Biology subjects

Holczer, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Holczer, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

No sex differences in predictive processing

Statistical learning, defined as the implicit extraction of environmental regularities, is considered a fundamental cognitive mechanism that supports predictive processing across individuals, domains, and species. However, whether it is modulated by gender remains unclear. This study investigated potential gender-related differences in statistical learning using an age-matched sample of 129 women and 129 men (N = 258) who completed a well-established visuomotor probabilistic learning task. Statistical learning was revealed in both reaction time and accuracy measures, with participants responding faster and more accurately to high-probability than to low-probability trials. Critically, neither the magnitude nor the trajectory of statistical learning differed between women and men. Furthermore, no baseline differences in visuomotor performance interacted with learning metrics. Overall, these findings suggest that implicit statistical learning is a robust cognitive mechanism that is highly resilient to gender-related variation. Highlights Implicit statistical learning was robust in both women and men, with no evidence for gender differences in the magnitude or trajectory of learning. Although a minor baseline difference in general response speed was observed, this effect did not interact with or influence statistical learning. Statistical learning was robust across menstrual cycle phases and hormonal contraceptive use groups. The findings suggest that the "predictive brain" relies on fundamental, evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that are largely resilient to gender-based variation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

ADHD-like traits reshape the balance between inhibitory control and predictive processes

Adaptive behavior relies on a dynamic balance between flexible, goal-directed control and efficient, automatic processes. This equilibrium is often disrupted in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a condition understood to exist along a continuum of traits in the general population. While ADHD is consistently linked to response inhibition deficits, its relationship with statistical learning (a mechanism for habit learning) and, crucially, the interaction between these functions, remains underexplored. Here, using a novel paradigm in a non-clinical sample of university students (n = 226), we investigated how ADHD-like traits modulate the interplay between response inhibition and statistical learning. We found that higher ADHD-like traits were associated with poorer response inhibition, confirming previous research. Importantly, we uncovered an antagonistic relationship between inhibition and statistical learning, where weaker inhibitory control typically led to enhanced learning of environmental regularities. However, this learning advantage progressively diminished across the ADHD trait continuum, becoming markedly reduced in individuals with high symptom prevalence. These findings provide novel evidence that ADHD-like traits influence not only isolated neurocognitive processes but also their dynamic interaction, highlighting a spectrum-based mechanism that may underlie the transition from adaptive variability to maladaptive behavioral patterns. This work advocates for a dimensional approach to ADHD, emphasizing early detection and targeted interventions for individuals with varying levels of symptomatic expression, broadening support beyond traditional diagnostic boundaries.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Frontal theta synchronization facilitates the acquisition of new statistical regularities, evidenced by predictive eye movements

Frontal midline theta oscillations are key neural markers for learning, set-shifting, and adaptive behavior, signaling cognitive control and the reorganization of neural representations. The present study explored how these oscillations mediate the extraction and updating of statistical regularities. We delivered 6 Hz in-phase transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) or sham tACS, synchronizing frontal midline theta during an eye-tracking probabilistic sequence learning task designed to test cognitive flexibility and assess pre-stimulus gaze direction changes. A novel probabilistic sequence with a partially overlapping structure was introduced that allowed us to distinguish between the retention of old sequences and the acquisition of new ones. Following comparable statistical learning in both groups during the stimulation session, our results showed that tACS reduced the erroneous anticipations of previously learned regularities, and allowed participants to show anticipations corresponding to the previously learnt regularities while being able to anticipate novel regularities flexibly. These results suggest a role of frontal midline theta in the flexible rewiring of the mental representations of prior probabilistic structures, and in making predictions more accurate.

neuroscience↗