By David Nield
Publication Date: 2025-12-15 00:02:00
Despite the rapid advances in artificial intelligence in recent years, the humble human brain still has a leg up on computers in its ability to transfer skills and learn across tasks. A new study shows how we probably do that.
Led by a team from Princeton University, the researchers behind the new study did not conduct tests on humans, but instead used animals very close to us in terms of biology and brain function: rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).
These monkeys were asked to identify shapes and colors on a screen and look in specific directions to give their answers. Meanwhile, brain scans were used to look for overlapping patterns and common areas of activity in the animals’ brains.
Related: Computers come from human brain tissue. Are we prepared?
These scans showed that the monkey brains used different blocks of neurons – “cognitive Legos,” as the researchers called them – during different tasks. Existing blocks can be repurposed and…
