Adaptive behavior is central to coping with dynamic environmental changes. Although functional neuroanatomical and neurophysiological considerations suggest that information must be exchanged during adaptive behavior and similar predictions can be derived from cognitive science concepts, attempts to delineate the directed information transfer in theta and alpha networks during behavioral adaptation are rare. Using task switching as an experimental vehicle, we examined directed communication in theta and alpha band networks in 51 healthy individuals. We combined EEG-beamforming with an artificial neural network-based estimation of linear and nonlinear directed information transfer between cortical regions. We show increased theta and alpha band activities during switch trials, which aligns with the cognitive control demands of task switching. EEG-beamforming indicated oscillatory modulations in distinct brain-wide networks depending on frequency and time window, with theta and alpha activities strongly tied to task-set reconfiguration and inhibitory control. Directed connectivity analysis revealed overlapping alpha and theta clusters, highlighting their interplay in cognitive flexibility. Directed communication in a cortical alpha band network involving fronto-temporal, temporoparietal, occipital, and precentral activity clusters was critical when preparing for task switching. We observed a bidirectional information transfer across four neuroanatomical clusters with more substantial connectivity modulations correlating with better task performance. These findings emphasize the importance of directed information transfer in a cortical alpha band activity network in supporting adaptive behavior.

Everyday tasks typically require us to flexibly change our goals, prioritize relevant objects, and select appropriate motor responses. The task-switching, visual-search, and action-control literatures that study these abilities have all documented striking sequential effects (i.e., a strong impact on behavior when various aspects of a task repeat from one trial to the next) and suggested different mechanisms to explain them. However, crosstalk between these literatures has typically been restricted to pairs, with little attempt to integrate all three. Therefore, how these effects interact in complex tasks remains largely unknown. We addressed this question in four experiments. Participants searched for a target among distractors. A precue indicated the task for the upcoming trial (i.e., which object to search for). The task, target location, and motor response either repeated or changed randomly. We found that when participants were highly incentivized to prepare for the upcoming task, the location of the target from previous trials (n-1 and n-2) influenced performance only when the task repeated from these trials. By contrast, location-response binding effects were largely unaffected by task preparation or by trials earlier than the previous one. These findings are consistent with two different episodic-retrieval mechanisms. A proactive and task-dependent episodic-retrieval mechanism accounts for the attentional bias toward previous target locations documented in the visual-search literature. An episodic-retrieval mechanism that is largely task-independent and operates later accounts for the binding-and-retrieval effects documented in the action-control literature. Our findings also provide novel evidence for task preparation and task inertia in task switching. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

The influence of repeating stimuli on task set inhibition following task execution and mere task preparation.

Integrating vision-language models (VLMs) into clinical radiology workflows requires exporting two-dimensional images that preserve diagnostic viewing context, including imaging plane, slice position, window/level, slab parameters, and overlays. Existing approaches typically rely on ad hoc screenshots and external uploads, which discard this context, reduce reproducibility, and introduce workflow friction through task switching. We describe a radiology viewer architecture that maintains model interaction entirely within the diagnostic environment by serializing explicit viewer state into replayable descriptors. Requested views are re-rendered offscreen using shared in-memory voxel data, enabling repeatable, context-faithful evidence generation without disrupting interactive interpretation. The user interface employs a split workspace, combining a diagnostic grid for image review with an integrated chat sidebar for evidence staging and model interaction. Capture actions generate batches of serialized viewer states that are executed by an offscreen renderer; the resulting frames are staged for user curation prior to model submission. Under controlled conditions at a 1,000 × 1,000 pixel output resolution, benchmarks demonstrated perfect reproducibility: repeated captures from identical serialized states produced pixel-identical images, with zero hash mismatches across 50 frames. Capture latency ranged from a median of 4.49 to 16.69 ms per frame, depending on view type, and median output size was 27.9 kB per frame using a high-efficiency image container. These results indicate that the proposed architecture supports reproducible, low-latency, and storage-efficient multislice and multiseries evidence assembly at interactive speeds, enabling seamless integration of VLMs into diagnostic radiology workflows. RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Offscreen re-rendering driven by serialized viewing state enables context-preserving and reproducible export of two-dimensional evidence from volumetric radiology viewing, supporting integrated vision-language model workflows with millisecond-scale capture latency from hot cache. KEY POINTS: A split-layout DICOM viewer with an integrated chat interface enables radiologists to capture, stage, and submit visual evidence without leaving the diagnostic environment. Offscreen re-rendering from serialized viewing state produces pixel-identical exports across repeated captures, supporting traceable, auditable, and reproducible evidence generation. Batch capture efficiently assembles multislice, multiplane, and multiseries evidence with minimal manual effort, providing models with richer and more representative study context. Capture latency was millisecond-scale, and high-efficiency image container (HEIC) encoding reduced file size by approximately 2.8-fold compared with the joint photographic experts group (JPEG) format, supporting responsive multi-frame workflows.

Does a bilingual's language environment, whether L1- or L2-dominant, modulate their use of language control mechanisms in speech production? The language-switching task (LST) typically assesses two indices of language control: asymmetric switch costs, where switching into L1 incurs greater costs than switching into L2, and reversed language dominance, where L1 becomes slower than L2. We asked if these measures are affected by the language context a bilingual is in and whether the relative balance between languages is sustained after mixed language use. Polish-English unbalanced bilinguals performed the LST in L1- and L2-dominant contexts. We found that language context modulated the magnitude of both language control indices. In the L1-dominant context, we replicated effects typical for unbalanced bilinguals: asymmetric switch costs and reversed language dominance. However, in the L2-dominant context, the asymmetry of switch costs was reversed, and the reversed dominance effect decreased. Furthermore, to assess whether these language context modulations of control indices persisted after leaving the switching task, participants named pictures in pure language blocks before (pre-LST) and after (post-LST) LST. Initially, unbalanced bilinguals exhibited a typical L1 dominance (i.e., faster L1 than L2 naming), which reversed during LST and remained reversed post-LST. The modulations of bilingual language control suggest that immediate language context flexibly shapes control mechanisms for effective production, with adjustments persisting beyond the L1- or L2-dominant context. Thus, mechanisms of control are highly adaptive to contextual demands rather than solely determined by language proficiency or other fixed traits of speakers.

We rely on the efficient processing of signals from an array of sensory organs to facilitate appropriate responses to the world around us. Normal, healthy aging has been associated with a decline in our ability to do this effectively. This is especially true when the task is complex and/or the signals are conflicting, implying that cognitive control may play a role. However, multisensory aging studies rarely make direct comparisons with unisensory tasks, and past research into age-related changes in cognitive control has focused heavily on unisensory stimuli. It is therefore unclear whether previously reported age differences are specific to multisensory perception or instead result from general impairments to cognitive control. The present study aimed to compare the effects of aging on cognitive control in unisensory versus multisensory contexts. Younger (n = 53; 18-30 years) and older (n = 61; 65-88 years) adults completed visual and audiovisual Stroop tasks, with and without trial-by-trial task switching to manipulate cognitive control demands. No age-related decline in performance was found in any unisensory condition. The groups also responded similarly to multisensory stimuli in the absence of task switching. However, older adults performed markedly worse during multisensory task switching, particularly in response to incongruent stimuli. Our findings clearly demonstrate that circumstances exist under which older adults exhibit deficits specific to multisensory processing and that these age differences are influenced by changes in cognitive control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

The Pleurotus ostreatus oyster species is a common edible mushroom, rich in ergothioneine, a bioactive that has previously shown preclinical benefits to cognition when administered in extract form. The OYSCOG study investigated the effects of a 12-week oyster mushroom intervention on cognition, mood, and serum markers in 80 healthy older adults aged 60-80 years. Participants consumed four portions per week of either oyster mushroom (OM) or placebo (PL). All measures were collected at baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention. EEG activity was recorded in a subset of participants (n = 40) at rest and during a simple cognitive task. ANCOVA between baseline and 12-weeks revealed slower task switching reaction times, indicating decreased performance, in the PL group. Increases in negative mood, as indicated by PANAS-X ratings of fear, sadness, and shyness and DASS-21 anxiety ratings, were similarly observed in the PL group. Conversely, DASS-21 anxiety ratings and RAVLT delayed word recall and delayed word recognition were improved for the OM group, while levels of inflammatory markers (cyclo-oxygenase 2 and NADPH oxidase 2) were reduced in an in vitro rodent microglial cell model. After 12-weeks supplementation, the OM group outperformed the PL group in RAVLT delayed word recall and delayed word recognition and displayed lower negative mood, as indicated by PANAS-X sadness, PANAS-X shyness and DASS-21 anxiety. Overall, the 12-week OM intervention, maintained mood and improved episodic memory in older adults compared to PL, alongside reducing markers of inflammation.

Selective behavioral, computational, and neural efficiency in executive function among open-skill athletes.

We investigated how cognitive control is modulated by the affective-motivational properties of food stimuli and their visual size. Prior research showed reduced switch costs - i.e., smaller costs in switch than in repetition trials - for food-related tasks compared to food-unrelated tasks. This raises the question of whether such effects are driven by the affective-motivational salience of food stimuli, by their visual salience due to larger size, or by an interaction of both factors. We addressed this using a task-switching paradigm in which participants alternated between a food categorization task (sweet/savory) and a digit categorization task (odd/even). The food stimulus was superimposed on the digit stimulus, and visual size was inverted compared to earlier studies, making the digit visually salient. Despite its smaller size, the food task still yielded reduced switch costs, suggesting that this effect cannot be attributed to visual salience. However, a direct comparison with prior findings revealed that visual size modulates the magnitude of the switch-cost asymmetry. This suggests that food stimuli improve task-set reconfiguration, but that visual salience likely plays a modulatory role. These findings indicate the need to consider motivational and perceptual factors in cognitive control research.

Errors play a crucial role in learning and goal-directed behavior by triggering cognitive adjustments to optimize future task performance. One such adjustment is post-error slowing (PES), the tendency to respond more slowly after an error. In adults, PES has been associated with regions implicated in error processing, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula. The prolonged maturation of these regions is thought to contribute to less efficient error processing in children and PES compared to adults. Additionally, while some errors may be immediately corrected, resulting in isolated errors, others may require multiple correction attempts, resulting in consecutive errors. Compared to adults, children may need more attempts to correct their errors due to the ongoing neurodevelopment of error processing. We investigated age differences in error types and in PES between children (N = 159, 8-11 years) and adults (N = 40, 20-30 years) during task switching. We tested whether individual differences in error processing-related activation contributed to PES within a subsample of children that performed the task during scanning (N = 72). Children made mostly consecutive errors, whereas adults made mostly isolated errors. PES magnitudes were larger in adults than in children. Children showed enhanced error-related activity in dorsal ACC and the anterior insula. Enhanced error-related activity in the insula was associated with better performance and reduced switch costs. These findings suggest that the neurodevelopment of error processing in late childhood contributes to the improved ability to adjust behavior following errors, and consequently to task-switching performance.

Regulation of reproductive and behavioral plasticity in social insects.

Cognitive control organizes abstract contexts, stimuli, and actions into hierarchically structured representations. This organization supports flexible behavior but requires updating at multiple levels of the hierarchy, a process reflected in task switch costs. However, it remains unclear how updating differs across levels of abstraction and how these differences relate to behavior and neural representations. Here, we investigated the behavioral and neural sources of switch costs using fMRI and behavioral data from healthy adult participants (male and female). We employed a hierarchical control task that dissociates abstract context reconfiguration from more concrete task-set reconfiguration of stimulus-response mappings. We predicted that task sets, which incorporate sensory-motor mappings, would be more strongly influenced by feedforward inputs than higher-level contextual goals, which are more abstracted from immediate perceptual and motor demands. As predicted, subordinate rule switches were faster and were more strongly influenced by task-irrelevant perceptual changes, whereas context switches were slower and relatively insensitive to such interference. To characterize the neural basis of these effects, we quantified trial-to-trial reconfiguration of multivoxel activity patterns. Across the brain, larger pattern shifts predicted larger RT switch costs, linking representational reorganization to behavioral performance. Importantly, representational reconfiguration differed across hierarchical levels and anatomical systems. Subordinate rule updating was modulated by task-irrelevant perceptual features and expressed in distributed perceptual and motor networks, whereas context reconfiguration engaged the mid-lateral frontal cortex and was comparatively insulated from interference. Our results reveal how the hierarchical structure of neural representations supports flexible updating with interference-shielded contextual representations subserving behavioral control.Significance Statement Daily activities often require simultaneously updating different tasks and thoughts. Driving requires maintaining a stable destination goal while rapidly updating motor plans (brake, accelerate, turn, etc.) in response to changing perceptual information (traffic lights, pedestrians, etc.). Although people perform such tasks with ease, it remains unclear how neural and cognitive representations are structured to respond to these flexibility demands. The present study suggests that sensory-motor plans prioritize flexibility by allowing greater influence from sensory inputs, which can create interference across brain networks when that input is task-irrelevant. Contextual information is insulated from this interference by representing contexts as distinctly as possible in the lateral prefrontal cortex, resulting in slower but more stable context switching.

Acute aerobic exercise may alter neural recruitment supporting executive function; however, age-related differences and task repetition effects remain unclear. To investigate the effects of acute aerobic exercise and task repetition on brain activity during task switching in young and older adults. Prospective randomized crossover study. Seventeen young and nineteen older healthy adults (18 females). 3.0 T, BOLD fMRI. fMRI was conducted during a task-switching paradigm before and at 15 and 45 min following 30 min of moderate-intensity walking or sitting on separate days. Neural and behavioral switch costs were computed as differences in BOLD activation, reaction time, and error rates between switch and nonswitch trials. Linear mixed-effects model examined BOLD signals and behavioral performance. Repeated measures correlation examined within-subject associations. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Older adults exhibited significantly greater task-related BOLD activation in the bilateral superior frontal and middle temporal gyri, right angular gyrus, and left precuneus than young adults, despite slightly lower performance (p ≤ 0.002). Task repetition significantly reduced activation in the left middle occipital and middle frontal gyri and right cerebellar cortex in both groups, whereas reaction time significantly improved only in older adults. Following walking, activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex remained stable in older adults but significantly decreased in young adults, without corresponding behavioral changes (p ≥ 0.365). Regardless of age, activation in the right postcentral gyrus and bilateral superior parietal lobules remained stable after walking but significantly decreased after sitting. Reduced activation with task repetition was significantly associated with faster reaction time, particularly in older adults. Acute aerobic exercise may preserve regional brain activation without measurable behavioral benefits, whereas task repetition reduces brain activation across age groups, suggesting modest neural effects of acute aerobic exercise on executive function. 2.

Age-dependent cross-level gradients of exercise-associated advantages in behavioural, latent, and neural efficiency.

Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive-motor functions and adaptive skill learning among medical residents across 26h night shifts.

People find it harder to switch from one task to another than to repeat a task. One common explanation is that lingering activation of the just-executed task facilitates repetitions and impairs switching. However, beyond specific task sets, it is also conceivable that switching a task increases more abstract switch readiness, whereas repeating a task reduces switch readiness. To investigate switch readiness independent of task-set activation, we used consecutive chunks, each consisting of two tasks, with self-paced breaks between chunks. This way, the salient task transition happens within a chunk, independent of the task transition between chunks. In four experiments, we applied a (hybrid) task-switching paradigm with a mixture of forced choice (only one task presented) and free choice (participants can decide which task to perform). We expected an increased ability and willingness to switch (i.e., switch readiness) in the current chunk when the previous chunk entailed a task switch rather than a repetition. In line with a switch-readiness account, Experiments 1 and 2 showed reduced switch costs and increased voluntary switch rates (VSR) after a switch within the previous chunk. Furthermore, this effect transferred to new task pairs (only descriptively in Experiment 3, significantly in Experiment 4). Taken together, the present study uncovered a novel property of sequential control during task switching.

Experimental psychology has long shown that task switching imposes cognitive demands and increases error rates, yet its impact in high-stakes real-world settings remains unclear. Here we provide causal evidence of switching costs in the context of organ transplantation. Leveraging quasi-random organ arrivals as a natural experiment, we analyse national registry data on 316,742 US transplants from 2007 to 2019. We find that, when surgeons switch organ types (for example, from liver to kidney) across consecutive surgeries, patients' 1-year post-transplant mortality increases by 0.66 percentage points (95% confidence interval 0.39-0.94; P < 0.001), a 14.8% increase relative to baseline. These risks can potentially be mitigated through structured scheduling, longer intervals between procedures, and greater surgeon experience. Our findings identify task switching as a modifiable risk factor in expert performance and offer potential strategies to improve outcomes in high-stakes environments.

Long-term exercise is associated with distinct patterns of effective connectivity in the executive control network linked to cognitive flexibility aging.

The hidden cost of acute task switching as revealed in routine surgical practice.

The 'neat' and 'messy' in task-dependent neural geometry and computation.