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Profile: Earl K. Miller, Ph.D.
Earl Miller is
the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and Associate Director of MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and
Memory. He received his B.A. in Psychology from
Professor
Miller uses experimental and theoretical approaches to study the neural basis
of the high-level cognitive functions that underlie complex goal-directed
behavior. The focus is on the frontal lobe, the region of the brain most
elaborated in humans and linked to neuropsychiatric disorders. His laboratory has provided insights into how
categories, concepts, and rules are learned, how attention is focused, and how
the brain coordinates thought and action.
They have innovated techniques for studying the activity of many neurons
in multiple brain areas simultaneously, which has provided insight into how
different brain structures interact and collaborate. This work has established a foundation upon
which to construct more detailed, mechanistic accounts of how executive control
is implemented in the brain and its dysfunction in diseases such as autism,
schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder.
Professor
Miller is the recipient of a variety of awards for his scientific work,
including the Mathilde Solowey Award in the Neurosciences (2007), election to
the International Neuropsychological Symposium (2006), Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (2005), the Picower Chair at MIT
(2003), the National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award (2000), the
Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award (2000), the Pew Scholar Award
(1996), the John Merck Scholar Award (1996), and the McKnight Scholar Award
(1996). He has delivered numerous
lectures worldwide, serves as editor, and on the editorial boards of, major
journals in neuroscience, and on international advisory boards. His paper, “An Integrative Theory of
Prefrontal Cortex Function”, has been designated a Current Classic as among the most cited papers in Neuroscience and
Behavior.