Description

Earl K. Miller is the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has faculty positions in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He holds degrees from Kent State University (B.A.) and Princeton University (M.A., Ph.D.) as well as an honorary Doctor of Science from Kent State University. Professor Miller has received numerous accolades and serves on advisory boards as well as editorial boards for major neuroscience journals. His 2001 paper with Jonathan Cohen describing a theory of executive control is one of the most cited in the history of neuroscience. Professor Miller has funded the Earl K. Miller First Generation Scholarship at Kent State University to support disadvantaged first-generation college students. Some key contributions include a theory of executive "top-down" control based on prefrontal cortex rule learning and goal maintenance, the discovery of multifunctional “mixed selectivity” neurons, and studies linking brainwave dynamics to cognition and consciousness. The work combines experimental and computational approaches to advance understanding of both healthy cognition and disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Abstract:

Classic models likened brain function to networks of neurons, analogous to telegraph systems. Emerging evidence, however, suggests that higher cognition relies not only on synaptic connections but also on rhythmic oscillations. These “brain waves” are electric field dynamics that travel across the cortex and shape neuronal spiking. This view expands the brain’s functional repertoire: the “telegraph wires” of synaptic circuits also generate “radio waves” (electric fields) that rapidly distribute influence across large distances. Such fields may support large-scale coordination underlying executive control and consciousness.  They may even enable energy-efficient analog computation, which may explain why our brains run on the power of a dim lightbulb (20W).