Understanding
the Human
Mind
Pioneering research at the intersection of artificial intelligence,
neural computation, and cognitive psychology.
About Me
Dr. Eleanor Shaw is a Full Professor and the inaugural holder of the Weissman Chair in Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
With over two decades of interdisciplinary research, her lab explores how the brain encodes, retrieves, and restructures memory — and how those mechanisms can inform next-generation AI. Her work bridges neuroscience, computational modeling, and clinical translation.
Dr. Shaw earned her PhD from Stanford University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Salk Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research. She currently leads the Cognitive Computation Lab (CCL) and serves as Associate Director of MIT's Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department.
Education
Ph.D. Neuroscience, Stanford University, 2001
B.Sc. Biophysics, Yale University, 1996
Affiliations
MIT Brain & Cognitive Sciences Dept.
McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Lab
Cognitive Computation Lab (CCL)
Building 46, Room 4082, MIT
Languages
English (Native), French (Fluent)
German (Professional)
Research Interests
Memory & Neural Encoding
Investigating how episodic and semantic memories are consolidated during sleep and how hippocampal-neocortical circuits drive long-term potentiation.
Neuro-Inspired AI
Designing artificial neural networks whose architecture mirrors biological memory systems, enabling more robust generalization and catastrophic forgetting resistance.
Clinical Translation
Translating lab findings into therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer's, PTSD, and age-related memory decline via targeted neuromodulation.
Computational Psychiatry
Building Bayesian models of decision-making under uncertainty to understand maladaptive learning patterns underlying anxiety and addiction.
Connectome Mapping
Large-scale structural and functional connectivity analysis using graph-theoretic methods to map individual-difference signatures across the lifespan.
Epigenetics of Learning
Exploring how environmental stressors and enrichment experiences alter gene expression patterns that shape synaptic plasticity and memory capacity.
Recent Publications
Courses Offered
Neuroscience and Behavior
Foundations of systems and cognitive neuroscience. Cellular mechanisms, sensory systems, motor control, and the neural basis of cognition.
Introduction to Neural Networks
Biologically-plausible neural network models; Hopfield networks, Boltzmann machines, and modern deep architectures viewed through a neuroscience lens.
Memory, Learning & Brain
An undergraduate survey of the cognitive and neural science of memory, from molecular mechanisms to brain-wide systems to clinical implications.
Computational Models of Cognition
Advanced seminar examining Bayesian models, reinforcement learning, and neural network approaches to perception, memory, and decision-making.
Honors & Awards
Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
Elected in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
NIH Director's Pioneer Award
$3.5M five-year grant supporting exceptionally creative high-risk/high-reward research.
Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award
Awarded to an early-career researcher who has made significant contributions to cognitive neuroscience.
MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellow
MIT's highest undergraduate teaching award, recognizing outstanding contributions to education.
Named to Nature's 10 — Ten People Who Shaped Science
Featured for work linking sleep architecture to memory reactivation mechanisms.
Sloan Research Fellowship
Awarded to outstanding early-career scholars in the sciences, mathematics, and economics.
Contact Dr. Shaw
Interested in collaboration, speaking engagements, or graduate admission inquiries? Reach out using the form or through the details below.
Building 46, Room 4082
77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
eshaw@mit.edu
+1 (617) 253-0000
Tuesdays 2–4pm, Thursdays 10am–12pm