Earl Miller's dissertation on neurophysiological investigations of the inferior temporal cortex in the macaque was supervised by Charles G. Gross at Princeton University.

[2] From 1990–1995 he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of neuropsychology at the National Institute of Mental Health under supervision of Robert Desimone.

[citation needed] In 1995, Earl Miller joined the faculty of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT as Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and quickly advanced the academic ranks.

His lab has had made discoveries about the neural circuits, networks, and mechanisms by which the brain’s prefrontal cortex wields executive control.

This work has established a foundation upon which to construct more detailed, mechanistic accounts of cognition and its dysfunction in diseases such as autism, schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder.

Examples of discoveries from Earl Miller's laboratory include the neural basis of abstract rules like "same vs. different",[3] categories,[11] quantity,[12] and the allocation of attentional resources.

[21] They have shown that lower-frequency (alpha/beta) brain waves act as a top-down control signal that regulates sensory processing in cortex.

[30] Earl K. Miler was named in the top 2% of scientists worldwide [31] He has been cited in over 50,000 publications [1] Doctor of Science (honoris causa), Kent State University (2020).

It can be used to customize displays, develop individualized training, and organize teams to maximize information throughput and improve situational awareness and performance.

[47] Earl Miller has funded a charitable trust to create scholarships for disadvantaged students at his alma mater Kent State University[48].