{
  "abstract": "Introduction: Concept learning is not an isolated act of cognition; it recruits a host of core mechanisms, including working memory, decision making, and attention. A wide range of brain networks spanning cortical and subcortical areas support these operations, which have been identified via activation patterns related to concept learning. A critical open question, however, is whether the white matter architecture connecting these regions serves as the structural scaffold that makes such flexible learning possible.\n\nMethods: We employed a rule-plus-exception learning paradigm wherein participants categorized visually complex stimuli. While some items closely followed the rules, exceptions violated them, acting as a behavioural index of flexible learning. We quantified the integrity of white matter tracts across the whole human brain using diffusion-weighted imaging and leveraged correlational tractography to uncover their behavioural relevance.\n\nResults: Correlational tractography revealed two distinct white matter networks associated with individual variability in either rule or exception learning. The network supporting exception learning was predominantly subcortical-limbic, comprising the fornix, thalamic radiations, and forceps minor alongside the left frontal-parietal cingulum, a pattern consistent with hippocampal-prefrontal communication and cognitive control over atypical exemplars. Conversely, the network for rule-based items was distinguished by long-range cortico-cortical and cortico-cerebellar pathways, including the right frontal-parietal cingulum, the middle longitudinal fasciculus, and the middle cerebellar peduncle, reflecting the integration of visual features with abstract rule representations and their gradual automatization.\n\nDiscussion: These findings provide novel evidence that complementary white matter networks support flexible concept formation and offer a neuroanatomical basis for characterizing individual differences in flexible concept learning.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Psychology, University of Toronto , , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Melisa Gumus"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Nahal Alizadeh Saghati"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Michael L. Mack"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8g0ydvnqm20cn.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fnins.2026.1877268",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13662064/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "8g0ydvnqm20cn",
  "issns": [
    "1662-4548",
    "1662-453X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13662064",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2741|Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214968822",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13662064/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13662064",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-30",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8g0ydvnqm20cn.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:21Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13662064",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13662064"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:23Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fnins.2026.1877268",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2026.1877268/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2741|Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications",
      "subfield": "imaging"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Complementary white matter networks support flexible concept learning",
  "title_text": "Complementary white matter networks support flexible concept learning",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:23Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8g0ydvnqm20cn",
  "venue": "Frontiers in neuroscience",
  "versions": []
}