Repeated within-session rule switching in the marmoset: a paradigm for tracking the dynamics of cognitive flexibility
- 1York University
Abstract
Adapting behaviour when reward contingencies change is a core function of cognitive control, but the underlying trial-by-trial computations are hard to observe when tasks cue each rule or allow only one switch per session. We developed the Feature-Rule Switching Task (FRST), in which common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) repeatedly switch, without cues and under a fixed stimulus set, among the visual features that earn reward, inferring each switch from feedback alone. All four animals acquired the task within two days and sustained several switches per session across months of testing. A reinforcement-learning model with a learned weighting of stimulus dimensions best explained choices in every animal, outperforming complexity-matched perseveration controls. Learning-rate estimates fell within the human range, and in almost every session the animals weighted a stimulus dimension rather than individual features alone, with a dimensional commitment comparable in strength to that of humans. FRST thus provides a primate paradigm, amenable to laminar recording, for tracking the dynamics of cognitive flexibility.
Related
- Subthalamic Nucleus dynamically encodes reward value and cognitive flexibility
- Heterogeneous self-couplings enable scale-invariant memory and cognitive flexibility without criticality
- Beyond accuracy: extracting reaction-time biomarkers of sustained attention and cognitive flexibility from the UCancellation task
- Growth in early infancy drives optimal brain functional connectivity which predicts cognitive flexibility in later childhood
- Ageing, Digital Literacy, and Interaction Modality in Immersive Virtual Reality: Psychomotor Performance, Cognitive Flexibility, and Their Processing-Speed Association
BibTeX
@misc{alvi2026repeated,
title = {{Repeated within-session rule switching in the marmoset: a paradigm for tracking the dynamics of cognitive flexibility}},
author = {M. H. Alvi and R. P. Nathaniel and K. Rai and L. Ma},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.64898/2026.07.31.740852},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.31.740852v2},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Repeated within-session rule switching in the marmoset: a paradigm for tracking the dynamics of cognitive flexibility
AU - M. H. Alvi
AU - R. P. Nathaniel
AU - K. Rai
AU - L. Ma
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/31
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.07.31.740852
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.31.740852v2
AB - Adapting behaviour when reward contingencies change is a core function of cognitive control, but the underlying trial-by-trial computations are hard to observe when tasks cue each rule or allow only one switch per session. We developed the Feature-Rule Switching Task (FRST), in which common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) repeatedly switch, without cues and under a fixed stimulus set, among the visual features that earn reward, inferring each switch from feedback alone. All four animals acquired the task within two days and sustained several switches per session across months of testing. A reinforcement-learning model with a learned weighting of stimulus dimensions best explained choices in every animal, outperforming complexity-matched perseveration controls. Learning-rate estimates fell within the human range, and in almost every session the animals weighted a stimulus dimension rather than individual features alone, with a dimensional commitment comparable in strength to that of humans. FRST thus provides a primate paradigm, amenable to laminar recording, for tracking the dynamics of cognitive flexibility.
ER -