{"title":"The value of ecologically irrelevant animal cognition research.","authors":"Scarlett R Howard","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.03.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.03.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Animal cognition research is often firmly grounded in the ecology and life history of the species. However, there are many studies exploring cognitive tasks that appear ecologically irrelevant. Ecologically irrelevant experiments are cognitive tests lacking clear ecological context in their inspiration, design, and applications. Here, I explore the case for and against ecologically irrelevant cognitive research. I discuss the challenges associated with defining and conducting ecologically irrelevant cognitive research and provide potential solutions for tackling these issues. I pose the question of whether any animal cognition research can be considered completely ecologically irrelevant. My goal is to argue that there is a place for both ecological relevance and irrelevance in the study of animal cognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"691-702"},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144112427","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}
Mathias Pessiglione, Bastien Blain, Antonius Wiehler, Shruti Naik
{"title":"Origins and consequences of cognitive fatigue.","authors":"Mathias Pessiglione, Bastien Blain, Antonius Wiehler, Shruti Naik","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.02.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.02.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Everybody knows intuitively what mental fatigue is. However, we poorly understand why fatigue emerges with time spent on demanding cognitive work and how such 'cognitive fatigue' impacts neural processing and behavioral guidance. Here, we review experimental investigations that induced cognitive fatigue and recorded its potential markers, including self-report, behavioral performance, economic choice, physiological and neural activity. We then review theoretical models of cognitive fatigue, classically divided into biological and motivational accounts. To explain key observations and reconcile debated theories, we finally propose a conceptual model (dubbed MetaMotiF), in which cognitive fatigue would emerge for biological reasons and yet affect motivational processes that regulate the behavior. More precisely, fatigue would arise from metabolic alterations in cognitive control brain regions, following their excessive mobilization. In turn, these metabolic alterations would increase the cost of cognitive control, which would shift decisions towards actions that require little effort and yield immediate rewards.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"730-749"},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143765585","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":"Facial clues to conversational intentions.","authors":"Judith Holler","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It has long been known that we use words to perform speech acts foundational to everyday conversation, such as requesting, informing, proposing, or complaining. However, the natural environment of human language is face-to-face interaction where we use words and an abundance of visual signals to communicate. The multimodal nature of human language is increasingly recognised in the language and cognitive sciences. In line with this turn of the tide, findings demonstrate that facial signals significantly contribute to communicating intentions and that they may facilitate pragmatically appropriate responding in the fast-paced environment of conversation. In light of this, the notion of speech acts no longer seems appropriate, highlighting the need for a modality-neutral conception, such as social action.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"750-762"},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144028064","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":"Synchrony and subjective experience: the neural correlates of the stream of consciousness.","authors":"Matthew D Lieberman","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.04.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.04.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human subjectivity, our first-person conscious experience of the world, is among the deepest scientific mysteries. This opinion article lays out an approach to examining the neural correlates of subjectivity as it unfolds over time. Subjective experience is inherently idiosyncratic, arising from effortless interpretations that feel like perceived facts (p-interpretations), and integrative, with past and expected future moments influencing the current experience. Differential synchrony effects (i.e., neural synchrony that differs between groups) suggest that parts of gestalt cortex (inferior parietal lobule and posterior temporal cortex) and posterior medial cortex track p-interpretations. Differential synchrony may result from each person's preexisting idiosyncratic non-sensory representations (e.g., expectations, memories, motivations) being integrated with sensory inputs to yield unique meaning-infused immediate experiences across the stream of consciousness.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"715-729"},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144086901","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":"Relying on PRIME young adults limits cognitive science.","authors":"Patricia L Lockwood, Wouter van den Bos","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cognitive science has made remarkable strides in understanding cognition and behaviour. However, a critical issue persists. Most studies focus on PRIME populations - young adults who are productive, researchable, independent, mobile, and educated. While convenient, the overreliance on them has profound implications for generalising research findings and addressing global challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"684-686"},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144555537","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":"Core systems of music perception.","authors":"Samuel A Mehr","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.05.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.05.013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human musicality is supported by two distinct systems of representation: one for tonal perception, which contextualizes pitch input in reference to a hierarchy of tones; and one for metrical perception, which contextualizes temporal input in reference to a hierarchy of rhythmic groupings. Growing evidence suggests that the two systems are universal, automatic, encapsulated, and relatively early-developing. But like speech perception, and unlike several other perceptual systems, they appear to be uniquely human. The systems of tonal and metrical perception form a foundational structure for musicality that, when combined with the processing of other acoustical information (e.g., timbre or auditory scenes), and applied in conjunction with other cognitive domains, yields a human psychology of music.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"763-777"},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12328076/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144295218","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}
Asma Motiwala, Joana Soldado-Magraner, Aaron P Batista, Matthew A Smith, Byron M Yu
{"title":"Brain-computer interfaces as a causal probe for scientific inquiry.","authors":"Asma Motiwala, Joana Soldado-Magraner, Aaron P Batista, Matthew A Smith, Byron M Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Establishing causal relationships between neural activity and brain function requires experimental perturbations of neural activity. Many existing perturbation methods modify activity by directly applying external signals to the brain. We review an alternative approach where brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) leverage volitional control of neural activity to manipulate and causally perturb it. We highlight the potential of BCIs to manipulate neural activity in ways that are flexible, accurate, and adhere to intrinsic biophysical and network-level constraints to investigate the consequences of configuring neural population activity in specified ways. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using BCIs as a perturbation tool compared with other perturbation methods and how BCIs can expand the scope of questions that can be addressed about brain function.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12313151/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144745808","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}
Cody V Dong, Qihong Lu, Kenneth A Norman, Sebastian Michelmann
{"title":"Towards large language models with human-like episodic memory.","authors":"Cody V Dong, Qihong Lu, Kenneth A Norman, Sebastian Michelmann","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cognitive neuroscience research has made tremendous progress over the past decade in addressing how episodic memory (EM; memory for unique past experiences) supports our ability to understand real-world events. Despite this progress, we still lack a computational modeling framework that is able to generate precise predictions regarding how EM will be used when processing high-dimensional naturalistic stimuli. Recent work in machine learning that augments large language models (LLMs) with external memory could potentially accomplish this, but current popular approaches are misaligned with human memory in various ways. This review surveys these differences, suggests criteria for benchmark tasks to promote alignment with human EM, and ends with potential methods to evaluate predictions from memory-augmented models using neuroimaging techniques.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144718972","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}
Ernest Mas-Herrero, Robert J Zatorre, Josep Marco-Pallarés
{"title":"Understanding individual differences to specific rewards through music.","authors":"Ernest Mas-Herrero, Robert J Zatorre, Josep Marco-Pallarés","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding reward processing is essential for comprehending human behavior, from motivation and learning to affective disorders and addiction. Most research assumes a global sensitivity to reward, overlooking specific sensitivities to different stimuli. However, recent studies have revealed variability in music reward sensitivity, including healthy individuals with specific musical anhedonia - an impaired ability to derive pleasure from music despite intact responses to other rewards. This review explores individual differences in music reward and potential causes of musical anhedonia. We propose a brain model suggesting that reward experiences depend on both the overall functioning of the reward system and specific perceptual-reward network interactions. Finally, we discuss how this model and methodologies from music research can be applied to other rewarding stimuli.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144805092","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":"The psychology of virality.","authors":"Steve Rathje, Jay J Van Bavel","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on? Here, we review the psychology of information spread, or the psychology of 'virality'. Similar types of information tend to spread in many contexts, both online and offline. This is likely because similar psychological processes drive information spread across contexts. We explain how these psychological processes interact with structural features of information environments, including norms, networks, and incentive structures. Surprisingly, widely shared content is often not widely liked, a phenomenon called 'the paradox of virality'. We discuss the strengths and limitations of the information-as-virus metaphor. We also discuss future directions for the field, such as leveraging recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand how information spreads across cultures and contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144660881","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}