Summary: Training focused on cognitive control—attending to relevant cues while ignoring distractions—boosts information processing in the brain and promotes an ability to “learn to learn.”
Source: NYU
New research in mice shows that targeted cognitive control training (CCT) improves how the brain processes information, producing lasting changes in the hippocampus that enable greater adaptability and an enhanced capacity to learn new tasks.
“As any educator knows, simply memorizing facts is not the ultimate goal of learning,” says André Fenton, professor of neural science at New York University and the senior author of the study published in Nature. “With the right mental training, the brain can be taught to ‘learn to learn,’ becoming more flexible, attentive, and effective at using prior experience in novel situations.”
Memory research has long focused on how neurons encode and store specific experiences so they can be retrieved later. Less well understood are the mechanisms that support the broader ability to generalize past experience—what researchers call “learning to learn.” Understanding those mechanisms could lead to methods for improving learning broadly and for designing precision cognitive-behavioral therapies for conditions such as anxiety, schizophrenia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
To investigate, the team trained mice in a demanding spatial task that required them to focus on stable, relevant cues while ignoring misleading, rotating cues. Mice assigned to the cognitive control training (CCT) group were placed on a slowly rotating arena. They learned to avoid a stationary location associated with a mild shock by using fixed visual cues in the room and by ignoring the moving locations on the rotating floor. CCT mice were compared with control animals, including a group that learned place avoidance without the rotating distractions.
The rotating arena method is important because it separates spatial information into stable versus rotating components, forcing animals to distinguish relevant from irrelevant cues. Previous work from the same laboratory established that this task relies on the hippocampus—the brain region central to memory and navigation—and on persistent molecular signaling, including protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ), which supports long-term increases in synaptic strength and memory storage.
Electrophysiological recordings and behavioral analysis showed that mice undergoing CCT learned to ignore the rotating, irrelevant cues and to attend to the stationary visual landmarks that predicted the shock location. This selective attention to relevant inputs proved essential: mice that received CCT were consistently better at new learning tasks in unfamiliar environments for weeks after training, compared with controls that either received no training or learned the same place avoidance under reduced distraction.
At the circuit level, the researchers observed enduring changes in hippocampal function. CCT rapidly altered synaptic transmission between the entorhinal cortex and dentate gyrus, producing a shift in an excitatory–inhibitory microcircuit that persisted for months. Specifically, CCT increased inhibitory control that dampened dentate responses to weak inputs from the medial entorhinal cortex while, through disinhibition mechanisms, enhancing responses to stronger, behaviorally relevant inputs. This pattern effectively increases signal-to-noise ratio in hippocampal processing.
“Two hours of well-designed cognitive control training produced measurable, persistent improvements in how a key memory circuit processes information,” Fenton explains. “After CCT, the hippocampus became better at suppressing noisy or irrelevant signals while amplifying inputs that matter for behavior. That neural tuning underlies the observed ‘learning to learn’ effect.”
The study’s coauthors include Ain Chung and Eliott Levy (doctoral students at NYU during the research), Claudia Jou (doctoral student at CUNY Hunter College and the Graduate Center), Alejandro Grau-Perales and Dino Dvorak (postdoctoral fellows at NYU during the study), and Nida Hussain (undergraduate at NYU at the time).
Funding: This research was supported by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (R01MH115304, R01NS105472, and R01AG043688).
About this learning and memory research news
Author: James Devitt
Source: NYU
Contact: James Devitt – NYU
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access. “Cognitive control persistently enhances hippocampal information processing” by André Fenton et al. Nature
Abstract
Cognitive control persistently enhances hippocampal information processing
Could training that emphasizes cognitive control—carefully selecting relevant information while ignoring distractions—produce long-lasting improvements in brain circuit function beyond the encoding of specific memories? Guided by a neuroplasticity hypothesis for how some cognitive-behavioral therapies work, the researchers tested whether CCT induces persistent changes in hippocampal circuitry.
They found that mice trained to avoid a location of shock while ignoring irrelevant, rotating cues not only learned and retained that avoidance but also showed improved capacity to acquire new tasks in different settings for several weeks. Physiologically, CCT rapidly modified entorhinal cortex-to-dentate gyrus synaptic function, shifting an excitatory–inhibitory subcircuit balance that endured for months. The changes increased inhibition that suppresses responses to weak entorhinal inputs and, via disinhibition, potentiated responses to strong inputs—effectively improving the signal-to-noise ratio.
These findings support the idea that cognitive control training not only helps store item–event associations but also persistently optimizes neural circuit information processing, offering a biological basis for improved general learning and suggesting avenues for targeted therapeutic approaches.