Different underlying mechanisms for high and low arousal in probabilistic learning in humans

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 par-ticipants as they transitioned towards sleep or physical extenuation. The results revealed, in line with our pre-registered hypotheses, that low arousal leads to diminished behav-ioural 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. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Humans have the unique ability to adapt to changing environments by updating information and adjusting behavior, with cognitive flexibility being modulated differently by high and low arousal fluctuations. Low arousal leads to increased decision volatility and decreased behavioral performance, while high arousal results in increased perseverative behavior and performance decline.