Michael Halassa

  In recent years, the conversation around psychiatry and neuroscience has shifted from simple chemical models to circuit-level thinking, and few voices have articulated this transition as clearly as Dr. Michael Halassa. A neuroscientist and psychiatrist at Tufts University, Dr. Halassa has launched a Substack platform where he translates decades of cutting-edge brain research into accessible, conceptually rich essays for clinicians, scientists, and anyone interested in the evolving science of mental health. His Substack series doesn’t just summarize studies—it reframes how we think about psychiatric illness, especially disorders like schizophrenia. Rather than viewing symptoms in isolation, Halassa emphasizes cognitive control—the brain’s ability to switch tasks, update beliefs, and filter relevant information—as a core functional framework for understanding the roots of mental dysfunction. One foundational idea explored in the series is the concept of distributed systems in the...

  In the evolving field of neuroscience and psychiatry, the quest for more effective, individualized treatments remains urgent. Traditional psychiatric approaches—whether pharmacological, cognitive, or neuromodulatory—have yielded only modest success in many conditions, notably schizophrenia. Despite billions invested globally, functional recovery rates remain below 15% for patients with schizophrenia, and nearly one-third are treatment-resistant. Recognizing these limitations, Dr. Michael Halassa, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at Tufts University, proposes a bold new framework: algorithmic psychiatry. Published in Cell Reports Medicine , Dr. Halassa’s work advocates for integrating computational models that span multiple biological and cognitive levels, creating a “flight simulator” for mental health treatment. This conceptual framework aims to predict how interventions at molecular, circuit, and cognitive levels interact dynamically across the brain’s networks, guidin...

  Cognitive flexibility—the capacity to adapt behaviors and thoughts in response to changing environments—is a cornerstone of human intelligence. Disruptions in this ability are characteristic of various neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. Within the Halassa Lab at Tufts University, Dr. Ralf D. Wimmer, under the mentorship of Dr. Michael M. Halassa, is pioneering research to unravel the neural mechanisms that underpin cognitive flexibility, focusing particularly on the role of thalamic circuits. ​ The Mediodorsal Thalamus and Prefrontal Cortex: A Dynamic Duo Central to Dr. Wimmer's research is the interaction between the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The MD is a thalamic nucleus that has extensive connections with the PFC, a brain region implicated in executive functions and decision-making. Together, these structures form a thalamocortical loop that is essential for flexible cognition. ​ In a seminal...

  Neuroscientist | Psychiatrist | Cognitive Researcher Dr. Michael Halassa is a distinguished neuroscientist and psychiatrist based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States , specializing in cognitive flexibility and schizophrenia research. He is a Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at Tufts University , where he leads groundbreaking research on the neural mechanisms of cognitive control. Dr. Halassa earned his MD from the University of Jordan and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania before completing postdoctoral training at MIT and a psychiatry residency at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on how the brain generates thoughts and action plans using internal models, with a particular emphasis on the thalamus in task-relevant cortical dynamics . Previously, he held faculty positions at MIT and NYU . Recognized for his contributions, he has received prestigious awards such as the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, the Sloan Re...