{"title":"Developing an AI-based General Personal Tutor for education.","authors":"Jaan Aru, Kristjan-Julius Laak","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The vision of a universal artificial intelligence (AI) tutor has remained elusive, despite decades of effort. Could large language models (LLMs) be the game-changer? We overview novel issues arising from developing a nationwide AI tutor. We highlight the practical questions that point to specific gaps in our scientific understanding of the learning process.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145228663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deliberating on the role of dopamine.","authors":"Leigh Walker, Melissa J Sharpe","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The role of dopamine in signalling reward prediction errors is well established, but its involvement in more complex decision-making processes is less clear. In recent work, Kocharian et al. demonstrate that dopamine also encodes imagined outcomes and decision confidence, revealing a richer, more nuanced role in learning and behaviour.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145214107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Philip R Corlett, Rosa Rossi-Goldthorpe, Praveen Suthaharan, Julia M Sheffield, Santiago Castiello de Obeso, Cecilia Heyes
{"title":"Pseudo-specificity, pseudo-modules, and pseudo-models in paranoia.","authors":"Philip R Corlett, Rosa Rossi-Goldthorpe, Praveen Suthaharan, Julia M Sheffield, Santiago Castiello de Obeso, Cecilia Heyes","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145182525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Primate neuroethology: a new synthesis.","authors":"Felipe Parodi, Konrad P Kording, Michael L Platt","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuroscience has probed only a sliver of the rich cognitive, emotional, and social behaviors that enable primates to thrive in the real world. Technological breakthroughs allow us to quantify these behaviors alongside wireless neural recordings. New studies reveal that neural activity is intricately bound to movement and is profoundly modulated by behavioral context, emotional states, and social dynamics. We frame our review of primate neuroethology around Niko Tinbergen's four foundational questions - function, mechanism, development, and evolution - to unify classic ethological insights with modern neuroscience tools. We demonstrate that investigating natural behavior promises deep insights into primate cognition, which are relevant for advanced brain-machine interfaces, improved therapies for neurological disorders, and deeper understanding of natural and artificial intelligence.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145182494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cognitive modeling of real-world behavior for understanding mental health.","authors":"Dan-Mircea Mirea, Erik C Nook, Yael Niv","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.07.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.07.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A core strength of computational psychiatry is its focus on theory-driven research, in which cognitive processes are precisely quantified using computational models that formalize specific theoretical mechanisms. However, the data used in these studies often come from traditional laboratory-based cognitive tasks, which have unclear ecological validity. In this review we propose that the same theoretical frameworks and computational models can be applied to real-world data such as experience sampling, passive data, and digital-behavior data (e.g., online activity such as on social media). In turn, modeling real-world data can benefit from a theory-driven computational approach to move from purely predictive to explanatory power. We illustrate these points using emerging studies and discuss the challenges and opportunities of using real-world data in computational psychiatry.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145180127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why were the textbooks wrong about brain plasticity?","authors":"Harriet Dempsey-Jones","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Schone and colleagues reveal surprising stability in the brain's body map, challenging textbook notions of dramatic remapping. But why were the textbooks wrong? Because what was interpreted as plasticity was only half of the story. In fact, missing limb representations do persist, awaiting the right probe.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145114713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrew R Dykstra, Yunkai Zhu, Carolina Fernandez Pujol, David W Zhou, Stephanie R Jones, Tomáš Marvan, James J Bonaiuto
{"title":"Testing circuit-level theories of consciousness in humans.","authors":"Andrew R Dykstra, Yunkai Zhu, Carolina Fernandez Pujol, David W Zhou, Stephanie R Jones, Tomáš Marvan, James J Bonaiuto","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.08.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.08.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Our understanding of the neural basis of consciousness is mostly restricted to large-scale brain activity patterns as measured by methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magneto/electro-encephalography (M/EEG). In contrast, we lack even basic understanding of circuit-level mechanisms supporting consciousness - particularly in humans - despite the fundamental role that such mechanisms likely play in instantiating larger-scale brain activity patterns supporting conscious states and contents. Here, we review what progress has been made on circuit-level theories of consciousness (e.g., apical amplification theory, dendritic integration theory) and argue that such theories can be tested in humans using recently developed, state-of-the-art methods. Doing so will further facilitate translation of consciousness science into clinical settings and strengthen the bridge between circuit- and network-level theories of consciousness.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12495894/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145114662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sleep and memory consolidation in insects.","authors":"Jeffrey M Donlea","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.08.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.08.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Several cognitive functions of sleep, including a role in supporting memory consolidation, are conserved across the evolution of animal species. As outlined here, studies of insect behavior and neural circuits have identified key synaptic and circuit mechanisms through which sleep can influence long-term memories.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145103165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Culture and in-group favoritism in social decision-making.","authors":"Shihui Han","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although cultural differences in cognition and behavior are well-documented, collecting data from multiple cultural samples to explore relevant cognitive processes remains challenging. Rahal and Schulze Spüntrup address this by applying webcam-based eye-tracking to adults from 20 countries, revealing cultural variations in the cognitive processes underlying in-group favoritism during social decision-making.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145103119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Confronting the connectivity crisis in human M/EEG research.","authors":"Ole Jensen, Hyojin Park, Oscar Ferrante","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The cognitive neuroscience community using M/EEG has not converged on measures of task-related inter-regional brain connectivity that generalize across tasks and laboratories. We call for community-driven efforts to systematically test and validate connectivity metrics using shared datasets and protocols, aiming to establish robust, replicable frameworks for cognitive and clinical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145092866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}