Earl K. Miller (@MillerLabMIT) header
Earl K. Miller (@MillerLabMIT) profile picture

Earl K. Miller

@MillerLabMIT

Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT https://teapawt.org/t.co/UoEeD2FzEY Co-founder, Neuroblox https://teapawt.org/t.co/o6wosMSGen

 Cambridge, MA
ekmillerlab.mit.edu/
Joined May 2011
  • Tweets11.2K
  • Following1.8K
  • Followers47.4K
Brain-like robustness likely comes from feedback and randomness working together Robust inference via top-down feedback and neural variability in recurrent vision models cell.com/patterns/fulltext/S… #neuroscience
Robust inference via top-down feedback and neural variability in recurrent vision models

Robust inference via top-down feedback and neural variability in recurrent vision models

Greco et al. show that top-down feedback improves the sensory robustness of recurrent vision models when combined with neural variability via dropout. Neural variability prevents unit-level co-adap...

cell.com
4
21
1
117
4,694
What can machine learning discover about the nature of emotion? cell.com/trends/cognitive-sc… #neuroscience
What can machine learning discover about the nature of emotion?

What can machine learning discover about the nature of emotion?

The science of emotion increasingly relies on machine learning (ML) in the hope of making objective discoveries that resolve century-long debates. We examine research strategies in two main research...

cell.com
4
16
2
74
4,136
Interesting. This paper proposes that advanced civilizations are rare because two steps, creating a genetic code and creating language, are difficult. So only a tiny fraction of life becomes advanced enough to travel into space doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2026…
9
11
2
88
4,138
Theta rhythms helps consolidate memories. Theta-frequency sensory entrainment promotes episodic memory consolidation sciencedirect.com/science/ar… #neuroscience
3
18
1
82
4,054
We are finding that theta acts as a master clock that helps coordinate higher-frequency rhythms. Broschard et al (2026) Theta-based organization of information in the frontal cortex. Cell Reports, in press. Preprint: doi.org/10.64898/2026.06.03.…
Theta gates and routes information in the frontal cortex

Theta gates and routes information in the frontal cortex

Theta (4–10 Hz) oscillations seem well-suited for coordinating neural activity. Many studies have focused on theta’s role in long-range coordination across brain regions (e.g., connectivity between...

biorxiv.org
1
8
17
1,096
Circuit mechanisms for disentangled representations and generalization in the hippocampus nature.com/articles/s41593-0… #neuroscience
Circuit mechanisms for disentangled representations and generalization in the hippocampus

Circuit mechanisms for disentangled representations and generalization in the hippocampus

Nature Neuroscience - The hippocampus encodes different aspects of experience as disentangled variables, enabling flexible recombination and generalization to new situations. This code is supported...

nature.com
2
24
1
147
5,877
Earl K. Miller retweeted
PNASNews (@PNASNews) profile picture
PNASNews@PNASNewsOct 29
Honoring Susumu Tonegawa, a pioneering molecular biologist whose discoveries transformed immunology and neuroscience. A 1987 Nobel laureate, he advanced our understanding of antibody diversity, learning, and memory. Read the PNAS Retrospective: ow.ly/zORA5102cfh
Honoring the life of Susumu Tonegawa

ALT Honoring the life of Susumu Tonegawa

9
41
6,210
It’s not which neurons fire. It’s the geometry of their activity patterns. The piriform cortex doesn’t just store odor “labels.” It continually reshapes that geometry to encode odors. Representational manifolds in olfactory cortex doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2026.… #neuroscience
12
36
1
180
7,940
A recent example of this subspace geometry: Li, H., Chrysanthidis, N., Brincat, S.L., Rose, J. and Miller, E.K. (2026) Neural subspace reorganization reflects value-based decision making. iScience, doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.…
3
8
963
🪱🪼🪰There's still limited time to register for our daylong symposium "Comparative Neuroscience: Lessons from Biodiversity" Nov. 4. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F… @MITBiology @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT @MITevents
Image from MIT Picower Institute (@MIT_Picower)
7
18
1,283
The brain appears to keep ordered lists in separate, low-dimensional position-based “slots” in its activity patterns, not by replaying them one at a time. Neural subspaces encode sequential working memory without detectable neural sequences nature.com/articles/s41467-0… #neuroscience

Neural subspaces encode sequential working memory without detectable neural sequences

Nature Communications - This study finds that the brain maintains sequences in working memory by organizing items according to their position in a low-dimensional neural subspaces, rather than by...

nature.com
10
35
4
197
7,344
Nice review and discussion Visual attention: Defining the origin of the current terms of engagement link.springer.com/article/10… #neuroscience
Visual attention: Defining the origin of the current terms of engagement

Visual attention: Defining the origin of the current terms of engagement

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Our environment bombards the mind with far more visual information than can be processed. Because of this overload of information, our minds focus on...

link.springer.com
10
1
29
2,517
Earl K. Miller retweeted
Simons Foundation (@SimonsFdn) profile picture
Simons Foundation
@SimonsFdnOct 26
We're remembering the transformative leadership of renowned neuroscientist Gerry Fischbach, who died Sunday at 87. Fischbach founded the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) in 2006, inspired the launch of our neuroscience collaborations, and provided invaluable guidance as a member of our board. We will miss him dearly. bit.ly/4stovHV
Remembering Gerry Fischbach: A Pioneer in Neuroscience and Autism Research

Remembering Gerry Fischbach: A Pioneer in Neuroscience and Autism Research

The Simons Foundation mourns the death of Gerald D. Fischbach, who died Sunday at 87. Fischbach, who went by Gerry, was a renowned neuroscientist whose transformative leadership at the Simons…

simonsfoundation.org
1
3
23
2,166
Join us Nov. 4 for "Comparative Neuroscience: Lessons from Biodiversity," our Fall symposium! What can we learn from the differences and similarities across the diversity of nervous systems that have evolved? picower.mit.edu/events/picow… @MITBiology #neuroscience
Image from MIT Picower Institute (@MIT_Picower)
6
16
1,359
Spatial working memory enhances gamma oscillations in rodent olfactory bulb and medial prefrontal cortex biorxiv.org/content/10.64898… #neuroscience
Spatial working memory enhances gamma oscillations in rodent olfactory bulb and medial prefrontal...

Spatial working memory enhances gamma oscillations in rodent olfactory bulb and medial prefrontal...

Spatial working memory (SWM), a specialized form of working memory that temporarily encodes and retains spatial information, is fundamental to guide animal behaviors, yet our current knowledge of its...

biorxiv.org
2
15
58
2,859
Hey, that's me. L-i-v-i-n Lives in the Labs: Beyond the Bench. Earl Miller instagram.com/p/DezF_YOAFcv/ @MIT_Picower
MIT Picower Institute (@mit_picower) • Instagram photo

MIT Picower Institute (@mit_picower) • Instagram photo

instagram.com
5
16
1,708
Brain waves may play a role in distortions of our perception of the passage of time. The sleep-wake circuit plays a role in temporal distortions sciencedirect.com/science/ar… #neuroscience
6
26
104
4,025
Mentees, colleagues, friends shared remembrances of Susumu Tonegawa at an Oct. 16 memorial service. picower.mit.edu/news/mentees… @MITBiology @mitbrainandcog @ScienceMIT
Image from MIT Picower Institute (@MIT_Picower)
Image from MIT Picower Institute (@MIT_Picower)
Image from MIT Picower Institute (@MIT_Picower)
Image from MIT Picower Institute (@MIT_Picower)
9
23
2,831
Earl K. Miller retweeted
General Bonkers (@GenBonks) profile picture
General Bonkers@GenBonksOct 25
Perceptual Echo is dub-leaning, post-punk-tinged neo-psychedelic electronica from General Bonkers. It pairs deep, echoing low end with hypnotic, syncopated rhythms. Each part echoes another, like the electrical waves of perceptual echoes observed in the brain after sensory input
1
1
6
731
The brain uses dimensionality reduction as a built-in feature of its wiring. Network geometry shapes the transformation of task representations across the human cortex nature.com/articles/s41593-0… #neuroscience
Network geometry shapes the transformation of task representations across the human cortex

Network geometry shapes the transformation of task representations across the human cortex

Nature Neuroscience - The dimensionality of intrinsic brain connectivity systematically shapes how task representations compress and expand across the cortex, and activity flow modeling shows the...

nature.com
11
67
4
305
12,048
We agree. Barrett, L.F and Miller, E.K. (2026) Categorization is baked into the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, doi.org/10.1038/s41583-026-0…
Categorization is ‘baked’ into the brain

Categorization is ‘baked’ into the brain

Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Categorization, the grouping of objects, living organisms, actions or events into equivalence clusters, is fundamental to adaptive behaviour. In this Perspective,...

nature.com
3
1
11
1,380
Load more