{"id":643293,"date":"2026-08-18T09:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643293\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:26:17","slug":"the-frontoparietal-cortex-researchers-reveal-deeper-workings-of-the-brains-information-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643293\/","title":{"rendered":"The frontoparietal cortex: Researchers reveal deeper workings of the brain&#8217;s information hub"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openaccessgovernment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Low-Res_Flexible-brain-image.jpeg\" data-caption=\"University of Iowa researchers have detailed the workings of the brain&#039;s information hub, called the frontoparietal cortex. The colored areas in this illustration show frontoparietal regions tracking uncertainty when participants encounter changes to associations they previously learned. &#010;&#010;Credit Kai Hwang lab, University of Iowa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"696\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Low-Res_Flexible-brain-image-696x696.jpeg\"   alt=\"University of Iowa researchers have detailed the workings of the brain's information hub, called the frontoparietal cortex. The colored areas in this illustration show frontoparietal regions tracking uncertainty when participants encounter changes to associations they previously learned. Credit Kai Hwang lab, University of Iowa\" title=\"Low-Res_Flexible brain image\"\/><\/a>University of Iowa researchers have detailed the workings of the brain&#8217;s information hub, called the frontoparietal cortex. The colored areas in this illustration show frontoparietal regions tracking uncertainty when participants encounter changes to associations they previously learned. <\/p>\n<p>Credit Kai Hwang lab, University of Iowa<br \/>\n            A study from the University of Iowa provides new insights into how the frontoparietal cortex functions as the brain\u2019s central processing hub, dynamically reconfiguring how it communicates across different regions to manage uncertainty and guide decision-making<br \/>\nManaging information and uncertainty<\/p>\n<p>The human brain continuously processes vast amounts of sensory input and memory signals. The frontoparietal cortex monitors incoming streams, sifting through incomplete or ambiguous data to establish a high-level summary that instructs the rest of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openaccessgovernment.org\/?s=brain#:~:text=Break%20down%20barriers%20to%20clinical%20trials%20for%20brain%20tumour%20patients\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">brain and body<\/a> on how to respond.<\/p>\n<p>Published in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/46\/30\/e0594262026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Journal of Neuroscience, the research demonstrates that rather than simply increasing overall activity during complex tasks,<\/a> the frontoparietal network dynamically shifts its functional connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>It alters its specific communication pathways with other brain areas depending on the exact information needed at each stage of a decision.<\/p>\n<p>Experimental design and computational modelling<\/p>\n<p>Led by corresponding author Kai Hwang and first author Stephanie Leach, the research team designed an experiment to isolate how the frontoparietal cortex adapts under shifting conditions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Task testing:\n<ul>\n<li>38 participants aged 18 to 35 learned specific motor responses, such as pressing specific buttons with dedicated fingers, mapped to combinations of visual stimuli including colours, faces, and scenes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Introducing uncertainty:\n<ul>\n<li>Researchers unexpectedly altered the rules governing these associations. This forced participants to re-learn pathways and distinguish whether errors were caused by environmental context shifts or perceptual misinterpretations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>fMRI and modelling:\n<ul>\n<li>By pairing real-time functional MRI scans with advanced computational modelling, the team tracked how frontoparietal regions tracked uncertainty and selectively integrated distinct signals from separate brain systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Clinical implications for neurological disorders<\/p>\n<p>The study\u2019s insights into how the frontoparietal cortex integrates contextual information may help advance clinical research into conditions where behavioural regulation and cognitive flexibility are impaired.<\/p>\n<p>In disorders such as Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.openaccessgovernment.org\/tag\/adhd\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ADHD<\/a>) and schizophrenia, individuals often struggle to adjust their behaviour appropriately to changing environments or exercise impulse control.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers suggest these symptoms may stem from a failure in the frontoparietal network\u2019s integration mechanism, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openaccessgovernment.org\/13-second-eye-test-predicts-consciousness-recovery-after-severe-brain-injury\/211042\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">preventing the brain<\/a> from utilising environmental context to regulate actions effectively.<\/p>\n<p>        Editor&#8217;s Recommended Articles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"University of Iowa researchers have detailed the workings of the brain&#8217;s information hub, called the frontoparietal cortex. The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[1277,18,135,19,17,1281],"class_list":["post-643293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-brain-research","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-neuroscience"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117115800310266932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}