Published on: Nov 26, 2025
Building compositional tasks with shared neural subspaces
The study shows that monkeys flexibly switch tasks by reusing shared, low-dimensional "neural subspaces" for sensory features and actions, composing them differently depending on the current task.
Cognition is flexible because agents can reuse and recombine subcomponents of behavior across tasks. The authors trained monkeys on three compositionally related tasks and recorded neural activity, finding that task-relevant information (stimulus features and actions) lived in shared neural subspaces used across tasks. Task performance involved transforming representations from a relevant shared sensory subspace into a relevant shared motor subspace. When tasks changed, monkeys updated beliefs about the current task and selectively engaged the appropriate shared subspaces, suggesting compositional reuse of neural representations supports flexible task switching.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09805-2
Key Takeaways
This study argues that flexible thought isn't built from scratch each time — the brain reuses shared "neural subspaces" like LEGO bricks, then routes between them depending on the task.
Task-relevant information lives in shared, low-dimensional subspaces reused across multiple tasks.
Behavior can be described as a sensory → motor subspace transformation, not a brand-new code per task.
Task switching looks like belief/context updating + selective subspace engagement (gating the right components).
This reuse mechanism helps explain fast generalization to new task combinations with minimal relearning.
Institutions
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Princeton University - Department of Psychology
Princeton, New Jersey, United States
New York University (NYU) - Department of Psychology
New York, New York, United States
Journal
Springer Nature
