Frontiers in Cognition最新文献

{"title":"Beyond the left-right brain divide: a framework for dual-domain cognitive fluency.","authors":"Don A Affognon","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1727422","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1727422","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Longstanding distinctions between \"verbal\" and \"mathematical\" minds continue to shape educational assessment, curriculum design, and how learners are categorized by perceived cognitive strengths. Yet plenty of evidence from psychology and cognitive neuroscience points to a more unified model of intelligence that refutes the false dichotomy. In this article, I propose dual-domain cognitive fluency (DDCF) as a way to describe how the human mind can move fluidly between words and numbers and derive meaning from both. Building on research in symbolic cognition, executive function, and cognitive flexibility, this article identifies three dimensions: symbolic translation between modalities, cognitive flexibility across task demands, and layered reasoning, which integrates propositional logic with linguistic abstraction. DDCF captures the symbolic agility now required in knowledge-based environments where the integration of representational systems matters more than isolated domain expertise. Examples range from data storytelling in journalism to algebraic modeling in the social sciences-contexts in which verbal and quantitative reasoning operate in tandem. These insights matter for pedagogy, curriculum design, and the evolving demands of data-intensive workplaces. Far from a niche ability, dual-domain fluency reflects a generalizable cognitive capacity that existing models of intelligence have struggled to measure, reward, or systematically support.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1727422"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13271124/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148311083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Cognition in Parkinson's disease.","authors":"Elke Kalbe, Wolfgang H Jost","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1850845","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcogn.2026.1850845","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1850845"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13271112/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148310825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adult lifespan effects on functional specialization along the hippocampal long axis.","authors":"Caitlin R Bowman, Cara I Charles, Saisha M Birr","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1767179","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1767179","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>There has been increasing attention to differences in function along the hippocampal long axis, with the posterior hippocampus proposed to have more variable signals that are well-suited to representing idiosyncratic details in memory, and the anterior hippocampus having less dynamic signals that are well-suited to integration. Whether long axis functional specialization persists into older age is not well-understood, despite known age-related declines in the level of detail in memories.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used a large database of resting state fMRI data (<i>n</i> = 337 humans of both sexes included) from across the adult lifespan (ages 18-88) to determine the degree of functional differentiation across the hippocampal posterior-anterior axis. Our first approach was to measure the correlation of signals within hippocampal subregions. Our second approach was to measure functional connectivity between hippocampal subregions and the rest of the brain. For both approaches, we tested how well functional differences along the hippocampal long axis accounted for individual and age differences in episodic memory.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Within the hippocampus, we found a more positive age slope (i.e., increasing similarity of signals) for the most posterior hippocampal region compared to the intermediate and anterior region, consistent with the posterior hippocampus losing some of its heterogeneous signaling in older age. Patterns of whole-brain connectivity showed significant differences in the age trajectories between hippocampal subregions for a number of target regions, including several frontal connections. Yet we did not find strong evidence that either within-hippocampal signals or differences in functional connectivity were associated with age-related episodic memory decline.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Age differences in hippocampal long axis functional organization were apparent during rest but were limited in how well they accounted for memory decline.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1767179"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13271125/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148311070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gamma frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation over the visual cortex modulates contour integration.","authors":"Yosun Yoon, Sang Wook Hong","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1715655","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1715655","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The visual system must integrate spatially fragmented information to perceive coherent object boundaries. Contour integration represents a fundamental process underlying this perceptual organization by linking discrete edge elements into continuous contour. Gamma oscillations have been associated with perceptual grouping processes, from contour integration to object perception; however, their causal contribution to contour integration remains unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants performed a contour detection task in which they identified the orientation of a target contour composed of four collinearly aligned segments embedded among randomly oriented and positioned distractors. To investigate the role of gamma oscillations in contour integration, participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: gamma-tACS (40 Hz), theta-tACS (7 Hz; active control), or sham stimulation (control condition). Participants completed both pre-stimulation and stimulation sessions. During the stimulation session, the assigned tACS was applied over the early visual cortex.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A mixed-effects linear model analysis revealed a significant session × group interaction, such that contour detection performance improved from the pre-stimulation session to the stimulation session specifically in the gamma-tACS group, whereas no comparable improvement was observed in the sham and theta-tACS groups.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These findings provide causal evidence that gamma-frequency stimulation over occipital cortex can facilitate contour integration, suggesting that gamma-band oscillations contribute to the integration of spatially distributed visual elements into coherent contours.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1715655"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13271114/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148310870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attentional capture effects are modulated by the number of concurrently maintained search goals.","authors":"Katherine Sledge Moore, Ariel M Kershner","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1818391","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1818391","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>In hybrid visual-memory search, multiple search goals are concurrently maintained in memory and searched for in a visual display. When there are few goals, maintenance can operate in visual working memory, whereas when there are many concurrent search goals, they may be maintained in activated long-term memory. A central question here is how multiple search goals are concurrently maintained in memory and selectively enhanced during search. Two attentional capture effects illustrate goal enhancement in the presence of distraction: contingent capture, when distractors resemble the current trial's target, and set-specific capture, when distractors resemble one of your search goals, but not the current trial's target.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In the present study, participants memorized sets of 2, 4, or 16 objects, and searched for them in a continuous rapid serial visual presentation stream. On critical trials, a goal-related distractor appeared 1-2 frames before the target, matching either the <i>same</i> category as that trial's target (contingent capture) or a <i>different</i> target category than that trial's target (set-specific capture).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Contingent capture was greatest with 16-item sets, whereas set-specific capture was greatest with 2-item sets, and 4-item sets were in between.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These findings indicate that search goal enhancement flexibly adapts to memory load, with implications for models of goal maintenance and attentional control. They also provide the first evidence of set-specific capture with complex objects as search goals.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1818391"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13271133/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148311099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interbrain connectivity during mindfulness and meditation: narrative review of hyperscanning research.","authors":"Lorne Schussel","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1719931","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1719931","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the past century, research on meditation and mindfulness has aimed to characterize the behavioral phenomenology and the neurophysiology of the contemplative mind. In recent years, investigators have extended this work beyond single participants to dyads and larger groups using hyperscanning (the simultaneous recording of neural activity from two or more individuals). This narrative review synthesizes interbrain connectivity research and explores dyadic synchrony findings within mindfulness and meditation practices. Among the selected studies (<i>n</i> = 7), interbrain synchronization was observed across protocols and spectral bands in five studies. Anterior theta phase synchrony was evident during cooperation tasks following mindfulness induction. Motor coordination tasks with shared breathing and physical mirroring elicited alpha, theta, and delta coherence in frontal brain regions. Gamma synchrony increased in socio-emotional paradigms and among expert meditators practicing together. Dyadic coupling in lower-frequency spectral bands was potentiated when breath focus was combined with a shared goal. The evidence reviewed suggests that interbrain synchrony varies as a function of expertise, task heterogeneity, and personality traits such as agreeableness.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1719931"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13281117/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148310977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sources of knowledge-causation begets entropy increase, time progression, and information flow.","authors":"Georg Franz Weber","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1795815","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1795815","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The quest for knowledge has led to longstanding investigations into its sources. The foundation in information (data, evidence) is a cornerstone for the delineation of knowledge from belief or conviction. Through the execution of occurrences in the world, information flow is generated, which is observable and measurable in conceptual space with Lyapunov exponents and information dimensions. All occurrences have causes, which precede their effects, temporally and mechanistically. After much debate over the nature of cause-effect relationships, consensus has evolved, which interprets causation as the transfer of a preserved property (energy or momentum). This transfer modifies the thermodynamic entropy in closed and open systems alike. Independently, time progression has been characterized as being rooted in a transfer of heat (energy). Thus, causation is the driver of both, changes in thermodynamic entropy and time progression. It also effectuates a measurable evolution of information. With the acceptance of these interpretations, the underpinning of knowledge finds a unique definition. The essential causation of occurrences begets an information evolution, which-if observed in the process of scientific inquiry-serves as a basis for the generation of knowledge. Information flows not observed become lost to human access through dissipation in time and entropy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1795815"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13281034/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148310942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conflict and control in error monitoring during sustained visual discrimination.","authors":"Taylor M Curley, L Jack Rhodes, Lorraine Borghetti, Megan B Morris","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1565885","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1565885","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Increases in response errors across time-on-task are ubiquitous in vigilance research, particularly for tasks that require visual operations. An important aspect of vigilance tasks is response monitoring, particularly when a prepotent response must be inhibited. Neural indices of performance monitoring, such as the error-related negativity (ERN), provide strong evidence for changes in response conflict across time during vigilance tasks; however, it is unclear whether the allocation of additional cognitive resources (i.e., working memory) during such tasks leads to differences in response errors and performance monitoring. To examine this relationship, we employed a visual discrimination task in which participants must compare pairs of lines either to each other (simultaneous discrimination) or to a template held in working memory (successive discrimination) and decide whether to withhold or provide a response across 4 blocks of trials. We predicted lower ERN amplitudes and greater false alarm rates during visual discrimination trials that employ working memory (successive discrimination) compared to those that do not (simultaneous discrimination). While ERN peak amplitude was significantly greater during simultaneous compared to successive discrimination for incorrect responses, participants showed significantly higher false alarm rates during simultaneous discrimination, contrary to our hypotheses. To further investigate these results, we developed and examined outputs from computational models of the two experimental tasks based on a parallel-distributed processing account of cognitive control in which working memory (during successive discrimination), response conflict, and effortful control modulate continuous task performance. Task simulations suggest that pre-stimulus processing of a working memory template during successive discrimination helps to lower false alarms and alleviate post-stimulus error monitoring. These results are interpreted in the context of resource allocation and compensatory control with respect to the vigilance decrement.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1565885"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13281216/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148311063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the associations of self-control with physical fitness, cardiometabolic health, and well-being in young people aged 9-13 years.","authors":"Anna Dunn, Ryan A Williams, Karah J Dring, Simon B Cooper, Ruth Boat","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1755134","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1755134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Previous research has demonstrated that high self-control is associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity in young people. However, the associations of self-control with objective health measures (blood pressure, blood glucose, and plasma insulin), different components of physical fitness (motor and musculoskeletal fitness), motor competence and well-being remain largely unexplored.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Utilizing a cross-sectional design, 149 young people (aged 9-13 years) from the East Midlands, England completed measures of self-control, physical fitness, adiposity, well-being, motor competence, and cardiometabolic health. Univariate Pearson correlations, best-subset regression and simple linear regression analyses were conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>High self-control was associated with better well-being (<i>r</i> = 0.43, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (<i>r</i> = 0.21, <i>p</i> = 0.012), musculoskeletal fitness (<i>r</i> = 0.19, <i>p</i> = 0.020), and motor fitness (<i>r</i> = 0.23, <i>p</i> = 0.004). Best subset regression modeling identified the combination of predictors that best explained the variance in self-control, which included well-being, physical fitness (time on 4 x 10 m shuttle run), and HOMA-IR, with these effects independent of each other. Each individual component of well-being (physical well-being; <i>p</i> < 0.001, psychological well-being; <i>p</i> < 0.001, autonomy and parents; <i>p</i> < 0.001, and school environment; <i>p</i> < 0.001) was positively associated with self-control.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The present study's findings support the notion that self-control could be a significant and attractive target for future interventions focused at encouraging healthy behaviors in young people, and ultimately enhancing well being.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1755134"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13281225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148310848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hippocampal connectivity predicting recognition and categorization abilities.","authors":"Kyla Brannigan, Lea Frank, Dagmar Zeithamova","doi":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1765217","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fcogn.2026.1765217","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Flexible use of memory involves both the ability to form detailed memories of individual experiences (specificity) and to generalize across related experiences (generalization). Memory specificity and generalization have been attributed to distinct neocortical regions, such as ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and ventromedial PFC respectively. The hippocampus has been traditionally associated with memory specificity, but more recent work highlights additional role in generalization. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the hippocampus supports both memory specificity and generalization, but through interactions with distinct cortical regions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifty-two adults learned to categorize blended face stimuli, enabling both extraction of category structure (generalization) and encoding of item-specific features (specificity). Background functional connectivity was measured using fMRI during passive viewing of the same faces before and after learning.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants showed robust category learning, above-chance recognition of studied faces from similar lures, and successful category generalization to novel category members. Recognition and categorization performance were not highly correlated, suggesting distinct processes supporting each memory function. In the brain, we found distinct connectivity profiles of anterior hippocampus, presumed to preferentially contribute to generalization, and posterior hippocampus, presumed to preferentially contribute to specificity. Learning led to increased anterior hippocampal connectivity with default mode regions including ventromedial PFC, and posterior hippocampal connectivity with visual cortex. Increased anterior hippocampal connectivity with ventromedial PFC, somatomotor cortex, and visual cortex predicted better category generalization, whereas increased posterior hippocampal connectivity with ventrolateral PFC predicted more accurate face recognition. Exploratory analyses revealed widespread learning-related changes in cortico-cortical interactions, with changes in connectivity among visual, somatomotor, and default mode networks predicting categorization.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Together, these findings support the notion that the hippocampus supports both memory specificity and generalization through interactions with distinct cortical networks. These results advance mechanistic accounts of how the hippocampus and cortex coordinate to balance competing memory demands.</p>","PeriodicalId":94013,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Cognition","volume":"5 ","pages":"1765217"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13281074/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148310925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}