Simone Maucci, Nina Dolfen, Steve Majerus, Wim Fias
{"title":"Neural Basis of Serial Scanning across Position Codes in Verbal Working Memory.","authors":"Simone Maucci, Nina Dolfen, Steve Majerus, Wim Fias","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2686","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/JOCN.a.2686","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Serial order processing is a core component of verbal working memory (WM), yet its neural mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we examined how order information is instantiated in the brain during an order comparison task that temporally dissociated item/serial position retrieval from comparison processes. To this end, we acquired fMRI data while participants accessed a WM item and its serial position and subsequently performed order judgments. Univariate analyses revealed engagement of a frontoparietal WM network during WM item/serial position access. Decoding analyses within a set of functional and a priori ROIs showed that a subset of these regions, including left middle frontal gyrus and superior frontal gyrus, bilateral posterior intraparietal sulcus (IPS), left SMA, and left supramarginal gyrus, exhibited position-sensitive coding independent of item identity, consistent with recent proposals of distributed positional representations. Behavioral performance showed a reverse distance effect during order judgment, with slower responses for Distance 2 than Distance 1. Univariate fMRI analyses revealed a neural reverse distance effect in the left posterior IPS and right posterior hippocampus. Notably, the left posterior IPS showed both positional coding during WM access and distance-sensitive activity during order judgments, supporting positional coding models and suggesting that the brain serially scans positional representations in verbal WM.</p>","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Metacontrol on Demand: Task-induced Shifts in Metacontrol States Reflected in Aperiodic Neural Activity","authors":"Xi Wang;Christian Beste;Bernhard Hommel","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2524","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2524","url":null,"abstract":"Metacontrol refers to the dynamic regulation between persistence and flexibility, enabling adaptive behavior across varying task demand. This study investigated whether metacontrol states induced by two creativity tasks, Remote Associates Test to bias persistence and Alternate Uses Task to bias flexibility, would modulate behavioral and neural responses in a global/local perceptual task. We recorded EEG and analyzed aperiodic neural activity using the FOOOF (fitting oscillations and one-over-f) exponent as a marker of neural inhibition and variability. At the behavioral level, participants responded faster and more accurately to global than to local stimuli across sessions, consistent with a global processing advantage. EEG results revealed that differences in aperiodic exponent between local and global trials emerged only after stimulus onset. This supports a reactive model of metacontrol, where control states are not maintained but are adaptively recruited in response to task demands. The results highlight the context-sensitive nature of metacontrol and support the use of aperiodic exponent as a neural index of these cognitive dynamic adjustments.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1606-1619"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147357587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human Gaze Behaviors Track Abstract Stimulus Categories","authors":"Ali Caron;Edward F. Ester","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2591","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2591","url":null,"abstract":"Categorization, or the ability to group stimuli according to behavioral relevance, is a cornerstone of abstract cognition. Neurophysiological studies in nonhuman primates have revealed that category-selective signals are robustly encoded in oculomotor structures, including the lateral intraparietal area and superior colliculus, and that this encoding produces small, uninstructed eye movements that reflect learned category distinctions. Whether a similar phenomenon exists in humans is unknown. Here, we show that human gaze behavior encodes abstract categorical information independent of physical stimulus features. In three experiments, participants learned to classify oriented stimuli according to an arbitrary rule while their eye movements were recorded. Category identity could be reliably decoded from records of gaze position, particularly on trials with accurate categorization. A delayed match-to-category task confirmed that category-selective gaze patterns emerged before any motor response could be planned, ruling out response-related confounds. A further experiment demonstrated that gaze patterns tracked both orientation and color categories, confirming that the decoded signal reflects the observer's behavioral state rather than stimulus-evoked oculomotor biases. These findings establish that human oculomotor behavior carries abstract cognitive signals, paralleling recent nonhuman primate results linking incidental gaze shifts to the multiplexed encoding of category information within oculomotor networks.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1513-1526"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147500629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spatial Grouping Modulates the Link between Individual Alpha Frequency and Temporal Integration Windows in Crowding","authors":"Alessia Santoni;Luca Ronconi;Jason Samaha","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2609","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2609","url":null,"abstract":"Previous research has linked endogenous alpha oscillations (∼7–13 Hz) to temporal integration windows in visual perception, with higher individual alpha frequency predicting improved temporal segregation. Here, we investigated whether alpha-rhythmic temporal integration is a factor in visual crowding and whether this relationship is mediated by spatial grouping mechanisms. Forty-seven participants performed a Vernier discrimination task, in which we manipulated both the stimulus onset asynchrony between flankers and targets, and the spatial configuration of the flankers. Specifically, flankers were arranged to induce either crowding or “uncrowding,” through the manipulation of good-Gestalt properties. Our results show that crowding has a temporal integration period of around 170 msec, but this varies substantially across individuals. Importantly, resting-state individual alpha frequency predicted individual variance in temporal integration windows: Individuals with faster endogenous alpha rhythms could begin to segregate targets from distractors at shorter SOAs. Crucially, this effect was specific for crowding-inducing flankers and disappeared when flankers led to uncrowding. These results suggest that top–down spatial grouping can overwrite the temporal integration constraint imposed by alpha oscillations, highlighting both the relevance of alpha for understanding limits on peripheral visual processing and the flexible and context-dependent role of alpha in temporal integration.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1501-1512"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gesture-based Instruction Enhances Neural Synchrony and Predicts Children's Mathematical Learning","authors":"Marine Yumeng Wang;Kristine Hocker;Alfred Chao;Xiaohan (Hannah) Guo;Amanda Seccia;Marc G. Berman;Susan Goldin-Meadow;Yuan Chang Leong","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2588","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2588","url":null,"abstract":"Teachers' hand movements during instruction can influence how children learn mathematics, but not all movements are equally effective. Gesture-based instruction on problems such as 4 + 2 + 5 = __ + 5—where the teacher places a V-shaped hand under the 4 and 2 and then points to the blank (“grouping strategy”)—promotes learning better than action-based instruction—where the teacher manipulates magnetic numbers to mimic the gestures. How do hand movements facilitate learning? We tested 8- to 10-year-old children (n = 73) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure neural activity as they watched gesture-based or action-based videotaped lessons. Gesture-based instruction elicited greater intersubject neural synchrony in motor cortex and angular gyrus, a region implicated in arithmetic processing. Critically, synchrony in the right angular gyrus during gesture instruction predicted learning gains, whereas synchrony during action-based instruction did not. Our work demonstrates how gestures foster shared representations in brain regions supporting arithmetic reasoning, offering a neural basis for gesture's behavioral advantages in mathematics education. These findings highlight functional near-infrared spectroscopy as a powerful tool for capturing how mathematical learning unfolds in children.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1658-1668"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147500581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Miriam Tortajada;Julio Rodríguez-Larios;Victor Martínez-Pérez;Lucia B. Palmero;Luis J. Fuentes;Guillermo Campoy
{"title":"Endogenous Theta as a Function of Task Load and Working Memory Capacity: Revisiting the Role of Slower Frequencies in Theta–Gamma Coupling","authors":"Miriam Tortajada;Julio Rodríguez-Larios;Victor Martínez-Pérez;Lucia B. Palmero;Luis J. Fuentes;Guillermo Campoy","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2594","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2594","url":null,"abstract":"Recent findings have shown the influential role of theta–gamma cross-frequency coupling in the maintenance of items in working memory (WM). Specifically, it has been proposed that individual items are represented within gamma oscillations that are nested within slower theta waves. Thus, longer theta cycles would theoretically allow the retention of more items. On the basis of this theory, the present preregistered study aimed to test whether slowing theta rhythms via 4 Hz of transcranial alternating current stimulation over the frontoparietal network improves WM capacity. Given the potential role of individual differences in stimulation effects, participants were divided into high and low WM capacity groups based on initial screening. In addition, task difficult was also manipulated to maximize the likelihood of obtaining an improvement in performance. Contrary to our hypothesis, transcranial alternating current stimulation did not improve behavioral outcomes regardless of task difficulty or baseline WM capacity. Poststimulation EEG effects were also analyzed, but no modulation of theta power, peaks, or phase synchronization was found. Importantly, differences in mean theta frequency were observed before any stimulation between high- and low-capacity WM participants, with higher frequencies present in participants with better WM performance. Furthermore, higher mean frequency was also observed in high-load trials versus low-load trials. These findings contradict the predictions of the theta–gamma coupling theory. Taken together, these results raise questions about the validity of the theta–gamma coupling theory to explain cortical dynamics related to WM.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1589-1605"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147647408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lesion-dependent Cingulo-opercular Network and Language Network Integration in Post-stroke Aphasia","authors":"Qiufang Ren;Jian Guan;Xiaohui Xie;Xiaomin Pan;Zhishun Gao;Jin Li;Yuqian Zhan;Panpan Hu;Kai Wang;Tongjian Bai","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2523","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2523","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores differential impairment patterns in resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) between the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and canonical language networks (LN) in post-stroke aphasia (PSA), emphasizing structure–function relationships mediated by white matter integrity. It specifically investigates how LN lesion topography modulates CON–LN connectivity and behavioral correlates. Sixty-three first-time PSA patients were divided into LN lesion-positive (LNL+, n = 31) and negative (LNL−, n = 32) groups based on lesion volume (>1 cm3) within the canonical LN. Using lesion-based individualized ROIs and group-based template rs-FC, the CON–LN rs-FC was correlated with verbal fluency and white matter integrity metrics, with particular focus on arcuate fasciculus (AF) and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) subdivisions in the LNL+ and LNL− groups, respectively. Although no intergroup differences in CON–LN rs-FC were observed at baseline, distinct lesion-dependent patterns emerged. In LNL+ patients, individualized CON–LN rs-FC was positively correlated with verbal fluency (r = .504, p = .009) and negative correlation with the damage severity of the AF subdivisions (anterior: r = −.601, p < .001; long: r = −.426, p = .024) and SLF subdivisions (SLF II: r = −.483, p = .011; III: r = −.664, p < .001). However, the LNL− patients lacked significant structure–function–behavior associations. The group-based template analysis also detected no significant correlations in either group. Our findings implicate the critical role of CON–LN functional integration for language recovery in PSA patients with direct LN damage. The anterior/long AF segments and SLF II/III are key white matter substrates supporting this functional integration.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1633-1645"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147357515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicholas C. Hindy;Ryan Coleman;Surya Rajan Meenakshi Selvam
{"title":"Hippocampal Reactivation Trades Episodic Detail for Semantic Gist in Human Memory","authors":"Nicholas C. Hindy;Ryan Coleman;Surya Rajan Meenakshi Selvam","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2592","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2592","url":null,"abstract":"Memory must balance preserving episode-specific details with extracting generalizable structure. Here, we test whether spontaneous hippocampal reactivation during postencoding rest actively transforms memories by strengthening semantic gist at the expense of episodic detail. Twenty-four participants encoded Deese–Roediger–McDermott word lists presented in male or female voices, creating orthogonal semantic (list theme) and episodic (voice source) information. Using high-resolution fMRI, we tracked list-specific reactivation in hippocampal subfields during a 90-sec delay period. Most consistently in CA1, reactivation frequency showed opposing relationships with subsequent memory: Greater reactivation predicted increased false recognition of semantic lures (gist extraction; dz = 0.52) and decreased accuracy for voice discrimination (source memory; dz = −0.65), yielding a large, bidirectional effect within CA1 (gist minus source, paired dz = 1.00). This bidirectional pattern was most prominent in anterior-to-mid hippocampus, consistent with its role in schematic processing. These findings reveal that hippocampal reactivation implements a computational trade-off, actively constructing abstract and generalizable representations while competitively weakening episode-specific details. This mechanism could explain how the brain rapidly extracts meaning from experience, with false memories emerging as a natural consequence of adaptive memory transformation rather than retrieval failure.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1541-1553"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11655042","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147647424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Florian Fiebig;Nikolaos Chrysanthidis;Anders Lansner;Pawel Herman
{"title":"Synergistic Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity Mechanisms for Working Memory","authors":"Florian Fiebig;Nikolaos Chrysanthidis;Anders Lansner;Pawel Herman","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2582","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2582","url":null,"abstract":"Working memory (WM) is essential for almost every cognitive task. The neural and synaptic mechanisms supporting the rapid encoding and maintenance of memories in diverse tasks are the subject of an ongoing debate. The traditional view of WM as stationary persistent firing of selective neuronal populations has given room to newer ideas regarding mechanisms that support a more dynamic maintenance of multiple items. Various computational WM models based on different biologically plausible plasticity mechanisms have been proposed. We show that these proposed short-term plasticity mechanisms may not necessarily be competing explanations but instead yield interesting interactions that broaden the functional range of models on a wide set of WM task motifs and simultaneously enhance the biological plausibility of spiking neural network models, in particular of the underlying synaptic plasticity. Although reductionist models (WM function explained by one particular mechanism) are theoretically appealing and have increased our understanding of specific mechanisms, they are narrow explanations. In this study, we evaluate the interactions between three commonly proposed classes of plasticity, namely, intrinsic excitability, synaptic facilitation/augmentation, and Hebbian plasticity. We systematically test combinations of mechanisms in a spiking neural network model on a broad suite of tasks or functional motifs deemed principally important for WM operation, such as one-shot encoding, free and cued recall, and multi-item delay maintenance and updating. Our analysis of the operational task performance indicates that a composite model is superior to more reductionist variants. Importantly, we attribute the observable differences to the principle nature of specific types of plasticity.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1554-1575"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147876423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Morgan G. Moll;Ryan K. Read;Joni D. Wallis;Thomas W. Elston
{"title":"Orbitofrontal Cortex Encodes Decision Signals during Value-based But Not Perceptual Decisions","authors":"Morgan G. Moll;Ryan K. Read;Joni D. Wallis;Thomas W. Elston","doi":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2520","DOIUrl":"10.1162/JOCN.a.2520","url":null,"abstract":"A fundamental question in neuroscience is whether the brain uses specialized subsystems for different types of decisions or relies on a unified decision-making network. The OFC provides an ideal test case for this question: It has a well-established role in value-based decisions, but it remains unknown whether this reflects functional specialization or participation in a broader, general decision network. To distinguish between these possibilities, we used Neuropixels to monitor large ensembles of OFC neurons as a monkey performed both value-based and perceptual decision tasks. Consistent with prior reports, OFC robustly encoded decision-relevant information during value-based decisions. In contrast, during the perceptual task, OFC did not carry decision-relevant signals at either the single neuron or population level. This highlights the specialization of the OFC for value-based decisions and suggests that the different cognitive demands underlying different types of decisions recruit at least partially distinct neural circuits.","PeriodicalId":51081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience","volume":"38 8","pages":"1620-1632"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147357582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}