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 future of humanity.
May 01, 2019...
Photo via Shutterstock.com
The State of Israel will soon turn 71. And yet this babe among nations ranks fifth internationally for average life expectancy and conducts some of the world’s most critical research on healthy aging.
That is the conclusion of “Longevity in Israel,” a new 575-page report from the London-based Aging Analytics Agency in cooperation with Vetek (Seniority) – The Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life and the Israeli Longevity Alliance.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/past-brain-activation-revealed-in-scans/
Jun 25, 2013... Illustrating the day-after effect of brain activation. The brain image at the back presents spontaneous (resting state) patterns before an fMRI-based neurofeedback training session. The front brain image presents spontaneous (resting state) patterns a day after the training session, illustrating the long-term trace of the training. The two brains are overlaid above scatter plots of individual subjects that demonstrate the “Hebbian-like” learning rule: cortical sites that were co-activated during training increased their resting state connectivity, while those that were de-correlated during training decreased it. For more information, see Harmelech et al., Journal of Neuroscience, 33(22):9488-97 2013. Photo credit: Weizmann Institute of Science. Read more
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-september-2014/
Sep 29, 2014... How the brain ages is still largely an open question – in part because this organ is mostly insulated from direct contact with other systems in the body, including the blood and immune systems. In research published recently in Science, Weizmann Institute researchers Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Department of Neurobiology and Dr. Ido Amit of the Department of Immunology found evidence of a unique “signature” that may be the “missing link” between cognitive decline and aging. The scientists believe that this discovery may, in the future, lead to treatments that can slow or reverse cognitive decline in older people.
Jul 30, 2019...
JERUSALEM, July 29 (Xinhua) – Israeli scientists discovered how oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” is restocked in the brain, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) said Monday.
Oxytocin is responsible, for example, for a burst of happiness with parents gazing at their newborn baby or a loving couple exchanging glances.
However, oxytocin is not only a hormone of love but also plays a role in normal social interaction, birth and breastfeeding, control of stress and appetite and more.
Jun 27, 2016...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—June 27, 2016—Disrupted fetal immune system development, such as that caused by viral infection in the mother, may be a key factor in the later appearance of certain neurodevelopmental disorders. This finding emerges from a Weizmann Institute study published in Science on June 23.
The study may explain, among other things, how the mother’s infection with the cytomegalovirus (CMV) during pregnancy, which affects her own and her fetus’s immune system, increases the risk that her offspring will develop autism or schizophrenia, sometimes years later. This increased risk of neurodevelopmental diseases was discovered many years ago in epidemiological studies and confirmed in mouse models, and now the Weizmann study – led by Dr. Ido Amit of the Department of Immunology and Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Department of Neurobiology – provides a possible explanation for this increase on the cellular and the mechanistic molecular levels.
Sep 24, 2019...
Seconds before a memory pops up, certain nerve cells jolt into action in sync. This new finding sheds light on how the brain stores and recalls information.
Studying brain cells in action inside the human head is tricky. Putting electrodes in someone’s brain requires surgery. It’s not something researchers do without a good reason. The new study involved people who already had electrodes put in their brains for some medical purpose. These participants all had epilepsy. That brain disorder causes storm-like surges of electrical activity in the brain, known as seizures. Doctors put the electrodes in the patients' brains so they could pinpoint those surges.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/all-too-human/
Jan 22, 2019...
The tradeoff shown in human brains (top) and monkey brains (bottom). The more evolutionarily advanced, the more efficient and the less robust each area proved to be.
Prof. Rony Paz of the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests that our brains are like modern washing machines – evolved to have the latest sophisticated programming, but more vulnerable to breakdown and prone to develop costly disorders. He and a group of researchers recently conducted experiments comparing the efficiency of the neural code in non-human and human primates and found that, as the neural code gets more efficient, the robustness that prevents errors is reduced. Their findings, which appeared in Cell, may help to explain why disorders as ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and even autism are common in humans.
Jan 21, 2015...
Unfortunately, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) remains a condition that presents more questions than answers.
Some studies have found a lack of connection or synchronization between different parts of the brain while other studies have found the exact opposite – an over-synchronization in the brains of those with ASD.
Now, new research by scientists at the Weizmann Institute and Carnegie Mellon University suggests that the various reports of both over- and under-connectivity may, in fact, reflect a deeper principle of brain function.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-power-of-sniff/
Oct 06, 2010...
A new device lets the disabled move and communicate with their noses.
The key to restoring movement and communication for the severely disabled may lie on the roofs of our mouths. Researchers have invented a device that allows the paralyzed to write, surf the Web and steer an electric wheelchair—all by sniffing. Initial tests, described recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, suggest that patients with severe paralysis may soon have a new way of doing everyday tasks.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/cineastes-more-alike-than-they-think/
Apr 12, 2005...
LONDON—Eggheads from the world-renowned scientific center the Weizmann Institute in Israel, conducting research into the brain activity using excerpts from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” as stimulus, have made some startling discoveries.
Using 30 minutes from Sergio Leone’s classic Western and state-of-the-art MRI scanning equipment, the Weizmann research team − led by professor of neurobiology Rafael Malach − have found a striking similarity between brain activity patterns in all viewers, no matter what age or gender they are.
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