy and Young not only presents her game-changing work on the immune system’s connection to the brain, but brings to life her extraordinary journey as a woman in science.
Apr 02, 2017...
Optogenetic research shows promise for erasing memories of fear. Image via Shutterstock.com
Erasing unwanted memories isn’t yet possible. However, Israeli scientists are now reporting that they have succeeded in erasing one type of memory in mice – fear.
This new technique may one day help extinguish traumatic memories in humans – for example, in people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Feb 15, 2018...
Photo by Jesse Orrico on Unsplash, Science continually proves the pliability of our creativity.
I have an obsession and it is human creativity. It's why I'm in the advertising business. It's why I started an idea-generating company. And it's why I crave scientific studies that may give us clues as to how we can improve our creativity. Since 2013 I've been reporting here on Forbes.com the most interesting of those scientific studies and let's just say those scientists have been busy.
Apr 23, 2019...
For years, Israeli neurologist Tamar Flash has had a fascination with the octopus, and the way the invertebrate’s eight arms propel it effortlessly through the water.
She’s convinced this has major implications for diagnosing and treating Parkinson’s disease — and possible other disorders as well.
“My major interest is the brain’s representation of movement, or the principles underlying the organization, control, and perception of movement by humans,” she recently told Parkinson’s News Today. The octopus has no bones. It’s totally soft. It’s just made of muscles.”
Mar 15, 2017...
An entire mouse brain viewed from above: Neuronal extensions connect the two amygdalas (the brightest green spots on both sides of the brain) with the prefrontal cortex (top)
Erasing unwanted memories is still the stuff of science fiction, but Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have now managed to erase one type of memory in mice. In a study reported in Nature Neuroscience, they succeeded in shutting down a neuronal mechanism by which memories of fear are formed in the mouse brain. After the procedure, the mice resumed their earlier fearless behavior, “forgetting” that they had previously been frightened.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/mouse-groups-reveal-complex-relationships/
Sep 02, 2013...
The movements of mice, dyed in different fluorescent colors, are tracked in the darkened enclosure. From the work of Prof. Alon Chen and Dr. Elad Schneidman.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 2, 2013—A common belief is that our modern, stimulation-filled environment encourages individualistic behavior (or antisocial behavior, depending on one’s point of view), while simpler surroundings give rise to a more developed community life. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that this assumption – at least for mice – is based in reality: Mice that have been raised in a stimulus-rich environment have less complexity in their social interactions than those growing up in more Spartan conditions. The findings were based on two innovative developments: The first is an automated system that continuously tracks groups of mice living in semi-natural conditions, and the second is a mathematical framework for analyzing data, which enabled the scientists to characterize, in detail, the nature of the mice’s collective behavior.
Dec 22, 2013...
In our recent “Top 12 most amazing Israeli medical advances”, we promised a top 10 list of the most exciting Israeli medical-device and pharmaceutical developments just around the corner.
Like the top 12, this list was also very difficult to narrow down, because Israeli breakthroughs in this field are a near-daily occurrence. Our top 10 is just the tip of the iceberg.
Watch for new health stories on ISRAEL21c every week for a broader picture of how Israeli ingenuity is changing the face of healthcare worldwide.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/top-10-israeli-advances-in-autism/
Apr 03, 2014...
April is World Autism Awareness Month. Image via Shutterstock.com
In recent years Israel has become a major hub for studies on autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that is today the second most prevalent among children.
People with autism, which is included in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASD), have social and communication difficulties that often make it hard for sufferers to leave home and live independently. They often engage in repetitive behavior, and can have intellectual disabilities.
May 08, 2019... Meet visual neuroscientist Dr. Michal Rivlin, the 2019 Life Sciences Laureate of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. Dr. Rivlin’s research is making major strides in understanding sight, in particular the retina, the part of the eye where all visual processes begin. She has found that retinal cells, rather than being fixed and hardwired, are malleable and can dramatically change their properties in response to stimuli like light and motion. Her work has implications for retinal disease and blindness, and the development of computer vision technologies. The Blavatnik Awards, presented by The Blavatnik Family Foundation, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (IASH), recognize early-career scientists and engineers in Israel for both their extraordinary achievements and promise for future discoveries. Of the three 2019 laureates, two were from the Weizmann Institute; the other Weizmann winner was Prof. Erez Berg of the Department of Condensed Matter Physics. Video courtesy of the New York Academy of Sciences.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-human-brain-project/
May 01, 2012... Reductionist biology—examining individual brain parts, neural circuits and molecules—has brought us a long way, but it alone cannot explain the workings of the human brain, an information processor within our skull that is perhaps unparalleled anywhere in the universe. We must construct as well as reduce and build as well as dissect. To do that, we need a new paradigm that combines both analysis and synthesis. The father of reductionism, French philosopher René Descartes, wrote about the need to investigate the parts and then reassemble them to re-create the whole.
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