Miller Lab at MIT

We Finally Know How General Anesthesia Knocks You Out

We Finally Know How General Anesthesia Knocks You Out Doctors have never understood why certain drugs put us under. New research offers a glimpse at what's actually going on in the brain.

General Anesthesia Disrupts Intracortical Communication, Not Sensory Processing
https://www.anesthesiologynews.com/Medical-Monitor/Article/04-24/General-Anesthesia-Disrupts-Intracortical-Communication-Not-Sensory-Processing/73285

General Anesthesia Disrupts Intracortical Communication, Not Sensory Processing An innovative study in nonhuman primates adds to body of evidence about how general anesthesia works—and maybe consciousness itself.

Anesthetic causes unconsciousness by creating brain chaos

Anesthetic causes unconsciousness by creating brain chaos Researchers have figured out how a commonly used general anesthetic drug induces unconsciousness by causing brain activity to become increasingly unstable. The findings could lead to better anesthetic control in the operating room and treatments for conditions like depression and schizophrenia.

Common Sedative Could Break Consciousness by Tipping Your Brain Into Chaos

Common Sedative Could Break Consciousness by Tipping Your Brain Into Chaos A loss of controlled inhibition of overly excited brain cells might explain how a common knock-out anesthesia drug works.

New paper! Propofol anesthesia causes unconsciousness by making your brain more chaotic. It does this *increasing* inhibition.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.011

Check out the new Miller Lab webpage:
ekmillerlab.mit.edu

Consciousness
Emerging evidence shows how brain waves help to knit our internal thoughts and external awareness together into an organized, unified whole

Consciousness Emerging evidence shows how brain waves help to knit our internal thoughts and external awareness together into an organized, unified whole

Cognition Emerges From Neural Dynamics - Earl K. Miller
MGH Martinos Center Brainmap Seminar, 5-29-24
https://youtu.be/KEmypbE5P-o

Brainmap: Cognition Emerges from Neural Dynamics Prof. Earl Miller, PhD - MIT Cognition Emerges from Neural DynamicsBrainMap, May 29th 2024For more information about the BrainMap Seminar Series and series o...

Beta Rhythms May Be Master Regulators of Cognitive Control

Beta Rhythms May Be Master Regulators of Cognitive Control - Neuroscience News A new study highlights the critical role of beta rhythms (14-30 Hz) in orchestrating cognitive processes.

Scientists Discover Extensive Brain-Wave Patterns
Certain brain layers specialize in particular waves—which might aid understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders

Scientists Discover Extensive Brain-Wave Patterns Certain brain layers specialize in particular waves—which might aid understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders

New review!
Cognition is an emergent property
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101388
Electrical fields in the brain can serve as a medium for propagating activity nearly instantaneously. They can organize computations through subspace coding.

Redirecting

Video: Cognition Emerges From Neural Dynamics
Earl K. Miller - Wave Club April 2, 2024

Dr. Earl K. Miller (April 2, 2024) Presenter:Earl K. MillerThe Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.Massachusetts Institute of Technologyhtt...

New results!

Despite their varied molecular actions, anesthetics alter brain wave alignment in the same way.

Convergent effects of different anesthetics are due to changes in phase alignment of cortical oscillations
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.20.585943v1

New results!
Stability from subspace rotations and traveling waves
https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.19.581020

Cortical activity spirals like eddies. This may stabilize the brain and keep neural computation on track.

Stability from subspace rotations and traveling waves Cortical activity shows stability, including the ability to recover from disruptions. We analyzed spiking from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of monkeys performing working memory tasks with mid-memory-delay distractions. Perturbation of cortex by events (distraction by a gaze shift or visual distractor...

Earl Miller is quoted in the Washington Post:
“Most of us have memory slips all the time,” said Earl K. Miller, professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mental lapses by Biden and Trump spark questions about memory and aging Memory lapses at any age are surprisingly normal and for most people, aren’t a signal of mental decline.

New paper! A universal pattern of brain wave frequencies. They are slower in deep cortical layers and faster in superficial layers. When something is this ubiquitous, you know it is doing something important.

Study reveals a universal pattern of brain wave frequencies Across mammalian species, brain waves are slower in deep cortical layers, while superficial layers generate faster rhythms.