Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making
Abstract Humans can flexibly change rules to categorize sensory stimuli, but their performance degrades immediately after a task switch. This switch cost is believed to reflect a limitation in cognitive control, although the bottlenecks remain controversial. Here, we show that humans exhibit a brief...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55686-w |
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| author | Tianlin Luo Mengya Xu Zhihao Zheng Gouki Okazawa |
| author_facet | Tianlin Luo Mengya Xu Zhihao Zheng Gouki Okazawa |
| author_sort | Tianlin Luo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Humans can flexibly change rules to categorize sensory stimuli, but their performance degrades immediately after a task switch. This switch cost is believed to reflect a limitation in cognitive control, although the bottlenecks remain controversial. Here, we show that humans exhibit a brief reduction in the efficiency of using sensory inputs to form a decision after a rule change. Participants classified face stimuli based on one of two rules, switching every few trials. Psychophysical reverse correlation and computational modeling reveal a reduction in sensory weighting, which recovers within a few hundred milliseconds after stimulus presentation. This reduction depends on the sensory features being switched, suggesting a constraint in routing the sensory information flow. We propose that decision-making circuits cannot fully adjust their sensory readout based on a context cue alone, but require the presence of an actual stimulus to tune it, leading to a limitation in flexible perceptual decision making. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e6391f93275948879a5535c3220719dd |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e6391f93275948879a5535c3220719dd2025-08-20T02:53:46ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111610.1038/s41467-024-55686-wLimitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision makingTianlin Luo0Mengya Xu1Zhihao Zheng2Gouki Okazawa3Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Humans can flexibly change rules to categorize sensory stimuli, but their performance degrades immediately after a task switch. This switch cost is believed to reflect a limitation in cognitive control, although the bottlenecks remain controversial. Here, we show that humans exhibit a brief reduction in the efficiency of using sensory inputs to form a decision after a rule change. Participants classified face stimuli based on one of two rules, switching every few trials. Psychophysical reverse correlation and computational modeling reveal a reduction in sensory weighting, which recovers within a few hundred milliseconds after stimulus presentation. This reduction depends on the sensory features being switched, suggesting a constraint in routing the sensory information flow. We propose that decision-making circuits cannot fully adjust their sensory readout based on a context cue alone, but require the presence of an actual stimulus to tune it, leading to a limitation in flexible perceptual decision making.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55686-w |
| spellingShingle | Tianlin Luo Mengya Xu Zhihao Zheng Gouki Okazawa Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making Nature Communications |
| title | Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making |
| title_full | Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making |
| title_fullStr | Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making |
| title_short | Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making |
| title_sort | limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55686-w |
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