Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks
Abstract The living system follows the principles of physics, yet distinctive features, such as adaptability, differentiate it from conventional systems. The cognitive functions of decision-making (DM) and working memory (WM) are crucial for animal adaptation, but the underlying mechanisms are still...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | npj Systems Biology and Applications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41540-025-00520-2 |
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| author | Han Yan Jin Wang |
| author_facet | Han Yan Jin Wang |
| author_sort | Han Yan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The living system follows the principles of physics, yet distinctive features, such as adaptability, differentiate it from conventional systems. The cognitive functions of decision-making (DM) and working memory (WM) are crucial for animal adaptation, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. To explore the mechanism underlying DM and WM functions, here we applied a general non-equilibrium landscape and flux approach to a biophysically based model that can perform decision-making and working memory functions. Our findings reveal that DM accuracy improved with stronger resting states in the circuit architecture with selective inhibition. However, the robustness of working memory against distractors was weakened. To address this, an additional non-selective input during the delay period of decision-making tasks was proposed as a mechanism to gate distractors with minimal increase in thermodynamic cost. This temporal gating mechanism, combined with the selective-inhibition circuit architecture, supports a dynamical modulation that emphasizes the robustness or flexibility to incoming stimuli in working memory tasks according to the cognitive task demands. Our approach offers a quantitative framework to uncover mechanisms underlying cognitive functions grounded in non-equilibrium physics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ddb0e7bfc3a34e04a988bb271a534b5a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2056-7189 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Systems Biology and Applications |
| spelling | doaj-art-ddb0e7bfc3a34e04a988bb271a534b5a2025-08-20T01:49:42ZengNature Portfolionpj Systems Biology and Applications2056-71892025-05-0111111310.1038/s41540-025-00520-2Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasksHan Yan0Jin Wang1Center for Theoretical Interdisciplinary Sciences, Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Chemistry and Physics, State University of New York at Stony BrookAbstract The living system follows the principles of physics, yet distinctive features, such as adaptability, differentiate it from conventional systems. The cognitive functions of decision-making (DM) and working memory (WM) are crucial for animal adaptation, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. To explore the mechanism underlying DM and WM functions, here we applied a general non-equilibrium landscape and flux approach to a biophysically based model that can perform decision-making and working memory functions. Our findings reveal that DM accuracy improved with stronger resting states in the circuit architecture with selective inhibition. However, the robustness of working memory against distractors was weakened. To address this, an additional non-selective input during the delay period of decision-making tasks was proposed as a mechanism to gate distractors with minimal increase in thermodynamic cost. This temporal gating mechanism, combined with the selective-inhibition circuit architecture, supports a dynamical modulation that emphasizes the robustness or flexibility to incoming stimuli in working memory tasks according to the cognitive task demands. Our approach offers a quantitative framework to uncover mechanisms underlying cognitive functions grounded in non-equilibrium physics.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41540-025-00520-2 |
| spellingShingle | Han Yan Jin Wang Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks npj Systems Biology and Applications |
| title | Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks |
| title_full | Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks |
| title_fullStr | Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks |
| title_short | Neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks |
| title_sort | neural mechanisms balancing accuracy and flexibility in working memory and decision tasks |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41540-025-00520-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hanyan neuralmechanismsbalancingaccuracyandflexibilityinworkingmemoryanddecisiontasks AT jinwang neuralmechanismsbalancingaccuracyandflexibilityinworkingmemoryanddecisiontasks |