The thalamus encodes and updates context representations during hierarchical cognitive control.

Cognitive flexibility relies on hierarchically structured task representations that organize task contexts, relevant environmental features, and subordinate decisions. Despite ongoing interest in the human thalamus, its role in cognitive control has been understudied. This study explored thalamic representation and thalamocortical interactions that contribute to hierarchical cognitive control in humans.

Thalamocortical contributions to hierarchical cognitive control.

Cognitive flexibility relies on hierarchically structured task representations that organize task contexts, relevant environmental features, and subordinate decisions. Despite ongoing interest in the human thalamus, its role in cognitive control has been understudied. This study explored thalamic representation and thalamocortical interactions that contribute to hierarchical cognitive control in humans.

Individual Differences in Working Memory and the N2pc.

The lateralized ERP N2pc component has been shown to be an effective marker of attentional object selection when elicited in a visual search task, specifically reflecting the selection of a target item among distractors. Moreover, when targets are known in advance, the visual search process is guided by representations of target features held in working memory at the time of search, thus guiding attention to objects with target-matching features. Previous studies have shown that manipulating working memory availability via concurrent tasks or within task manipulations influences visual search performance and the N2pc.