
About
Earl K. Miller is the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, with appointments in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He earned his B.A. from Kent State University and M.A./Ph.D. from Princeton University, receiving an honorary Doctor of Science from Kent State in 2020.
Miller studies neural mechanisms of cognition, focusing on working memory, attention, and executive control. His key contributions include theories on prefrontal cortex function in rule learning and goal maintenance, pioneering work on ‘mixed selectivity’ neurons, and research on neural dynamics and brain wave frequencies in cognition. His work integrates experimental and computational approaches to advance understanding of cognition and disorders like autism and schizophrenia.
A highly cited neuroscientist, Miller has received numerous accolades and serves on advisory and editorial boards. His 2001 paper with Jonathan Cohen is among the most cited in neuroscience. He also funds the Earl K. Miller First Generation Scholarship at Kent State to support disadvantaged first-generation college students.
Research
Neural Basis of Memory and Cognition
Research interests in the Miller laboratory center around the neural mechanisms of attention, learning, and memory needed for voluntary, goal-directed behavior. Much effort is directed at the prefrontal cortex, a cortical region at the anterior end of the brain that is greatly enlarged in primates, especially humans. The prefrontal cortex has long been known to play a central role in cognition. Its damage or dysfunction disrupts the ability to ignore distractions, hold important information "in mind", plan behavior, and control impulses. The lab explores prefrontal function by employing a variety of techniques including multiple-electrode neurophysiology, psychophysics, pharmacological manipulations, and computational techniques.
Recent work in the lab has shown that neurons in the prefrontal cortex have complex properties that are ideal for a role in cognitive control. Their activity is highly dependent on, and shaped by, task demands. They are selectively activated by relevant sensory inputs, involved in recalling stored memories, and they integrate the diverse information needed for a common behavioral goal. Perhaps most importantly, they transmit acquired knowledge. Their activity reflects learned associations between diverse stimuli, actions, and their consequences. They can even convey abstract behavioral information such as "rules." This representation of the formal demands of tasks within the prefrontal cortex may provide the necessary foundation for the complex forms of behavior observed in primates, in whom this structure is most elaborate.
Teaching
9.10 Cognitive Neuroscience
9.011 Systems Neuroscience
Publications
Eisen, A.J., Kozachkov, L., Bastos, A.M., Donoghue, J.A., Mahnke, M.K., Brincat, S.L., Chandra, S., Brown, E.N., Fiete, I. and Miller, E.K. (2024) Propofol anesthesia destabilizes neural dynamics across cortex, Neuron, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.011
Bastos, A.M., Lundqvist, M., Waite, A.S., Kopell, N. and Miller, E.K. (2020) Layer and rhythm specificity for predictive routing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Published November 23, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014868117
Miller, E.K., Lundqvist, L., and Bastos, A.M. (2018) Working Memory 2.0 Neuron, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.09.023
A full list of publications can be found on the Miller Lab website.
Awards + Honors
Awards and Honors:
2020 Doctor of Science (honoris causa), Kent State University
2019 George A. Miller Prize in Cognitive Neuroscience
2017 Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2016 Goldman-Rakic Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Cognitive Neuroscience
2005 Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2003 Picower Professorship (endowed chair)
2000 Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award
2000 National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award