New papers on Cognition & behavior
61 new papers on cognition & behavior in the last 7 days, within Brain & mind. These are the 50 Pipette rates most worth reading, with the main result in the authors' own words.
The best of the week
Striatal habit system drives behavioral rigidity in PTSD
Together, these results provide the first empirical evidence for the role of habits in PTSD.
PreprintClaims a big stepNeural evidence that dogs segment the speech they hear with a humanlike consonant bias
This suggests that dogs, similar to humans, exhibit consonant bias when segmenting the speech they hear.
Peer-reviewed journalBroad interestPayoff selectivity drives collective intelligence during dynamic resource tracking in humans
Contrasting earlier work, participants in groups outperform solitary individuals, but only when payoff information was available.
Peer-reviewed journalEye movements reflect attentional navigation of number space without visual experience
Using electrooculography (EOG), we found that eye movements track the exploration of the mental number line in both sighted and blind: participants moved their eyes to the right for positive changes in magnitude in the number sequence and to the left for negative changes, with eye movement amplitude scaling with the magnitude difference.
PreprintFunctional reorganization of large-scale brain systems underlies emotion regulation maturation
Using a large multisite cohort, we demonstrate that maturation of reappraisal capacity reflects reorganization of a distributed architecture rather than progressive strengthening of prefrontal control.
PreprintStandardized human tests show that most vision models are face-blind
We found that the majority 55% of models to be classified as face-blind and that even the best face-trained models do not cross the human threshold to be considered a super-recognizer.
PreprintAssociations of menopause hormone therapy with late-life cognition and brain health vary by formulation and APOEε4 presence
Results suggest formulation- and domain-specific association between MHT and cognition, with evidence of estradiol-based MHT providing more benefits for APOE{varepsilon}4 carriers relative to conjugated equine estrogens use.
PreprintReal-world useAssociations of menopause hormone therapy with late-life cognition and brain health vary by formulation and APOEε4 presence
Results suggest formulation- and domain-specific association between MHT and cognition, with evidence of estradiol-based MHT providing more benefits for APOE{varepsilon}4 carriers relative to conjugated equine estrogens use.
PreprintReal-world useEntrainment of prefrontal theta synchrony increases interbrain coupling and enhances social interaction in mouse models of autism
Optogenetic entrainment of theta synchrony was accompanied by increased interbrain coupling and social interaction in male Shank2-/- and Tbr1+/K228E mutant mice, two well-established genetic models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Peer-reviewed journalUnsupervised alignment reveals shared but locally refined colour qualia structure from toddlerhood to adulthood
These findings suggest that the global relational geometry of colour experience is largely established by toddlerhood, with limited local differences linked to colour-language acquisition.
PreprintConfidence Read from Others Movements Guides Collective Decisions
Here, we show that humans spontaneously read out confidence from others movements and use this information to guide collective decisions.
PreprintEasy to readWhen tigers are not animals: The neural disappearance of animacy as a function of linguistic structure
Regardless of how animacy was operationalized (as discrete semantic categories or more abstractly), the same pattern emerged: When word-level animacy conflicted with the structural context, it disappeared from the word's neural representation.
PreprintDevelopmental Dynamics of Naturalistic Social Behavior Revealed by Longitudinal Multi-Animal Tracking
Together, the MovAl-DAE framework enables longitudinal quantification of naturalistic social behavior, defining its developmental organization and revealing alterations associated with neurodevelopmental perturbation.
PreprintAbstract representation in the hippocampus predicts spontaneously adopted structure-based behavioral strategy
Together, our findings suggest that the hippocampus spontaneously extracts abstract task structure through learning and that the geometry of hippocampal representations predicts problem-solving strategies.
PreprintNovelty-seeking and directed exploration scale with dissociable social network outcomes and brain systems in older adults
Our findings suggest that, in later life, dissociable social decision-making strategies, when faced with unknown options, rely on distinct neural systems supporting social network size as well as subjective feelings of social connectedness.
PreprintParents' neural dynamics in response to their children's speech
Using dual-brain functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure real-time communication between caregivers and their 2- to 3-year-old children (n = 56), we found that children's vocalizations selectively modulated caregivers' brain activity.
PreprintNo tiger in plastic tiger: Local linguistic context alters the neural representations of individual words
These findings challenge theories assuming a shift from a basic sense of a word to a more derived one, highlighting instead the role of compositional context in shaping word meanings.
PreprintPopulation geometries in frontal cortex coordinate value-based decisions
Frontal cortex therefore solves multi-attribute decisions through a generator-modulator architecture: dorsal frontal circuits maintain a shared choice axis guiding decisions across contexts, whereas vPFC maintains competing attributes in distinct subspaces that modulate decisions when options conflict.
PreprintActive Escape or Active Change? Decomposing Pavlovian Bias into Non-emotional Components
Furthermore, computational modeling indicated that the bias patterns isolated by the orthogonal paradigm are primarily explained by the combined effects of aimed transition and cue salience, without requiring emotional-valence modulation.
PreprintHunger and sleep recruit distinct brain systems to form spatial memory
By demonstrating that hunger consolidates spatial memory via a non-hippocampal mechanism that critically involves the retrosplenial cortex, we identify a mode of memory formation that is distinct from well-known hippocampus-dependent memory formation during sleep.
PreprintDynamic attribute activation explains gaze biases in choice
Using an experimental paradigm that combines eye-tracking and a think-aloud protocol, we provide evidence that visual attention shapes preference by activating attributes associated with the attended option.
Peer-reviewed journalPixelPaws: a low-cost, open-source integrated platform for automated scoring of mouse behaviors
Here we describe PixelPaws, an open-source platform combining a near-infrared imaging enclosure built from consumer parts for under $300, multi-camera acquisition software, a bundled pose-estimation network, and eight classifiers in a graphical user interface.
PreprintDistinct Roles of Working Memory and Inhibitory Control in Speech-in-Noise Perception
Regression analyses revealed that both working memory and inhibitory control predicted performance on the informational masking task, whereas only inhibitory control predicted performance on the energetic masking task.
PreprintReal-world useSustained multidimensionality of object representations as a scaffold for diverse behaviours
Information relevant to 11 of 12 tasks was accessible in the neural signal, emerging early and overlapping in time.
PreprintFrom Biological Precursors to Artificial Cognition: Consciousness, Embodiment, and the MEM Architecture
MEM adds receptor-grounded representations, regulatory self-monitoring and interoception, affect, semblion-based associative memory, and re-entry into lower sensory and interoceptive maps.
PreprintA push–pull gut–brain signal regulates flexible learning in Caenorhabditis elegans
Together, our findings reveal a push-pull signaling mechanism within the gut-brain axis that translates internal state into flexible behavioral adaptation.
Peer-reviewed journalIndividual versus fixed parametrization of an electrocutaneous warning signal during manual work tasks
An individual parametrization is therefore not required for the majority of users when a binary warning is to be conveyed, and operating the system slightly above the warning threshold provides a usable amplitude range while minimizing muscle twitches.
PreprintReal-world useApparent food selectivity reflects multiple non-food image properties
Together, our results prompt a revision of prior claims including our own, indicating that the previously reported food component is better characterized as food-biased rather than strictly food-selective, and is driven in part by contextual or material features that are also present in non-food images.
PreprintA Multidomain Characterization of Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness Reveals Visual Dependence as Its Main Behavioral Feature
Patients show visual dependence for gait and postural control, likely a maladaptive compensatory mechanism.
PreprintReal-world useNavigational strategy dictates hippocampal representation of space in an everyday memory task
Overall, our findings reveal a functional link between non-local hippocampal representations and allocentric navigation.
Peer-reviewed journalAdaptation and Validation of Brief Tablet-Based Cognitive Assessment Tool in Uganda
DiscussionTabCAT tests demonstrated face, content, construct, concurrent, and criterion validity for measuring cognition and detecting objective cognitive impairment among older adults in Uganda, including PLWH.
PreprintReal-world useMice detect and discriminate temporal patterns of mesoscale optogenetic cortical stimulation
Together, these findings show that mesoscale cortical optogenetic stimulation generates a graded, learnable artificial percept whose behavioral readout depends on photostimulation rate and optical power.
PreprintInfants at high and low likelihood for autism show different EEG developmental trajectories in speech tracking and statistical learning
Our findings revealed reduced tracking abilities at the syllabic level in HL infants, a measure that correlated with verbal outcomes.
Peer-reviewed journalCA1 reinstatement and novelty response independently support recognition memory
Our work thus highlights that computations of consistency as well as differentiation can be orthogonal signals contributing independently to memory success and can simultaneously co-exist within the same region of the hippocampus.
PreprintPriors for perceived speed combine supramodally for visual-tactile motion but not for audio-visual motion.
These results show that in the motion domain, visual and tactile signals can combine crossmodally, but auditory and visual signals do not.
PreprintDistinct experience-dependent reorganization of rhythmic syllable tracking in 6-month-old term and preterm infants
Preterm birth thus alters how frequency-specific tuning is refined during exposure, identifying a candidate neural pathway with implications for early language learning.
PreprintNeural Dynamics of Self-Control: Pre-Choice EEG Signals Predict Yielding to Temptation
Together, these findings suggest that proactive neural states during deliberation, established before the choice, shape self-control success and failure.
PreprintBold claims, read criticallyNeural Representations of Embodied Musical Emotions
Our results indicate neural correspondence to bodily sensations in somatomotor and somatosensory brain regions, providing novel evidence for the neural basis of embodied music-induced emotions.
PreprintAnticipated distractor processing relies on distinct representational states before and after distractor onset in visual working memory
Together, these findings suggest a temporally coordinated control mechanism in which anticipatory coding may specify the upcoming irrelevant content, whereas post-onset reformatting may implement control by placing that content into a less stable representational state to reduce behavioral interference.
PreprintEnvironmental Demands Outweigh Age Effects in Cortical Dynamics During Walking
In conclusion, environmental features such as low lighting and obstacle presence exert a stronger influence on cortical dynamics during walking than age and expectation effects alone.
PreprintCracking the predictive stability code: dual trial-by-trial spatio-temporo-spectral dynamics of task representation directional tuning by Bayesian conflict expectations
LWPC-induced proactive stability follows a "Target-first" policy, primarily strengthening the Target early post-stimulus via Alpha and lower-Beta patterns, weakening Distractor encoding only later on; conversely, ISPC-induced predictive reactive stability follows a "Distractor-first" policy, rapidly weakening Distractor encoding via response-locked posterior Beta patterns, strengthening the Target only downstream.
PreprintBold claims, read criticallyBeyond the session: delayed effects of prefrontal theta-burst stimulation onthe liking of newly learned melodies
These results indicate that TMS to the left DLPFC can produce delayed, condition-dependent shifts in musical liking without a parallel change in early skill acquisition.
PreprintComparing serial and parallel language input: Shared neural representations with distinct encoding strengths
Neurally, cross-presentation decoding revealed shared representations of grammaticality at word 2 across train-test directions--albeit with different latencies and durations--and an early shared representation at word 3 when trained on RPVP.
PreprintTask-Relevant Cognitive Load Modulates Fast and Slow Processes Underlying Motor Adaptation
Taken together, these results support the notion that faster explicit motor adaptation processes derive from cognitive processes involved in action selection.
PreprintImpaired cortical encoding of prosodic prominence in single multisyllabic words for adults with dyslexia
Adults with dyslexia showed significantly reduced encoding of intra-word prosodic prominence (delta band) and of the speech envelope (delta and theta bands).
PreprintGaze Direction During Bimanual Reaching Is Associated with Changes in Relative Hand Speed
Our novel analysis revealed that participants frequently shifted their gaze laterally several times during bimanual reaches and that these gaze shifts were systematically associated with changes in the speed ratio of the two limbs.
PreprintFace ensembles reshape the neural other-race effect
These findings reveal a neural ORE whose expression depends on viewing context and representational measure.
PreprintDissociable Stimulus- and Response-Driven Serial Dependence Effects in Auditory, Visual, and Audiovisual Motion Judgments
These findings suggest that serial dependence in motion perception reflects dissociable and concurrently operating processes, including a predominantly visual, adaptation-like stimulus-history effect and a task-dependent, decision-related response-history effect.
PreprintBlinded by motion: Electrophysiological decoupling of time dilation and confidence
These findings suggest that temporal illusions are engaged by sensory processes that fail to reach the metacognitive level and that confidence judgments, in turn, are driven by motor estimates read out from frontocentral regions
PreprintNumber, order and time influence how the brain integrates distinct experiences
Here we show that the mechanism of integration depends on the number, order and timing of events across the two stages of training.
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