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Earl K. Miller

@earlkmiller.bsky.social

Picower Professor of Neuroscience @ MIT Cognitive neuroscience, executive brain functions, consciousness, and bass guitar. You know, the good stuff. ekmillerlab.mit.edu Co-founder, Neuroblox https://www.neuroblox.ai/

10,701 Followers  |  1,807 Following  |  1,864 Posts  |  Joined: 18.08.2023
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Posts by Earl K. Miller (@earlkmiller.bsky.social)

More people should have your attitude.

03.03.2026 20:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Cognitive control networks in human and macaque
doi.org/10.64898/202...
#neuroscience

03.03.2026 19:46 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Principles for proper peer review

Or worse: Here's what I would do if I had this data. I refer to points #4 and #5 in Principles for Proper Peer Review:
4. Don’t write the paper for the authors
5. Respect the authors’ time and effort
jocnf.pubpub.org/pub/qag76ip8...

03.03.2026 12:48 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Principles for proper peer review

I give you Principles for Proper Peer Review
jocnf.pubpub.org/pub/qag76ip8...

02.03.2026 17:59 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Peer review would be easier if we stopped treating it like combat with the authors. Results want to be free, and perfect is the enemy of good. Do the data support the conclusions? If so, that’s enough. A paper isn’t a blank slate for projecting your own ideas.

02.03.2026 17:56 β€” πŸ‘ 101    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1
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Lack of reviewers threatens robustness of neuroscience literature Simple math suggests that small groups of scientists can significantly bias peer review.

Broad peer review is crucial for a healthy scientific literature, but neuroscientists turn down review requests too often. Simple math suggests that small groups of scientists can significantly bias the literature, writes @jvoigts.bsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/publishing/l...

02.03.2026 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 54    πŸ” 23    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 6

Looks like more than theta-gamma

02.03.2026 17:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Striatum-wide dopamine encodes trajectory errors separated from value - Nature Cue-evoked striatal dopamine release in mice encodes bidirectional trajectory errors, spatially and temporally separated from value coding, reflecting the relationship between the speed and direc...

Striatum-wide dopamine encodes trajectory errors separated from value
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience

02.03.2026 12:46 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Winning the popularity contest: the 10 most-read physics stories of 2025 – Physics World Here's a second chance to catch up with the most popular stories Physics World published in 2025

Work by Ghose and @pinotsislab.bsky.social on quantum effects in the brain is of the most-read physics stories of 2025!
physicsworld.com/a/winning-th...
#neuroscience

02.03.2026 12:33 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Photomosaic of Charles G. Gross composed of pictures of his students, colleagues, and friends.

01.03.2026 13:05 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Redirecting

If this were a leap year, today would be Charles G. Gross’s birthday, one of the giants of neuroscience. Miss you, Charlie. Read more about Charlie here:
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroscience

01.03.2026 13:00 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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Propofol-mediated loss of consciousness disrupts predictive routing and local field phase modulation of neural activity | PNAS Predictive coding is a fundamental function of the cortex. The predictive routing model proposes a neurophysiological implementation for predictive...

Here are a couple of papers supporting the hypothesis that a *disconnection* between frontal and posterior cortex is associated with anesthesia-induced unconsciousness, not frontal cortex per se.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org/10.1162/jocn...

28.02.2026 15:37 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

There’s good evidence that a prefrontal model interacting with posterior cortex is important for consciousness, but if you’re looking for consciousness in a single brain region, you’re asking the wrong question.

28.02.2026 15:21 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Never really thought that. The hunt for a single locus of consciousness is the wrong question.

28.02.2026 15:18 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I've been studying the PFC for over 30 years. I never thought it was the location of consciousness. It is however important for control of thought and action, which is what consciousness is all about

28.02.2026 15:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It's a form that I didn't recognize. A bit of a strawman, if you ask me.

28.02.2026 15:12 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Frontiers | Cross-population amplitude coupling in high-dimensional oscillatory neural time series Neural oscillations have long been considered important markers of interaction across brain regions, yet identifying coordinated oscillatory activity from hi...

The brain oscillates and we should figure out why. Development of new analytics will be key:
Cross-population amplitude coupling in high-dimensional oscillatory neural time series
www.frontiersin.org/journals/com...
#neuroscience

28.02.2026 13:09 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

They argue against the idea that *only* the higher-order model is important for consciousness. Did anyone argue for that?

28.02.2026 13:02 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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Neuroscience undermines the higher-order theorists’ preferred solution to the targetless HOT problem The Higher-Order Theory (HOT) of consciousness holds that mental states become conscious when they are represented by another mental state. Most HOT theorists maintain that it is the higher-order, ...

This paper argues against higher-order theory (HOT) of consciousness. But its conclusion matches my understanding of HOT: conscious experience requires both a higher-order model and its linkage to posterior cortex.
doi.org/10.1080/0951...
#neuroscience

28.02.2026 13:00 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

I hear you. Thanks.

26.02.2026 16:31 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Great advice. Thanks!

26.02.2026 12:54 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Brain network modeling with The Virtual Brain derives pharmacodynamics of ketamine https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.24.707663v1

25.02.2026 18:15 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I include myself

25.02.2026 19:46 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Spoiler alert: Yes

25.02.2026 17:42 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Is The Brain an Analog Computer? Consciousness as Dynamic Brainwave Organization | Earl Miller
YouTube video by Mind-Body Solution Is The Brain an Analog Computer? Consciousness as Dynamic Brainwave Organization | Earl Miller

Is The Brain an Analog Computer? Consciousness as Dynamic Brainwave Organization | Earl Miller Mind-Body Solution podcast.
youtu.be/vZ1B-MvGMgw?...
#neuroscience

25.02.2026 17:41 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

Good boy! Well-trained. Is it free will? That's a kettle of fish.

25.02.2026 17:40 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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This is a public service announcement: Clear your sidewalks after it snows. I just had surgery to repair a hand injury from a fall on the ice last March.

25.02.2026 13:49 β€” πŸ‘ 34    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1
Brain-Inspired Energy Efficient Technologies for Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence | NSF Public Access Repository This page contains metadata information for the record with PAR ID 10666151

If you listen to the brain, it can tell you how to do energy-efficient computing.
Brain-Inspired Energy Efficient Technologies for Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence
par.nsf.gov/biblio/10666...
#neuroscience

23.02.2026 12:44 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Here's how alpha/beta rhythms provide top-down control of working memory:
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

23.02.2026 12:41 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Alpha and Beta Corticomotor Phase Dynamics Shape Visuomotor Control on a Single-Trial Basis A central question in sensorimotor neuroscience is how sensory inputs are mapped onto motor outputs to enable swift and accurate responses, even in the face of unexpected environmental changes. Here, ...

Alpha/beta rhythms and motor control. They also play roles in top-down control more generally.
Alpha and Beta Corticomotor Phase Dynamics Shape Visuomotor Control on a Single-Trial Basis
www.jneurosci.org/content/46/7...
#neuroscience

23.02.2026 12:39 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0