Mark F. Bear received his Ph.D. in neurobiology from Brown University. He is currently Picower Professor of Neuroscience at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Dr. Bear’s team researches the question of how experience and deprivation modify synaptic connections in the brain. The lab’s current focus is on leveraging knowledge of the elementary mechanisms of synaptic plasticity to overcome genetic and environmental adversity. A major focus of ongoing studies is to understand the factors that limit of adult recovery of function following early environmental deprivation or injury, and to test specific hypotheses for how the prognosis can be improved.