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Updated: Oct 22, 2025

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
Different underlying mechanisms for high and low arousal in probabilistic learning in humans
Luis F Ciria1, Marta Suárez-Pinilla2, Alex G Williams3
1Mind, Brain & Behavior Research Center and Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Spain; Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract:
Humans are uniquely capable of adapting to highly changing environments by updating relevant information and adjusting ongoing behaviour accordingly. Here we show how this ability -termed cognitive flexibility- is differentially modulated by high and low arousal fluctuations. We implemented a probabilistic reversal learning paradigm in healthy participants as they transitioned towards sleep or physical extenuation. The results revealed, in line with our pre-registered hypotheses, that low arousal leads to diminished behavioural performance through increased decision volatility, while performance decline under high arousal was attributed to increased perseverative behaviour. These findings provide evidence for distinct patterns of maladaptive decision-making on each side of the arousal inverted u-shaped curve, differentially affecting participants' ability to generate stable evidence-based strategies, and introduces wake-sleep and physical exercise transitions as complementary experimental models for investigating neural and cognitive dynamics.
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