cognitive flexibility and problem solving

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• Review Article
• Published: 03 February 2021

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility: neural mechanisms and clinical considerations

• Lucina Q. Uddin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2278-8962 1 , 2   na1  

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume  22 ,  pages 167–179 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Cognitive control
• Human behaviour

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility permit the appropriate adjustment of thoughts and behaviours in response to changing environmental demands. Brain mechanisms enabling flexibility have been examined using non-invasive neuroimaging and behavioural approaches in humans alongside pharmacological and lesion studies in animals. This work has identified large-scale functional brain networks encompassing lateral and orbital frontoparietal, midcingulo-insular and frontostriatal regions that support flexibility across the lifespan. Flexibility can be compromised in early-life neurodevelopmental disorders, clinical conditions that emerge during adolescence and late-life dementias. We critically evaluate evidence for the enhancement of flexibility through cognitive training, physical activity and bilingual experience.

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Introduction.

The year 2020 will be remembered as a time marked by an unprecedented need for flexibility. In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, governments, institutions, businesses and individuals made necessary and creative adaptations to cope with an uncertain, rapidly evolving situation 1 . This public health and economic crisis necessitated a great degree of cognitive and behavioural flexibility on the part of individuals adapting to the novel situation with which they were confronted. Responses to the pandemic, ranging from denial and maintenance of the status quo to swift and decisive action to curtail the spread of the causative virus, provided a real-world example of why an optimal level of flexibility is adaptive.

Developmental and lifespan research suggests that flexibility promotes academic achievement, employment success 2 , successful transitioning to adulthood 3 and other optimal life outcomes. Likewise, flexibility in later life can mitigate the effects of ageing on cognitive decline 4 . Flexibility is typically thought to comprise both cognitive and behavioural components. ‘Cognitive flexibility’ is broadly defined as the mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts according to the context of a situation 5 . ‘Behavioural flexibility’ refers to the adaptive change of behaviour in response to changing environmental contingencies 6 . The constructs of cognitive flexibility and behavioural flexibility are thus closely intertwined. Since most laboratory tasks used to assess cognitive flexibility require behavioural outputs, they in effect measure aspects of both cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Likewise, it is hard to imagine a flexible behavioural response that is not associated with flexible cognition. The terms ‘cognitive flexibility’ and ‘behavioural flexibility’ are often used interchangeably in the neuroscience literature, and the differentiation in terminology is most likely attributable to the different disciplines (cognitive psychology and behavioural neuroscience, respectively) from which they arose.

Components of flexibility

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility fall under the broader category of executive functions, or processes necessary for the control of goal-directed behaviour 7 . Projects such as the Cognitive Atlas 8 that aim to systematically characterize psychological processes classify flexibility under executive and cognitive control. The question of whether different processes falling under the executive function umbrella can be considered unitary reflections of the same underlying mechanism 9 has been approached using latent variable analysis to examine the extent of unity or diversity of executive functions. In one influential account, executive functions are postulated to comprise three latent variables, described as mental set-shifting (‘shifting’), information updating and monitoring in working memory (‘updating’) and inhibition of prepotent responses (‘inhibition’), that are moderately correlated with one another, yet clearly separable 7 . This framework has helped address the task impurity problem — the issue that because executive functions necessarily manifest themselves by operating on other cognitive processes, any executive task strongly implicates other processes not directly relevant to the target executive function. When we use the term ‘flexibility’, we mean to invoke the aspect of executive function that is typically associated with shifting.

Relatedly, a large and growing literature on flexibility comes from the study of working memory gating, or the process by which relevant contextual information is updated in working memory while distracting information is kept out 10 . Studies investigating neural mechanisms underlying flexibility in working memory are reviewed elsewhere 11 , 12 .

Box  1 describes two classic paradigms in cognitive and behavioural neuroscience that have historically been used to assess flexibility in human and animals. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological task developed for humans that measures the ability to infer rules to guide behaviour, create an attentional set based on abstract categories, and switch attention and adjust behaviour with changing task demands 13 . Performance on the WCST is strongly related to shifting (also referred to as ‘attention switching‘ or ‘task switching’), which involves the disengagement of an irrelevant task set and subsequent active engagement of a relevant task set 7 . Reversal learning tasks are often used to study behavioural flexibility in humans as well as rodents and non-human primates 14 . These paradigms assess the ability to respond adaptively in the face of changing stimulus–outcome or response–outcome contingencies 15 . What are referred to as ‘switch trials’ in cognitive flexibility studies are paralleled by ‘reversals’ in behavioural flexibility experiments. Both switches and reversals are points at which shifting from one task or mode of response to another is required. The first aim of this Review is to draw information from these and related neuroscience studies (Box  2 ) to summarize what is known regarding the brain systems and processes underlying cognitive and behavioural flexibility.

In the clinical realm, although diagnosis based on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is still the norm in psychiatry, there has been a push from the US National Institute of Mental Health to shift towards consideration of behaviour dimensionally — that is, along a continuum — rather than categorically. This research domain criteria (RDoC) approach recognizes that dimensions of behaviour can cut across traditional diagnostic categories and urges the integration of multiple levels of information from genomics to neural circuits to behaviour and self-report (for example, using questionnaires that are filled out by the participants themselves) to understand basic dimensions of functioning spanning the full range of human behaviour 16 . This framework may lead to a revised diagnostic nosology that is more firmly grounded in biology 17 . The ‘cognitive systems’ domain of the RDoC matrix includes constructs labelled ‘cognitive control’ and ‘working memory’, which contain subconstructs (goal selection/performance monitoring and flexible updating) that are closely tied to the constructs of cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Consensus regarding which cognitive tasks best probe flexibility can potentially be built by adopting the RDoC framework, which itself is continuously undergoing refinement 18 .

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility are compromised in clinical conditions affecting early life such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); those that emerge in adolescence, including schizophrenia and mood disorders; and dementias with later-life onset. While many of these conditions share flexibility deficits, the heterogeneous nature, severity and patterns of co-morbid symptoms complicate efforts to develop treatment strategies for enhancing flexibility. The scope of this Review will span these clinical considerations with the goal of identifying common cognitive, pharmacological and neurobiological factors contributing to inflexibility transdiagonostically. Finally, we critically evaluate potential avenues for flexibility training and discuss future directions for translational neuroscience.

Box 1 Experimental paradigms used to assess cognitive and behavioural flexibility in humans and animals

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (see the figure, part a ) was first developed in 1948 to assess perseveration, abstract reasoning and set-shifting 142 . The test takes 20–30 minutes to administer as follows: four cards incorporating three stimulus parameters (colour, shape and number of objects) are presented to the participants, who are then asked to sort individual response cards according to different principles. Four different ways of classifying each card are possible, and participants must learn using feedback provided by the experimenter whether a given classification is correct or not. After the participant has correctly sorted several cards according to one learned rule, the experimenter changes the rule without letting the participant know that the rule has been changed. Individuals with frontal lobe damage and children younger than 4 years tend to persist in sorting cards according to previously learned rules and have difficulty flexibly switching to new sorting rules 143 . In reversal learning paradigms (see the figure, part b ) animals form associations between two choices and their reward outcomes initially over a series of trials. After a successful learning period, the choice–outcome mapping is reversed. The ability of the animal to adapt and change behaviour after the first reversal is a measure of behavioural flexibility 144 . Part a is reproduced by special permission of the Publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., 16204 North Florida Avenue, Lutz, Florida 33549, from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Copyright 1981, 1993 by PAR, Inc. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission of PAR, Inc. Part b is adapted from Brady, A. M. & Floresco, S. B. Operant procedures for assessing behavioural flexibility in rats. J. Vis. Exp. 96 , e52387, https://doi.org/10.3791/52387 (2015).

Box 2 How is creativity related to flexibility?

Flexible thinking is a critical component of creativity, or the ability to think of new ideas or make new things. Flexibility and creativity have not historically been studied in tandem, despite the obvious parallels between the constructs. While cognitive flexibility is conceptualized as an aspect of executive function and is associated with a rich human neuroimaging literature, creativity has only recently become the topic of cognitive neuroscientific investigations. A query of researchers from academic societies focused on creativity (the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity and the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) yielded several cognitive constructs deemed relevant to creativity, including ‘flexibility’, ‘cognitive control’ and ‘ divergent thinking ’ 145 . A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of divergent thinking indicates that brain networks underlying creative idea generation are composed of lateral prefrontal, posterior parietal and anterior cingulate cortices, as well as the caudate 146 . A study examining neuroimaging predictors of creativity assessed with visual and verbal tests of divergent thinking, everyday creative behaviour and creative achievement revealed that greater creativity was broadly predicted by grey matter of the inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule as well as white matter integrity of the basal ganglia 147 . These findings align with functional activation studies showing inferior frontal gyrus involvement in verbal creative problem-solving 148 . The overlap in lateral frontoparietal and striatal involvement for both flexibility and creativity points to potential shared neural substrates for these related constructs. Future work in creativity could thus benefit from closer integration with the literature on cognitive flexibility.

Neural substrates of flexibility

Cognitive flexibility follows a protracted, inverted U-shaped developmental trajectory from early childhood through adolescence and adulthood, peaking between the second and third decades of life, and declining in late life 19 . Here we will summarize the role of lateral and orbital frontoparietal, midcingulo-insular and frontostriatal functional brain networks in supporting flexibility across the lifespan. The cognitive processes and neural properties contributing to the development of flexibility, its maturation in young adulthood and its decline with ageing will be delineated.

Cognitive flexibility in humans

In studies of the neural basis of cognitive flexibility, participants perform task-switching or set-shifting paradigms while their brain activity is monitored using functional MRI (fMRI) 20 . It is important to keep in mind that laboratory-based measures and neuropsychological tests have high construct validity but may not always converge with real-world flexible behaviours as indexed using self-report or informant-report questionnaires, which typically have greater ecological validity 21 . The Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) is an assessment available in versions for both children and adults that includes a measure of an individual’s ability to shift, or make transitions, tolerate change, flexibly problem-solve, switch attention and change focus from one topic to another 22 , 23 . Adult participants complete the BRIEF as a self-report, and parents and teachers can complete this assessment to evaluate school-aged children. Test batteries that include assessments of flexibility in children and adults include the WCST, the Dimensional Change Card Sort 24 , the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) 25 , NEPSY-II 26 and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Intra–Extra Dimensional Set Shift task 27 .

Cognitive flexibility is difficult to isolate, as it requires the confluence of several aspects of executive function 20 , 28 . Neurosynth is a tool for synthesizing the results of human neuroimaging studies to produce mappings between neural activation patterns and cognitive states using text mining and automated meta-analyses 29 . Entering the terms describing the latent variables comprising executive function into Neurosynth reveals that the brain maps associated with these interrelated cognitive constructs are highly overlapping 7 (Fig.  1a ).

a | Three latent variables that constitute executive function are referred to as ‘shifting (flexibility)’, ‘updating (working memory)’ and ‘inhibition’ 7 . Automated meta-analyses of published functional neuroimaging studies can be conducted with Neurosynth , a Web-based platform that uses text mining to extract activation coordinates from studies reporting on a specific psychological term of interest and machine learning to estimate the likelihood that activation maps are associated with specific psychological terms, thus creating mapping between neural and cognitive states (see ref. 29 for detailed methods). Neurosynth reveals that brain imaging studies including the terms ‘shifting’, ‘updating’ and ‘inhibition’ report highly overlapping patterns of activation in lateral frontoparietal and midcingulo-insular brain regions, underscoring the difficulty of isolating the construct of flexibility from associated executive functions. a | Maps created by first, entering the terms ‘shifting’, ‘updating’ and ‘inhibition’ individually into Neurosynth; second, displaying the ‘uniformity test’ results to view z scores corresponding to the degree to which each voxel in the brain is consistently activated in studies that use each of the selected terms; third, downloading the resulting brain images (with thresholding at a false discovery rate of 0.01) in the form of NIfTi files; and fourth, displaying the brain images using the image viewer MRIcron with the following settings: 2.3 <  z  < 8 (scale); x  = 45 (Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinate for sagittal slice), y  = 19 (MNI coordinate for coronal slice) and z  = 45 (MNI coordinate for axial slice). The uniformity test map depicts z scores from a one-way ANOVA testing whether the proportion of studies that report activation at a given voxel differs from the rate that would be expected if activations were uniformly distributed throughout grey matter. b | Brain regions supporting executive function and flexibility operate within the context of the broader networks shown in part a . During performance of a flexible item selection task, participants directly engage the inferior frontal junction (IFJ), which influences activity in other lateral frontoparietal and midcingulo-insular regions. ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; AG, angular gurus; AI, anterior insula; dlPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; IPL, inferior parietal lobule. Part b adapted with permission from ref. 33 , Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A large body of literature on human functional neuroimaging studies using task-switching and set-shifting paradigms points to a central role for the lateral frontoparietal network (L-FPN) and the midcingulo-insular network (M-CIN) in supporting executive function and cognitive flexibility 20 , 30 . The L-FPN is also referred to as the executive control network and includes lateral prefrontal cortices (PFCs; dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC), ventrolateral PFC and inferior frontal junction (IFJ)), the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), posterior inferior temporal lobes and portions of the midcingulate gyrus. The M-CIN is sometimes referred to as the salience network or the cingulo-opercular network, and includes bilateral anterior insulae (AI), the anterior midcingulate cortex and subcortical nodes, including the amygdala and thalamus 31 .

While whole-brain activation patterns reveal how effortful control and executive functions broadly engage these systems, approaches for estimating task-modulated network connectivity are beginning to reveal how specific experimental manipulations are associated with dynamic relationships among brain regions. For example, one study found that the IFJ is engaged during the updating of task representations, a core aspect of flexibility 32 . During a task requiring flexible selection of items based on different stimulus dimensions, participants initially directly engaged the IFJ, leading to recruitment of other L-FPN and M-CIN regions, including the dlPFC, IPL, anterior midcingulate cortex and AI via functional connections 33 . Considerable individual variability in functional network topography supporting cognitive flexibility was observed, and the strength of functional connectivity between selected brain regions was related to individual differences in task performance (Fig.  1b ). This finding is in line with earlier work demonstrating domain-general task-switching activation in the IFJ 34 , a brain region that exhibits meta-analytic co-activation and resting state functional connectivity with the AI, dlPFC and IPL 35 .

Behavioural flexibility in animals

Assessment of behavioural flexibility in marmoset monkeys reveals that animals with lateral PFC lesions are not impaired in reversal learning or in shifting behavioural responses to a previously rewarded alternative. These monkeys are, however, impaired with regard to extradimensional shifts . Monkeys with orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) lesions show the opposite behaviour: impairment in reversal learning but no deficits in extradimensional shifts. These findings have led to the proposal that the lateral PFC is necessary for shifting of responding between abstract perceptual dimensions, whereas the OFC and associated corticostriatal loops are necessary for shifting of responding between different stimuli with specific associations with reinforcement 36 . Similar findings have been observed in rodents engaging in reversal learning paradigms. OFC inactivation in rats impairs reversal learning owing to perseverance of previously learned choices 15 . Neurons in the mouse OFC respond saliently and transiently to rule switches during reversal learning 37 . Dorsomedial striatal inactivation impairs both reversal learning and strategy switching, resulting in an inability to maintain new choice patterns once they are selected. The dorsomedial striatum is thought to dynamically interact with multiple prefrontal subregions that generate new strategies to facilitate behavioural flexibility 38 .

For humans, reversal learning is much easier to perform than extradimensional shifts, but similar neuroanatomy to that seen in animals has been observed using fMRI 39 . Neuroimaging additionally reveals the role of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus in suppression of prior learned responses and response inhibition during reversal learning 40 .

Brain dynamics supporting flexibility

Brain dynamics underlie complex forms of cognition and behaviour, including flexibility. Recent work has examined time-varying or dynamic changes in functional coupling between brain regions 41 , 42 , 43 . Sliding window functional connectivity analyses can be used to quantify brain dynamic metrics, including ‘dwell time’ (the time spent in a particular brain state), ‘frequency of occurrence’ (the number of times a given brain state occurs) and ‘transitions’ (the number of times transitions between brain states are observed) (Fig.  2a , b ). With use of this approach, it has been shown that certain patterns of whole-brain dynamics are associated with elevated levels of cognitive flexibility. Individuals who score higher on the WCST exhibit more episodes of more frequently occurring brain states, and fewer episodes of less frequently occurring brain states that have previously been associated with low vigilance and arousal 44 (Fig.  2c ). Dynamic patterns among specific networks have also been linked with flexible behaviours. Time-varying functional connectivity of the M-CIN predicts individual differences in cognitive flexibility 45 . Dynamics between the default mode or medial frontoparietal network (M-FPN) and the L-FPN have also been linked to cognitive flexibility 46 . A study using hidden Markov models demonstrates that the proportion of time an individual spends in a brain state characterized by functional connectivity of M-FPN and L-FPN regions relates to individual differences in cognitive flexibility 47 . Multimodal investigations considering both anatomical connectivity and activation dynamics find that greater alignment between white matter networks and functional signals is associated with greater cognitive flexibility 48 .

a | In sliding window dynamic functional connectivity analyses, time-varying patterns of connectivity between brain regions are quantified as follows. Whole-brain functional connectivity matrices computed for each window (for example, 45 seconds of functional MRI time-series data) are subjected to clustering, and each window is assigned to a ‘brain state’, here labelled 1, 2 and 3. b | Dynamic metrics, including frequency, dwell time and transitions between states, can then be computed on the basis of trajectories of brain state evolution over time 141 . c | Brain states are ordered from most frequently occurring on the left (state 1, characterized by weak correlations among brain regions) to least frequently occurring on the right (state 5, characterized by strong correlations among brain regions). Higher executive function performance measured outside the scanner is associated with greater episodes of more frequently occurring states and fewer episodes of less frequently occurring states. In the colour bar, hot colours (red) represent high correlation values and cool colours (blue) represent low correlation values. WCST, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Parts a , b and c adapted with permission from 44 , Elsevier.

The emerging links between brain dynamics and flexible behaviours in neurotypical adults 49 have set the stage for understanding how these processes are affected in development and ageing. Neural flexibility, or the frequency with which brain regions change allegiance between functional modules, has recently been shown to increase with age during the first 2 years of life 50 . At the other end of the lifespan, older adults performing well on a cognitive test battery were found to exhibit brain states characterized by global coherence, whereas those performing poorly exhibited greater frequency of switching between dynamic brain states 51 . Ease of transitions between brain states distinguishes younger from older individuals, and is further linked with executive function indexed by the D-KEFS. In younger adults, executive function ability is correlated with efficiency in brain dynamics of the M-CIN, whereas for older adults this ability is associated with efficiency in the M-FPN 52 . Brain regions in higher-order association cortices exhibit high levels of functional flexibility, with dissociable age-related changes observed in frontal and parietal regions across the lifespan 53 . Several recent studies have further shown how individual differences in task performance are related to patterns of dynamic brain organization 54 , 55 . Taken together, this emerging literature is in line with the notion that the ability of the brain to flexibly reconfigure itself in response to changing demands may underlie individual differences in flexible behaviours.

Brain variability and flexibility

Variability in neural signals, while initially conceptualized as noise 56 , has more recently been linked with cognitive capacity. Between childhood and mid-adulthood, brain signal variability increases with age, shows negative correlations with reaction time variability and positive correlations with accuracy 57 . Brain variability appears to increase during task performance compared with rest in younger and faster-performing adults, whereas older and slower-performing adults exhibit less differentiation in brain variability across experimental conditions 58 . These findings build on work demonstrating that blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) variability is a better predictor of age than BOLD mean 59 . Across the age range from 6 to 85 years, BOLD signal variability decreases linearly across most of the brain, with the exception of the AI, a critical M-CIN node involved in flexibility, which shows the opposite pattern 60 (Fig.  3 ). In line with findings from functional activation studies, it has been shown that increased IFJ variability is linked to better performance on a cognitive flexibility task 61 . Older adults aged 59–73 years who exhibit upregulated brain signal variability show higher levels of task performance 62 . The suggestion is that higher variability might reflect a broader repertoire of metastable brain states and transitions between them to enable optimal responses 57 .

a | Mean squared successive difference is one approach for computing brain signal variability. Applied to neural time-series data, mean squared successive difference is calculated according to the equation shown. b | Regionally specific increases and decreases in brain signal variability across the lifespan may be associated with changes in behavioural performance. Brain signal variability decreases linearly across the lifespan in most brain regions, with the exception of the anterior insula, which exhibits linear age-related increases in variability. In early and late life, the speculation is that larger differences in variability between brain regions may lead to suboptimal behavioural performance. Optimal behavioural performance may be associated with a balance between high and low variability in different brain regions (black arrows) during midlife. Part b is adapted from ref. 60 , CC BY 4.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).

Flexibility in clinical conditions

Executive function impairments broadly, and flexibility impairments specifically, are observed across many forms of psychopathology and may serve as transdiagnostic intermediate phenotypes 63 . All of the DSM-V categories (with the possible exception of sleep–wake disorders) include clinical conditions in which domains of executive function are compromised; this raises the question of the extent to which the construct of flexibility has discriminative value. In several of the disorders in which flexibility deficits have been documented, these impairments can be observed even while performance on basic perceptual and motor tasks remains unaltered.

Flexibility deficits are observed in neurodevelopmental conditions with early life onset, such as ASD and ADHD, as well as psychiatric conditions that emerge in adolescence, including mood disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia. Late life onset dementias, including Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease, are also marked by rigidity and cognitive inflexibility. The extent to which common and distinct neural mechanisms underlie the variety of flexibility deficits observed across the lifespan in these conditions will be explored in this section (Table  1 ).

Flexibility in developmental disorders

ASD and ADHD are two prevalent, heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders typically diagnosed in the first 5 years of life. In children with ASD or ADHD, executive function and flexibility deficits are often observed in laboratory settings and in day-to-day activities 64 , 65 . Although children with ASD, ADHD or co-morbid ASD and ADHD may all exhibit flexibility deficits, the nature and severity of these issues can differ across and even within these disorders.

Early work in developmental psychopathology 66 and recent meta-analyses confirm broad executive dysfunction in ASD across domains 67 as well as more specific impairments in flexibility, typically assessed with the WCST 64 , 68 . Restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs), considered core deficits in ASD, can include stereotyped movements, insistence on sameness, and circumscribed or perseverative interests 69 . The severity of RRBs is associated with measures of cognitive inflexibility in ASD 70 . Studies of the neural circuitry underlying RRBs transdiagostically point to a critical role for frontostriatal systems in mediating these behaviours 71 . A recent review of neural mechanisms underlying cognitive and behavioural flexibility in autism additionally points to atypical patterns of L-FPN and M-CIN activation in response to task switching and set-shifting 72 .

While ASD is characterized by difficulty in flexibly adapting to changes in routines, children with ADHD have difficulty with attentional focus and exhibit high levels of variability in moment-to-moment behaviours 73 . Diagnostic criteria for ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity 69 , which can be thought of as manifestations of distractibility or too much flexibility. Still, the story is not as simple as ‘impaired flexibility in ASD’ versus ‘heightened flexibility in ADHD’, as there is a very high degree of co-morbidity between these two disorders 74 such that the combination of impaired flexibility and inattention can manifest itself in the same individual. Some reports claim that executive dysfunction is more pervasive and more severe in ADHD than in ASD 75 , yet studies targeting flexibility document that children with ASD perform poorer on the WCST than do children with ADHD 76 . Age-related improvements in executive function are more clearly observed in ASD than in ADHD 77 . Even though not all children with a primary diagnosis of ASD exhibit executive dysfunction 78 , the vast majority of children with co-morbid ASD and ADHD do exhibit executive function impairments 65 .

Only a handful of neuroimaging studies have examined ASD and ADHD together. One found evidence for shared and distinct patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity centrality in children with these disorders 79 . Another reported no evidence for group differences in functional network connectivity across diagnostic groups 80 . Although it is hypothesized that the common behavioural manifestations of cognitive inflexibility across ASD and ADHD should be reflected in shared neural substrates, few assessments of brain circuitry supporting flexibility across these disorders have been conducted. Data-driven techniques are now being used to identify key dimensions of functioning that overlap across diagnostic categories and also present heterogeneously within diagnostic categories 81 . For example, transdiagnostic executive function subtypes have been identified with use of community detection algorithms, and children within the subtype characterized by inflexibility showed a failure to modulate parietal lobe activation in response to increasing executive task demands 82 . Other work examining ASD, ADHD and co-morbid ASD and ADHD using latent profile analysis also provides evidence for transdiagnostic executive function classes 65 . A study using magnetoencephalography found that during an intradimensional/extradimensional set-shift task, children with ASD exhibited greater parietal activity than children with ADHD, and both groups showed sustained parietal activation with an absence of sequential progression of brain activation from parietal to frontal regions 83 . Further work is needed to understand the brain activation patterns and dynamics underlying reduced or heightened flexibility in these neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as the paradoxical combinations (for example, inflexibility alongside distractibility) that can sometimes be observed. This work might focus on how dynamics within specific brain networks might support different domains of executive function. For example, intrinsic dynamics of the M-CIN (but not the L-FPN) have been shown to relate to individual differences in distractibility in neurotypical adults 84 .

Measurement issues complicate the assessment of flexibility deficits and their neural bases in ASD and ADHD, as different combinations of laboratory-based measures, neuropsychological tests and informant-report questionnaires have been used across studies 72 . It is important to note that well-documented inflexible everyday behaviours in ASD are not necessarily directly related to cognitive flexibility deficits assessed experimentally 85 . Standardized informant-report assessments specifically targeting flexible behaviours in autism have been developed, such as the Flexibility Scale, which reveals factors related to routines/rituals, transitions/change, special interests, social flexibility and generativity 86 . Still, these types of nuanced measure of flexibility are not yet routinely used in transdiagnostic assessment settings, leaving several open questions as to the specific profile of executive function and flexibility deficits that characterize neurodevelopmental disorders.

Flexibility in adolescence and midlife

Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by dramatic physical, social and emotional changes that require cognitive flexibility for successful navigation. Adolescence also coincides with a period of vulnerability and risk of the onset of psychopathologies, including anxiety, depression, OCD and schizophrenia. Brain circuitry supporting cognitive control is still undergoing development during adolescence 87 , in part owing to differential development of limbic and executive control systems 88 . These asymmetries are evident in studies demonstrating that adolescents learn faster from negative reward prediction errors than adults, and recruit the right AI to a greater degree during probabilistic reversal learning 89 .

Signs of mood disorders, including anxiety and depression, can develop during the adolescent years. Pathological anxiety involves excessive worry or the tendency to dwell on difficulties and perceive future problems as more likely than they are in reality, whereas depression involves rumination or passively focusing on distressing thoughts in response to sad mood and experiences 69 . Worry and rumination may reflect the same underlying construct of repetitive negative thinking, which is likely a product of inflexible thinking and difficulty engaging the L-FPN executive control systems in the service of emotion regulation 90 .

Another adolescent-onset disorder characterized by severe flexibility impairments is OCD. Flexibility deficits in OCD manifest themselves as maladaptive patterns of recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges and impulses that are intrusive, as well as compulsions, including repetitive behaviours that an individual feels driven to perform 69 . Neuroimaging investigations across OCD and ASD provide evidence that increased functional connectivity within frontostriatal circuitry relates to more severe symptoms of repetitive behaviour 91 . In OCD, reduced activation of the OFC and frontostriatal regions during cognitive flexibility task performance is regularly reported 92 , 93 .

Schizophrenia is another condition emerging during late adolescence that is associated with reduced cognitive flexibility, often accompanied by frontal lobe hypometabolism 94 . Individuals with schizophrenia perform worse than individuals with OCD on the WCST, suggesting the involvement of different subsystems within basal–corticofrontal circuits in these two disorders 95 . Just as in the general population, frontostriatal circuitry appears to be linked with variability of cognitive flexibility performance in schizophrenia 96 .

Flexibility in neurological disorders

While executive function and flexibility deficits are observed in normal ageing, these issues can be further exacerbated in neurological disorders that affect later life. Older adults exhibit reduced efficiency of lateral prefrontal control regions, and compensate for age-related declines in task-switching performance by relying on enhanced frontotemporal connectivity compared with younger adults 97 . The default–executive coupling hypothesis of ageing proposes that declining performance on executive control tasks and reduced flexibility in older adulthood are underpinned by inflexible coupling of the M-FPN and lateral prefrontal regions 98 . A recent meta-analysis of fMRI studies of executive function in ageing reveals that the IFJ is recruited to a different degree in younger versus older adults. Furthermore, decreased functional connectivity between the IFJ and other executive function-related brain regions is observed with increasing age 99 . Whole-brain computational models permit quantification of metastability and recalibration processes underlying changes in cognitive performance over the lifespan. Such models can help clarify how dedifferentiation observed at the network level, such as that proposed by the default–executive coupling hypothesis of ageing, can be seen as compensation for the decline of structural integrity in the ageing brain 100 .

One of the signs of dementia is heightened executive function impairment compared with that from normal ageing, including a deterioration of mental flexibility and the onset of cognitive rigidity. A burgeoning functional neuroimaging literature including task-switching and set-shifting tasks adapted from neuropsychological assessments (most notably the WCST) investigates cognitive flexibility deficits in ageing and dementia, confirming the critical role of PFC recruitment in maintaining these functions 101 . Flexibility deficits observed in Parkinson disease may result from dysfunction of frontostriatal loops resulting from dopamine depletion 102 . Across neurological disorders, different aspects of cognitive flexibility may be impaired. For example, frontoparietal changes affecting set-shifting ability characterize patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, whereas frontostriatal changes affecting rule inference are seen in primary dystonia and Parkinson disease 103 .

Dysexecuitve syndrome, which involves impairment of working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, is seen in progressive dementia syndrome due to Alzheimer disease. This syndrome is accompanied by frontoparietal hypometabolism as demonstrated by positron emission tomography 104 . Taken together, the literature on flexibility in ageing and dementia points to frontoparietal and frontostriatal dysfunction, as might be predicted from the human and animal research.

While we focus on maladaptive outcomes associated with flexibility deficits here, flexibility reductions can also be associated with adaptive or healthy traits, and the level of flexibility required can fluctuate depending on the context. Therefore, alterations in flexibility might in some cases represent normative adaptations to the perceived characteristics of the environment. In Parkinson disease, cognitive impairments such as slowed thinking and cognitive inflexibility parallel motor impairments 102 , suggesting that reduced flexibility might be an appropriate reaction to a world that is experienced as more stationary. Cognitive stability — the opposite of cognitive flexibility — can likewise be beneficial during tasks requiring focused attention and distractor inhibition 105 . Thus, reduced flexibility may paradoxically be optimal under specific conditions.

Drugs and training of flexibility

Animal studies have revealed how specific neurotransmitter systems underlie flexible cognition and behaviour. In humans, cognitive training paradigms and physical activity have been touted as means to bolster flexibility, and there is some initial evidence from studies of development and ageing that bilingualism may confer greater flexibility. This section will summarize what is known regarding the pharmacology of cognitive and behavioural flexibility, then critically review the research on cognitive flexibility enhancement and training.

Pharmacology supporting flexibility

Serotonin and striatal dopamine neurotransmitter systems have a modulatory role in reversal learning, as evidenced by human and animal lesion, stimulation and neuroimaging studies 106 . In humans, transient cerebral serotonin depletion affects processing of negative feedback during reversal learning 107 . l -DOPA withdrawal studies demonstrate that patients with Parkinson disease not receiving medication show inflexibility in the form of increased switch costs when switching between tasks 108 . Methylphenidate, a psychostimulant influencing dopamine and noradrenaline activity, has long been used to treat ADHD and other developmental disorders 109 . There is some evidence from studies of rhesus monkeys given therapeutic doses of methylphenidate that the drug can impair task-switching performance. This indicates that the improved ability to focus attention may come at the expense of hindering flexibility 110 . Taken together, these findings suggest that serotonergic and dopaminergic signalling are critically involved in flexible cognition and behaviour.

The striatal cholinergic systems also appear to play a role in behavioural flexibility. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies in humans during reversal learning show that lower levels of choline in the dorsal striatum are associated with a lower number of perseverative trials 111 . Studies of the contributions of the cholinergic system to flexibility are complicated, however, by the fact that many cholinergic neurons co-release glutamate or GABA along with acetylcholine 112 .

Interventions to improve flexibility

Computerized cognitive training, physical activity and specialized curricula have been described as potential interventions to improve flexibility in children, yet the evidence supporting the efficacy of these interventions is mixed. Successful programmes involve repeated practice and progressive increases in challenge to executive functions, and children who are more impaired initially benefit the most from cognitive training and physical activity interventions 2 . Generally, training in a specific aspect of executive function can produce short-term narrow transfer, but does not generalize to other aspects of executive function. For example, working memory training can improve working memory performance, but not inhibitory processing or other skills 113 . Implementing a game-based flexibility training designed to increase motivation in children, one study found long-term transfer effects in untrained executive control tasks. The study authors also reported greater performance improvements in the game-based flexibility training group on reading comprehension, an effect that appeared only at the 6-week follow up. These findings suggest that the addition of game elements to executive control training tasks may result in enhanced complexity that facilitates transfer to academic abilities 114 .

Flexibility training in neurodevelopmental disorders has also produced mixed results. One computerized working memory and cognitive flexibility training designed for children with ASD did not result in differential improvement in a randomized controlled trial 115 . An executive function intervention known as Unstuck and On Target aims to address insistence on sameness, flexibility, goal setting and planning using a cognitive behavioural programme. This intervention has been shown to be effective for improving classroom behaviour, flexibility and problem-solving in children with ASD 116 .

Cognitive training has been used to combat age-related cognitive decline, and training-induced structural and functional brain changes in healthy older adults (60 years of age and older) have been demonstrated 117 . A task-switching study reported training-related improvements in task performance, but limited transfer to untrained similar flexibility tasks and no improvements for untrained domains of executive function after 1 year 118 .

Studies examining the effects of aerobic exercise or resistance training interventions without a cognitive component seem to suggest little or no executive function benefit, although exercise that is cognitively challenging, such as martial arts, can produce measurable benefits 119 . In adults of around 60 years of age and older, aerobic exercise interventions may contribute to salutary effects on cognition through prevention of volumetric decreases of hippocampal volume over time 120 . The small effects reported in studies of physical activity interventions on executive function stand in contrast to the fact that children with greater cardiovascular fitness perform better on executive function components, including information processing and control, visuospatial working memory and attention efficiency 121 . Likewise, individuals who are generally more physically active have better executive function than those who are more sedentary 122 .

Effects of bilingualism on flexibility

More than 50% of the global population is bilingual, or able to use two languages with equal fluency. The concept of a ‘bilingual advantage’ suggests that individuals fluent in two languages may develop cognitive advantages, particularly within the executive function domain. Evidence supporting the bilingual advantage identifies inhibition and monitoring as potential mechanisms conferring enhanced executive control in individuals with diverse language experiences 123 . This model suggests that both languages in a bilingual individual’s repertoire are always active to a degree, and there is a constant competition for selection. Lifelong experience of managing and resolving competition between languages imposes demands that require brain regions not typically used for language processing 124 . This bilingual experience reorganizes brain networks to create more effective mechanisms for executive control and results in cognitive benefits when non-linguistic processing draws on the same executive control networks 125 . As language switching involves the same frontal systems involved in executive control and inhibitory processes, it is thought that the bilingual experience results in general enhancement of these brain systems 123 , 126 .

Current research in bilingualism has produced mixed results, and there is no consensus regarding the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive advantages in the executive function domain. Some researchers report cognitive benefits in bilingual individuals 127 , while others fail to replicate these findings in typically developing children 128 and adults 129 . However, the bilingual advantage has been observed in children of lower socio-economic status 124 , 127 . Likewise, in individuals experiencing age-related cognitive decline, a ‘cognitive reserve’ has been observed whereby the bilingual brain is more resistant to neurodegeneration and dementia 123 . The observation that bilingual experience helps offset age-related losses in executive processes has led to the proposal that bilingualism may act as a neuroprotective factor against dementia by buffering against the decline in cognitive control abilities typically observed in later life 130 , 131 . Thus, the bilingual advantage may manifest itself under specific circumstances, but further research is needed on this topic.

Summary and future directions

The global COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for optimal levels of flexibility at the level of institutions and individuals. Neuroscience research has probed flexibility using paradigms that are capable of spanning both human and animal investigations. This research has demonstrated that cognitive and behavioural flexibility involve executive control processes that rely on the coordinated functioning among several large-scale frontoparietal and frontostriatal brain networks enacting salience detection, attention, inhibition, working memory and switching processes 20 . Understanding the typical development of these networks, their stabilization in adulthood and their potential for breakdown with ageing is the first step towards pinpointing effective strategies for addressing flexibility deficits in psychiatric and neurological disorders and enhancing flexibility across the lifespan. For example, the identification of unique brain profiles supporting various degrees of flexibility across clinical and neurotypical populations could aid in identifying interventions with the highest probability of success for a particular individual. Capturing mechanistic insights with the aid of neuroimaging will help to improve our current diagnostic nosology and move us towards achieving the goals of precision medicine.

Future directions include addressing issues of measurement to maximize ecological and construct validity in research on flexibility. It is important to acknowledge that highly reliable self-report or informant-report measures may better predict individual differences in real-life outcomes, whereas laboratory performance-based measures that are sensitive to within-person experimental manipulations can reveal processes underlying task performance 21 . Standardized, transdiagnostic assessments that are normed for targeted age ranges must be developed and universally adopted to permit characterization of common and unique aspects of flexibility that are affected across clinical conditions. Several self-report scales have been developed for use in adults, including the Cognitive Control and Flexibility Questionnaire 132 , the Cognitive Flexibility Scale 133 and the Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire 134 . Consistent use of questionnaires in future studies will provide a clearer picture of the clinical profile of flexibility deficits. Generally however, self-report/informant-report and behavioural measures are only weakly correlated, as behavioural measures index responses during structured situations, whereas self-report/informant-report queries how individuals behave in real-life situations 21 . Going forward, the challenge of how to bridge laboratory-based, objective behavioural measures of flexibility with real-world indices of flexible behaviour must be tackled. Recent approaches focus on measurement of ‘hot’ or emotionally salient flexibility 135 , 136 , and have also turned towards implicit rather than explicit flexibility performance measures 33 as possible bridges between real-world and laboratory performance.

Translational neuroscience research adopting the RDoC framework will likely continue to build on findings that interactions among the M-CIN, L-FPN and M-FPN are implicated as common neurobiological substrates for mental illness 28 , 137 . The emerging field of computational psychiatry that strives to use data-driven approaches and machine-learning to improve disease classification and predict treatment outcomes 138 will benefit by focusing on transdiagnostic constructs such as flexibility, with clear links to real-life outcomes. The success of these clinically oriented endeavours, however, hinges on progress in neuroinformatics efforts to construct biologically informed taxonomies of psychological processes 139 .

At present, there have been no interventional studies demonstrating the role of changing brain network dynamics in supporting successful training of flexibility. Following similar work providing evidence for dynamic reconfiguration of brain networks with working memory training 140 , future research should focus efforts towards delineating how effective cognitive and behavioural flexibility training alters brain dynamics. Studies of cognitive training generally provide limited support for far transfer of skills. Similarly, while the cumulative effects of exercise are clearly beneficial for the brain and cognition, more research is needed to determine the type and dosage of physical activity intervention that is most suited to enhance executive function and flexibility. If bilingualism can confer a flexibility advantage in some instances, then encouraging bilingualism might be a ‘natural intervention’ strategy to improve flexibility. The bolstering of flexibility that may be conferred by bilingualism provides an added incentive to promote the learning of multiple languages from a young age. The next frontier of flexibility research will likely involve collaborations among clinical psychologists, medical professionals, neuroscientists, engineers, computer scientists and educators.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH107549), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a Gabelli Senior Scholar award from the University of Miami to L.Q.U.

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A statistical approach for identifying clusters based on a series of continuous variables or indicators. This type of analysis assumes that there are unobserved latent profiles that generate responses on indicator items.

Also referred to as ‘shifting’, this refers to the ability to switch back and forth between multiple tasks.

Automatic behavioural responses with which immediate reinforcement is associated. Executive functions are necessary for overriding prepotent responses.

A system for classification of diseases.

The research domain criteria (RDoC) matrix is a tool to help implement the principles of RDoC in research studies.

In psychology, the idea that a test is valid if it measures what it claims to measure or is designed to measure.

In the study of creativity, the type of thinking used in an open-ended task, such as coming up with multiple uses for a given object.

In psychology, the idea that something measured with a laboratory test translates to performance in real-life settings.

In psychology, cognitive constructs are terms used to described mental processes. Examples of cognitive constructs include ‘attention‘, ‘memory’ and ‘perception’.

In set-shifting tasks, an extradimensional shift is one in which the important aspect of a stimulus switches from one category to another (for example, in a discrimination task, when colour is no longer an informative aspect of the stimulus, and shape becomes the discriminating characteristic).

Statistical models in which the system being modelled is assumed to be a Markov process (where the probability of each event depends on the state in the previous event) with unobservable or hidden states.

A state of a dynamical system other than the state of least energy. In a non-linear system such as the brain, ‘metastability’ refers to a state in which signals fall outside their natural equilibrium state, but persist for an extended period of time.

Phenomena in which training or learning in one context applies to another.

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Cognitive and behavioural flexibility: neural mechanisms and clinical considerations

Lucina q. uddin.

1 Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL USA

2 Neuroscience Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL USA

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility permit the appropriate adjustment of thoughts and behaviours in response to changing environmental demands. Brain mechanisms enabling flexibility have been examined using non-invasive neuroimaging and behavioural approaches in humans alongside pharmacological and lesion studies in animals. This work has identified large-scale functional brain networks encompassing lateral and orbital frontoparietal, midcingulo-insular and frontostriatal regions that support flexibility across the lifespan. Flexibility can be compromised in early-life neurodevelopmental disorders, clinical conditions that emerge during adolescence and late-life dementias. We critically evaluate evidence for the enhancement of flexibility through cognitive training, physical activity and bilingual experience.

Flexibility is critical for the optimal adaptation of thoughts and actions under changing circumstances. In this Review, Uddin summarizes research that has identified cognitive processes and neural systems supporting flexibility and discusses ways to improve flexibility across the lifespan.

Introduction

The year 2020 will be remembered as a time marked by an unprecedented need for flexibility. In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, governments, institutions, businesses and individuals made necessary and creative adaptations to cope with an uncertain, rapidly evolving situation 1 . This public health and economic crisis necessitated a great degree of cognitive and behavioural flexibility on the part of individuals adapting to the novel situation with which they were confronted. Responses to the pandemic, ranging from denial and maintenance of the status quo to swift and decisive action to curtail the spread of the causative virus, provided a real-world example of why an optimal level of flexibility is adaptive.

Developmental and lifespan research suggests that flexibility promotes academic achievement, employment success 2 , successful transitioning to adulthood 3 and other optimal life outcomes. Likewise, flexibility in later life can mitigate the effects of ageing on cognitive decline 4 . Flexibility is typically thought to comprise both cognitive and behavioural components. ‘Cognitive flexibility’ is broadly defined as the mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts according to the context of a situation 5 . ‘Behavioural flexibility’ refers to the adaptive change of behaviour in response to changing environmental contingencies 6 . The constructs of cognitive flexibility and behavioural flexibility are thus closely intertwined. Since most laboratory tasks used to assess cognitive flexibility require behavioural outputs, they in effect measure aspects of both cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Likewise, it is hard to imagine a flexible behavioural response that is not associated with flexible cognition. The terms ‘cognitive flexibility’ and ‘behavioural flexibility’ are often used interchangeably in the neuroscience literature, and the differentiation in terminology is most likely attributable to the different disciplines (cognitive psychology and behavioural neuroscience, respectively) from which they arose.

Components of flexibility

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility fall under the broader category of executive functions, or processes necessary for the control of goal-directed behaviour 7 . Projects such as the Cognitive Atlas 8 that aim to systematically characterize psychological processes classify flexibility under executive and cognitive control. The question of whether different processes falling under the executive function umbrella can be considered unitary reflections of the same underlying mechanism 9 has been approached using latent variable analysis to examine the extent of unity or diversity of executive functions. In one influential account, executive functions are postulated to comprise three latent variables, described as mental set-shifting (‘shifting’), information updating and monitoring in working memory (‘updating’) and inhibition of prepotent responses (‘inhibition’), that are moderately correlated with one another, yet clearly separable 7 . This framework has helped address the task impurity problem — the issue that because executive functions necessarily manifest themselves by operating on other cognitive processes, any executive task strongly implicates other processes not directly relevant to the target executive function. When we use the term ‘flexibility’, we mean to invoke the aspect of executive function that is typically associated with shifting.

Relatedly, a large and growing literature on flexibility comes from the study of working memory gating, or the process by which relevant contextual information is updated in working memory while distracting information is kept out 10 . Studies investigating neural mechanisms underlying flexibility in working memory are reviewed elsewhere 11 , 12 .

Box  1 describes two classic paradigms in cognitive and behavioural neuroscience that have historically been used to assess flexibility in human and animals. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological task developed for humans that measures the ability to infer rules to guide behaviour, create an attentional set based on abstract categories, and switch attention and adjust behaviour with changing task demands 13 . Performance on the WCST is strongly related to shifting (also referred to as ‘attention switching‘ or ‘task switching’), which involves the disengagement of an irrelevant task set and subsequent active engagement of a relevant task set 7 . Reversal learning tasks are often used to study behavioural flexibility in humans as well as rodents and non-human primates 14 . These paradigms assess the ability to respond adaptively in the face of changing stimulus–outcome or response–outcome contingencies 15 . What are referred to as ‘switch trials’ in cognitive flexibility studies are paralleled by ‘reversals’ in behavioural flexibility experiments. Both switches and reversals are points at which shifting from one task or mode of response to another is required. The first aim of this Review is to draw information from these and related neuroscience studies (Box  2 ) to summarize what is known regarding the brain systems and processes underlying cognitive and behavioural flexibility.

In the clinical realm, although diagnosis based on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is still the norm in psychiatry, there has been a push from the US National Institute of Mental Health to shift towards consideration of behaviour dimensionally — that is, along a continuum — rather than categorically. This research domain criteria (RDoC) approach recognizes that dimensions of behaviour can cut across traditional diagnostic categories and urges the integration of multiple levels of information from genomics to neural circuits to behaviour and self-report (for example, using questionnaires that are filled out by the participants themselves) to understand basic dimensions of functioning spanning the full range of human behaviour 16 . This framework may lead to a revised diagnostic nosology that is more firmly grounded in biology 17 . The ‘cognitive systems’ domain of the RDoC matrix includes constructs labelled ‘cognitive control’ and ‘working memory’, which contain subconstructs (goal selection/performance monitoring and flexible updating) that are closely tied to the constructs of cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Consensus regarding which cognitive tasks best probe flexibility can potentially be built by adopting the RDoC framework, which itself is continuously undergoing refinement 18 .

Cognitive and behavioural flexibility are compromised in clinical conditions affecting early life such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); those that emerge in adolescence, including schizophrenia and mood disorders; and dementias with later-life onset. While many of these conditions share flexibility deficits, the heterogeneous nature, severity and patterns of co-morbid symptoms complicate efforts to develop treatment strategies for enhancing flexibility. The scope of this Review will span these clinical considerations with the goal of identifying common cognitive, pharmacological and neurobiological factors contributing to inflexibility transdiagonostically. Finally, we critically evaluate potential avenues for flexibility training and discuss future directions for translational neuroscience.

Box 1 Experimental paradigms used to assess cognitive and behavioural flexibility in humans and animals

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (see the figure, part a ) was first developed in 1948 to assess perseveration, abstract reasoning and set-shifting 142 . The test takes 20–30 minutes to administer as follows: four cards incorporating three stimulus parameters (colour, shape and number of objects) are presented to the participants, who are then asked to sort individual response cards according to different principles. Four different ways of classifying each card are possible, and participants must learn using feedback provided by the experimenter whether a given classification is correct or not. After the participant has correctly sorted several cards according to one learned rule, the experimenter changes the rule without letting the participant know that the rule has been changed. Individuals with frontal lobe damage and children younger than 4 years tend to persist in sorting cards according to previously learned rules and have difficulty flexibly switching to new sorting rules 143 . In reversal learning paradigms (see the figure, part b ) animals form associations between two choices and their reward outcomes initially over a series of trials. After a successful learning period, the choice–outcome mapping is reversed. The ability of the animal to adapt and change behaviour after the first reversal is a measure of behavioural flexibility 144 . Part a is reproduced by special permission of the Publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., 16204 North Florida Avenue, Lutz, Florida 33549, from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Copyright 1981, 1993 by PAR, Inc. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission of PAR, Inc. Part b is adapted from Brady, A. M. & Floresco, S. B. Operant procedures for assessing behavioural flexibility in rats. J. Vis. Exp. 96 , e52387, 10.3791/52387 (2015).

Box 2 How is creativity related to flexibility?

Flexible thinking is a critical component of creativity, or the ability to think of new ideas or make new things. Flexibility and creativity have not historically been studied in tandem, despite the obvious parallels between the constructs. While cognitive flexibility is conceptualized as an aspect of executive function and is associated with a rich human neuroimaging literature, creativity has only recently become the topic of cognitive neuroscientific investigations. A query of researchers from academic societies focused on creativity (the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity and the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) yielded several cognitive constructs deemed relevant to creativity, including ‘flexibility’, ‘cognitive control’ and ‘ divergent thinking ’ 145 . A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of divergent thinking indicates that brain networks underlying creative idea generation are composed of lateral prefrontal, posterior parietal and anterior cingulate cortices, as well as the caudate 146 . A study examining neuroimaging predictors of creativity assessed with visual and verbal tests of divergent thinking, everyday creative behaviour and creative achievement revealed that greater creativity was broadly predicted by grey matter of the inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule as well as white matter integrity of the basal ganglia 147 . These findings align with functional activation studies showing inferior frontal gyrus involvement in verbal creative problem-solving 148 . The overlap in lateral frontoparietal and striatal involvement for both flexibility and creativity points to potential shared neural substrates for these related constructs. Future work in creativity could thus benefit from closer integration with the literature on cognitive flexibility.

Neural substrates of flexibility

Cognitive flexibility follows a protracted, inverted U-shaped developmental trajectory from early childhood through adolescence and adulthood, peaking between the second and third decades of life, and declining in late life 19 . Here we will summarize the role of lateral and orbital frontoparietal, midcingulo-insular and frontostriatal functional brain networks in supporting flexibility across the lifespan. The cognitive processes and neural properties contributing to the development of flexibility, its maturation in young adulthood and its decline with ageing will be delineated.

Cognitive flexibility in humans

In studies of the neural basis of cognitive flexibility, participants perform task-switching or set-shifting paradigms while their brain activity is monitored using functional MRI (fMRI) 20 . It is important to keep in mind that laboratory-based measures and neuropsychological tests have high construct validity but may not always converge with real-world flexible behaviours as indexed using self-report or informant-report questionnaires, which typically have greater ecological validity 21 . The Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) is an assessment available in versions for both children and adults that includes a measure of an individual’s ability to shift, or make transitions, tolerate change, flexibly problem-solve, switch attention and change focus from one topic to another 22 , 23 . Adult participants complete the BRIEF as a self-report, and parents and teachers can complete this assessment to evaluate school-aged children. Test batteries that include assessments of flexibility in children and adults include the WCST, the Dimensional Change Card Sort 24 , the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) 25 , NEPSY-II 26 and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Intra–Extra Dimensional Set Shift task 27 .

Cognitive flexibility is difficult to isolate, as it requires the confluence of several aspects of executive function 20 , 28 . Neurosynth is a tool for synthesizing the results of human neuroimaging studies to produce mappings between neural activation patterns and cognitive states using text mining and automated meta-analyses 29 . Entering the terms describing the latent variables comprising executive function into Neurosynth reveals that the brain maps associated with these interrelated cognitive constructs are highly overlapping 7 (Fig.  1a ).

a | Three latent variables that constitute executive function are referred to as ‘shifting (flexibility)’, ‘updating (working memory)’ and ‘inhibition’ 7 . Automated meta-analyses of published functional neuroimaging studies can be conducted with Neurosynth , a Web-based platform that uses text mining to extract activation coordinates from studies reporting on a specific psychological term of interest and machine learning to estimate the likelihood that activation maps are associated with specific psychological terms, thus creating mapping between neural and cognitive states (see ref. 29 for detailed methods). Neurosynth reveals that brain imaging studies including the terms ‘shifting’, ‘updating’ and ‘inhibition’ report highly overlapping patterns of activation in lateral frontoparietal and midcingulo-insular brain regions, underscoring the difficulty of isolating the construct of flexibility from associated executive functions. a | Maps created by first, entering the terms ‘shifting’, ‘updating’ and ‘inhibition’ individually into Neurosynth; second, displaying the ‘uniformity test’ results to view z scores corresponding to the degree to which each voxel in the brain is consistently activated in studies that use each of the selected terms; third, downloading the resulting brain images (with thresholding at a false discovery rate of 0.01) in the form of NIfTi files; and fourth, displaying the brain images using the image viewer MRIcron with the following settings: 2.3 <  z  < 8 (scale); x  = 45 (Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinate for sagittal slice), y  = 19 (MNI coordinate for coronal slice) and z  = 45 (MNI coordinate for axial slice). The uniformity test map depicts z scores from a one-way ANOVA testing whether the proportion of studies that report activation at a given voxel differs from the rate that would be expected if activations were uniformly distributed throughout grey matter. b | Brain regions supporting executive function and flexibility operate within the context of the broader networks shown in part a . During performance of a flexible item selection task, participants directly engage the inferior frontal junction (IFJ), which influences activity in other lateral frontoparietal and midcingulo-insular regions. ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; AG, angular gurus; AI, anterior insula; dlPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; IPL, inferior parietal lobule. Part b adapted with permission from ref. 33 , Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A large body of literature on human functional neuroimaging studies using task-switching and set-shifting paradigms points to a central role for the lateral frontoparietal network (L-FPN) and the midcingulo-insular network (M-CIN) in supporting executive function and cognitive flexibility 20 , 30 . The L-FPN is also referred to as the executive control network and includes lateral prefrontal cortices (PFCs; dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC), ventrolateral PFC and inferior frontal junction (IFJ)), the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), posterior inferior temporal lobes and portions of the midcingulate gyrus. The M-CIN is sometimes referred to as the salience network or the cingulo-opercular network, and includes bilateral anterior insulae (AI), the anterior midcingulate cortex and subcortical nodes, including the amygdala and thalamus 31 .

While whole-brain activation patterns reveal how effortful control and executive functions broadly engage these systems, approaches for estimating task-modulated network connectivity are beginning to reveal how specific experimental manipulations are associated with dynamic relationships among brain regions. For example, one study found that the IFJ is engaged during the updating of task representations, a core aspect of flexibility 32 . During a task requiring flexible selection of items based on different stimulus dimensions, participants initially directly engaged the IFJ, leading to recruitment of other L-FPN and M-CIN regions, including the dlPFC, IPL, anterior midcingulate cortex and AI via functional connections 33 . Considerable individual variability in functional network topography supporting cognitive flexibility was observed, and the strength of functional connectivity between selected brain regions was related to individual differences in task performance (Fig.  1b ). This finding is in line with earlier work demonstrating domain-general task-switching activation in the IFJ 34 , a brain region that exhibits meta-analytic co-activation and resting state functional connectivity with the AI, dlPFC and IPL 35 .

Behavioural flexibility in animals

Assessment of behavioural flexibility in marmoset monkeys reveals that animals with lateral PFC lesions are not impaired in reversal learning or in shifting behavioural responses to a previously rewarded alternative. These monkeys are, however, impaired with regard to extradimensional shifts . Monkeys with orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) lesions show the opposite behaviour: impairment in reversal learning but no deficits in extradimensional shifts. These findings have led to the proposal that the lateral PFC is necessary for shifting of responding between abstract perceptual dimensions, whereas the OFC and associated corticostriatal loops are necessary for shifting of responding between different stimuli with specific associations with reinforcement 36 . Similar findings have been observed in rodents engaging in reversal learning paradigms. OFC inactivation in rats impairs reversal learning owing to perseverance of previously learned choices 15 . Neurons in the mouse OFC respond saliently and transiently to rule switches during reversal learning 37 . Dorsomedial striatal inactivation impairs both reversal learning and strategy switching, resulting in an inability to maintain new choice patterns once they are selected. The dorsomedial striatum is thought to dynamically interact with multiple prefrontal subregions that generate new strategies to facilitate behavioural flexibility 38 .

For humans, reversal learning is much easier to perform than extradimensional shifts, but similar neuroanatomy to that seen in animals has been observed using fMRI 39 . Neuroimaging additionally reveals the role of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus in suppression of prior learned responses and response inhibition during reversal learning 40 .

Brain dynamics supporting flexibility

Brain dynamics underlie complex forms of cognition and behaviour, including flexibility. Recent work has examined time-varying or dynamic changes in functional coupling between brain regions 41 – 43 . Sliding window functional connectivity analyses can be used to quantify brain dynamic metrics, including ‘dwell time’ (the time spent in a particular brain state), ‘frequency of occurrence’ (the number of times a given brain state occurs) and ‘transitions’ (the number of times transitions between brain states are observed) (Fig.  2a , ​ ,b). b ). With use of this approach, it has been shown that certain patterns of whole-brain dynamics are associated with elevated levels of cognitive flexibility. Individuals who score higher on the WCST exhibit more episodes of more frequently occurring brain states, and fewer episodes of less frequently occurring brain states that have previously been associated with low vigilance and arousal 44 (Fig.  2c ). Dynamic patterns among specific networks have also been linked with flexible behaviours. Time-varying functional connectivity of the M-CIN predicts individual differences in cognitive flexibility 45 . Dynamics between the default mode or medial frontoparietal network (M-FPN) and the L-FPN have also been linked to cognitive flexibility 46 . A study using hidden Markov models demonstrates that the proportion of time an individual spends in a brain state characterized by functional connectivity of M-FPN and L-FPN regions relates to individual differences in cognitive flexibility 47 . Multimodal investigations considering both anatomical connectivity and activation dynamics find that greater alignment between white matter networks and functional signals is associated with greater cognitive flexibility 48 .

a | In sliding window dynamic functional connectivity analyses, time-varying patterns of connectivity between brain regions are quantified as follows. Whole-brain functional connectivity matrices computed for each window (for example, 45 seconds of functional MRI time-series data) are subjected to clustering, and each window is assigned to a ‘brain state’, here labelled 1, 2 and 3. b | Dynamic metrics, including frequency, dwell time and transitions between states, can then be computed on the basis of trajectories of brain state evolution over time 141 . c | Brain states are ordered from most frequently occurring on the left (state 1, characterized by weak correlations among brain regions) to least frequently occurring on the right (state 5, characterized by strong correlations among brain regions). Higher executive function performance measured outside the scanner is associated with greater episodes of more frequently occurring states and fewer episodes of less frequently occurring states. In the colour bar, hot colours (red) represent high correlation values and cool colours (blue) represent low correlation values. WCST, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Parts a , b and c adapted with permission from 44 , Elsevier.

The emerging links between brain dynamics and flexible behaviours in neurotypical adults 49 have set the stage for understanding how these processes are affected in development and ageing. Neural flexibility, or the frequency with which brain regions change allegiance between functional modules, has recently been shown to increase with age during the first 2 years of life 50 . At the other end of the lifespan, older adults performing well on a cognitive test battery were found to exhibit brain states characterized by global coherence, whereas those performing poorly exhibited greater frequency of switching between dynamic brain states 51 . Ease of transitions between brain states distinguishes younger from older individuals, and is further linked with executive function indexed by the D-KEFS. In younger adults, executive function ability is correlated with efficiency in brain dynamics of the M-CIN, whereas for older adults this ability is associated with efficiency in the M-FPN 52 . Brain regions in higher-order association cortices exhibit high levels of functional flexibility, with dissociable age-related changes observed in frontal and parietal regions across the lifespan 53 . Several recent studies have further shown how individual differences in task performance are related to patterns of dynamic brain organization 54 , 55 . Taken together, this emerging literature is in line with the notion that the ability of the brain to flexibly reconfigure itself in response to changing demands may underlie individual differences in flexible behaviours.

Brain variability and flexibility

Variability in neural signals, while initially conceptualized as noise 56 , has more recently been linked with cognitive capacity. Between childhood and mid-adulthood, brain signal variability increases with age, shows negative correlations with reaction time variability and positive correlations with accuracy 57 . Brain variability appears to increase during task performance compared with rest in younger and faster-performing adults, whereas older and slower-performing adults exhibit less differentiation in brain variability across experimental conditions 58 . These findings build on work demonstrating that blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) variability is a better predictor of age than BOLD mean 59 . Across the age range from 6 to 85 years, BOLD signal variability decreases linearly across most of the brain, with the exception of the AI, a critical M-CIN node involved in flexibility, which shows the opposite pattern 60 (Fig.  3 ). In line with findings from functional activation studies, it has been shown that increased IFJ variability is linked to better performance on a cognitive flexibility task 61 . Older adults aged 59–73 years who exhibit upregulated brain signal variability show higher levels of task performance 62 . The suggestion is that higher variability might reflect a broader repertoire of metastable brain states and transitions between them to enable optimal responses 57 .

a | Mean squared successive difference is one approach for computing brain signal variability. Applied to neural time-series data, mean squared successive difference is calculated according to the equation shown. b | Regionally specific increases and decreases in brain signal variability across the lifespan may be associated with changes in behavioural performance. Brain signal variability decreases linearly across the lifespan in most brain regions, with the exception of the anterior insula, which exhibits linear age-related increases in variability. In early and late life, the speculation is that larger differences in variability between brain regions may lead to suboptimal behavioural performance. Optimal behavioural performance may be associated with a balance between high and low variability in different brain regions (black arrows) during midlife. Part b is adapted from ref. 60 , CC BY 4.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).

Flexibility in clinical conditions

Executive function impairments broadly, and flexibility impairments specifically, are observed across many forms of psychopathology and may serve as transdiagnostic intermediate phenotypes 63 . All of the DSM-V categories (with the possible exception of sleep–wake disorders) include clinical conditions in which domains of executive function are compromised; this raises the question of the extent to which the construct of flexibility has discriminative value. In several of the disorders in which flexibility deficits have been documented, these impairments can be observed even while performance on basic perceptual and motor tasks remains unaltered.

Flexibility deficits are observed in neurodevelopmental conditions with early life onset, such as ASD and ADHD, as well as psychiatric conditions that emerge in adolescence, including mood disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia. Late life onset dementias, including Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease, are also marked by rigidity and cognitive inflexibility. The extent to which common and distinct neural mechanisms underlie the variety of flexibility deficits observed across the lifespan in these conditions will be explored in this section (Table  1 ).

Psychiatric and neurological disorders affecting flexibility across the lifespan

L-FPN, lateral frontoparietal network; M-CIN, midcingulo-insular network; M-FPN, medial frontoparietal network; OFC, orbitofrontal cortex.

Flexibility in developmental disorders

ASD and ADHD are two prevalent, heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders typically diagnosed in the first 5 years of life. In children with ASD or ADHD, executive function and flexibility deficits are often observed in laboratory settings and in day-to-day activities 64 , 65 . Although children with ASD, ADHD or co-morbid ASD and ADHD may all exhibit flexibility deficits, the nature and severity of these issues can differ across and even within these disorders.

Early work in developmental psychopathology 66 and recent meta-analyses confirm broad executive dysfunction in ASD across domains 67 as well as more specific impairments in flexibility, typically assessed with the WCST 64 , 68 . Restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs), considered core deficits in ASD, can include stereotyped movements, insistence on sameness, and circumscribed or perseverative interests 69 . The severity of RRBs is associated with measures of cognitive inflexibility in ASD 70 . Studies of the neural circuitry underlying RRBs transdiagostically point to a critical role for frontostriatal systems in mediating these behaviours 71 . A recent review of neural mechanisms underlying cognitive and behavioural flexibility in autism additionally points to atypical patterns of L-FPN and M-CIN activation in response to task switching and set-shifting 72 .

While ASD is characterized by difficulty in flexibly adapting to changes in routines, children with ADHD have difficulty with attentional focus and exhibit high levels of variability in moment-to-moment behaviours 73 . Diagnostic criteria for ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity 69 , which can be thought of as manifestations of distractibility or too much flexibility. Still, the story is not as simple as ‘impaired flexibility in ASD’ versus ‘heightened flexibility in ADHD’, as there is a very high degree of co-morbidity between these two disorders 74 such that the combination of impaired flexibility and inattention can manifest itself in the same individual. Some reports claim that executive dysfunction is more pervasive and more severe in ADHD than in ASD 75 , yet studies targeting flexibility document that children with ASD perform poorer on the WCST than do children with ADHD 76 . Age-related improvements in executive function are more clearly observed in ASD than in ADHD 77 . Even though not all children with a primary diagnosis of ASD exhibit executive dysfunction 78 , the vast majority of children with co-morbid ASD and ADHD do exhibit executive function impairments 65 .

Only a handful of neuroimaging studies have examined ASD and ADHD together. One found evidence for shared and distinct patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity centrality in children with these disorders 79 . Another reported no evidence for group differences in functional network connectivity across diagnostic groups 80 . Although it is hypothesized that the common behavioural manifestations of cognitive inflexibility across ASD and ADHD should be reflected in shared neural substrates, few assessments of brain circuitry supporting flexibility across these disorders have been conducted. Data-driven techniques are now being used to identify key dimensions of functioning that overlap across diagnostic categories and also present heterogeneously within diagnostic categories 81 . For example, transdiagnostic executive function subtypes have been identified with use of community detection algorithms, and children within the subtype characterized by inflexibility showed a failure to modulate parietal lobe activation in response to increasing executive task demands 82 . Other work examining ASD, ADHD and co-morbid ASD and ADHD using latent profile analysis also provides evidence for transdiagnostic executive function classes 65 . A study using magnetoencephalography found that during an intradimensional/extradimensional set-shift task, children with ASD exhibited greater parietal activity than children with ADHD, and both groups showed sustained parietal activation with an absence of sequential progression of brain activation from parietal to frontal regions 83 . Further work is needed to understand the brain activation patterns and dynamics underlying reduced or heightened flexibility in these neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as the paradoxical combinations (for example, inflexibility alongside distractibility) that can sometimes be observed. This work might focus on how dynamics within specific brain networks might support different domains of executive function. For example, intrinsic dynamics of the M-CIN (but not the L-FPN) have been shown to relate to individual differences in distractibility in neurotypical adults 84 .

Measurement issues complicate the assessment of flexibility deficits and their neural bases in ASD and ADHD, as different combinations of laboratory-based measures, neuropsychological tests and informant-report questionnaires have been used across studies 72 . It is important to note that well-documented inflexible everyday behaviours in ASD are not necessarily directly related to cognitive flexibility deficits assessed experimentally 85 . Standardized informant-report assessments specifically targeting flexible behaviours in autism have been developed, such as the Flexibility Scale, which reveals factors related to routines/rituals, transitions/change, special interests, social flexibility and generativity 86 . Still, these types of nuanced measure of flexibility are not yet routinely used in transdiagnostic assessment settings, leaving several open questions as to the specific profile of executive function and flexibility deficits that characterize neurodevelopmental disorders.

Flexibility in adolescence and midlife

Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by dramatic physical, social and emotional changes that require cognitive flexibility for successful navigation. Adolescence also coincides with a period of vulnerability and risk of the onset of psychopathologies, including anxiety, depression, OCD and schizophrenia. Brain circuitry supporting cognitive control is still undergoing development during adolescence 87 , in part owing to differential development of limbic and executive control systems 88 . These asymmetries are evident in studies demonstrating that adolescents learn faster from negative reward prediction errors than adults, and recruit the right AI to a greater degree during probabilistic reversal learning 89 .

Signs of mood disorders, including anxiety and depression, can develop during the adolescent years. Pathological anxiety involves excessive worry or the tendency to dwell on difficulties and perceive future problems as more likely than they are in reality, whereas depression involves rumination or passively focusing on distressing thoughts in response to sad mood and experiences 69 . Worry and rumination may reflect the same underlying construct of repetitive negative thinking, which is likely a product of inflexible thinking and difficulty engaging the L-FPN executive control systems in the service of emotion regulation 90 .

Another adolescent-onset disorder characterized by severe flexibility impairments is OCD. Flexibility deficits in OCD manifest themselves as maladaptive patterns of recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges and impulses that are intrusive, as well as compulsions, including repetitive behaviours that an individual feels driven to perform 69 . Neuroimaging investigations across OCD and ASD provide evidence that increased functional connectivity within frontostriatal circuitry relates to more severe symptoms of repetitive behaviour 91 . In OCD, reduced activation of the OFC and frontostriatal regions during cognitive flexibility task performance is regularly reported 92 , 93 .

Schizophrenia is another condition emerging during late adolescence that is associated with reduced cognitive flexibility, often accompanied by frontal lobe hypometabolism 94 . Individuals with schizophrenia perform worse than individuals with OCD on the WCST, suggesting the involvement of different subsystems within basal–corticofrontal circuits in these two disorders 95 . Just as in the general population, frontostriatal circuitry appears to be linked with variability of cognitive flexibility performance in schizophrenia 96 .

Flexibility in neurological disorders

While executive function and flexibility deficits are observed in normal ageing, these issues can be further exacerbated in neurological disorders that affect later life. Older adults exhibit reduced efficiency of lateral prefrontal control regions, and compensate for age-related declines in task-switching performance by relying on enhanced frontotemporal connectivity compared with younger adults 97 . The default–executive coupling hypothesis of ageing proposes that declining performance on executive control tasks and reduced flexibility in older adulthood are underpinned by inflexible coupling of the M-FPN and lateral prefrontal regions 98 . A recent meta-analysis of fMRI studies of executive function in ageing reveals that the IFJ is recruited to a different degree in younger versus older adults. Furthermore, decreased functional connectivity between the IFJ and other executive function-related brain regions is observed with increasing age 99 . Whole-brain computational models permit quantification of metastability and recalibration processes underlying changes in cognitive performance over the lifespan. Such models can help clarify how dedifferentiation observed at the network level, such as that proposed by the default–executive coupling hypothesis of ageing, can be seen as compensation for the decline of structural integrity in the ageing brain 100 .

One of the signs of dementia is heightened executive function impairment compared with that from normal ageing, including a deterioration of mental flexibility and the onset of cognitive rigidity. A burgeoning functional neuroimaging literature including task-switching and set-shifting tasks adapted from neuropsychological assessments (most notably the WCST) investigates cognitive flexibility deficits in ageing and dementia, confirming the critical role of PFC recruitment in maintaining these functions 101 . Flexibility deficits observed in Parkinson disease may result from dysfunction of frontostriatal loops resulting from dopamine depletion 102 . Across neurological disorders, different aspects of cognitive flexibility may be impaired. For example, frontoparietal changes affecting set-shifting ability characterize patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, whereas frontostriatal changes affecting rule inference are seen in primary dystonia and Parkinson disease 103 .

Dysexecuitve syndrome, which involves impairment of working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, is seen in progressive dementia syndrome due to Alzheimer disease. This syndrome is accompanied by frontoparietal hypometabolism as demonstrated by positron emission tomography 104 . Taken together, the literature on flexibility in ageing and dementia points to frontoparietal and frontostriatal dysfunction, as might be predicted from the human and animal research.

While we focus on maladaptive outcomes associated with flexibility deficits here, flexibility reductions can also be associated with adaptive or healthy traits, and the level of flexibility required can fluctuate depending on the context. Therefore, alterations in flexibility might in some cases represent normative adaptations to the perceived characteristics of the environment. In Parkinson disease, cognitive impairments such as slowed thinking and cognitive inflexibility parallel motor impairments 102 , suggesting that reduced flexibility might be an appropriate reaction to a world that is experienced as more stationary. Cognitive stability — the opposite of cognitive flexibility — can likewise be beneficial during tasks requiring focused attention and distractor inhibition 105 . Thus, reduced flexibility may paradoxically be optimal under specific conditions.

Drugs and training of flexibility

Animal studies have revealed how specific neurotransmitter systems underlie flexible cognition and behaviour. In humans, cognitive training paradigms and physical activity have been touted as means to bolster flexibility, and there is some initial evidence from studies of development and ageing that bilingualism may confer greater flexibility. This section will summarize what is known regarding the pharmacology of cognitive and behavioural flexibility, then critically review the research on cognitive flexibility enhancement and training.

Pharmacology supporting flexibility

Serotonin and striatal dopamine neurotransmitter systems have a modulatory role in reversal learning, as evidenced by human and animal lesion, stimulation and neuroimaging studies 106 . In humans, transient cerebral serotonin depletion affects processing of negative feedback during reversal learning 107 . l -DOPA withdrawal studies demonstrate that patients with Parkinson disease not receiving medication show inflexibility in the form of increased switch costs when switching between tasks 108 . Methylphenidate, a psychostimulant influencing dopamine and noradrenaline activity, has long been used to treat ADHD and other developmental disorders 109 . There is some evidence from studies of rhesus monkeys given therapeutic doses of methylphenidate that the drug can impair task-switching performance. This indicates that the improved ability to focus attention may come at the expense of hindering flexibility 110 . Taken together, these findings suggest that serotonergic and dopaminergic signalling are critically involved in flexible cognition and behaviour.

The striatal cholinergic systems also appear to play a role in behavioural flexibility. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies in humans during reversal learning show that lower levels of choline in the dorsal striatum are associated with a lower number of perseverative trials 111 . Studies of the contributions of the cholinergic system to flexibility are complicated, however, by the fact that many cholinergic neurons co-release glutamate or GABA along with acetylcholine 112 .

Interventions to improve flexibility

Computerized cognitive training, physical activity and specialized curricula have been described as potential interventions to improve flexibility in children, yet the evidence supporting the efficacy of these interventions is mixed. Successful programmes involve repeated practice and progressive increases in challenge to executive functions, and children who are more impaired initially benefit the most from cognitive training and physical activity interventions 2 . Generally, training in a specific aspect of executive function can produce short-term narrow transfer, but does not generalize to other aspects of executive function. For example, working memory training can improve working memory performance, but not inhibitory processing or other skills 113 . Implementing a game-based flexibility training designed to increase motivation in children, one study found long-term transfer effects in untrained executive control tasks. The study authors also reported greater performance improvements in the game-based flexibility training group on reading comprehension, an effect that appeared only at the 6-week follow up. These findings suggest that the addition of game elements to executive control training tasks may result in enhanced complexity that facilitates transfer to academic abilities 114 .

Flexibility training in neurodevelopmental disorders has also produced mixed results. One computerized working memory and cognitive flexibility training designed for children with ASD did not result in differential improvement in a randomized controlled trial 115 . An executive function intervention known as Unstuck and On Target aims to address insistence on sameness, flexibility, goal setting and planning using a cognitive behavioural programme. This intervention has been shown to be effective for improving classroom behaviour, flexibility and problem-solving in children with ASD 116 .

Cognitive training has been used to combat age-related cognitive decline, and training-induced structural and functional brain changes in healthy older adults (60 years of age and older) have been demonstrated 117 . A task-switching study reported training-related improvements in task performance, but limited transfer to untrained similar flexibility tasks and no improvements for untrained domains of executive function after 1 year 118 .

Studies examining the effects of aerobic exercise or resistance training interventions without a cognitive component seem to suggest little or no executive function benefit, although exercise that is cognitively challenging, such as martial arts, can produce measurable benefits 119 . In adults of around 60 years of age and older, aerobic exercise interventions may contribute to salutary effects on cognition through prevention of volumetric decreases of hippocampal volume over time 120 . The small effects reported in studies of physical activity interventions on executive function stand in contrast to the fact that children with greater cardiovascular fitness perform better on executive function components, including information processing and control, visuospatial working memory and attention efficiency 121 . Likewise, individuals who are generally more physically active have better executive function than those who are more sedentary 122 .

Effects of bilingualism on flexibility

More than 50% of the global population is bilingual, or able to use two languages with equal fluency. The concept of a ‘bilingual advantage’ suggests that individuals fluent in two languages may develop cognitive advantages, particularly within the executive function domain. Evidence supporting the bilingual advantage identifies inhibition and monitoring as potential mechanisms conferring enhanced executive control in individuals with diverse language experiences 123 . This model suggests that both languages in a bilingual individual’s repertoire are always active to a degree, and there is a constant competition for selection. Lifelong experience of managing and resolving competition between languages imposes demands that require brain regions not typically used for language processing 124 . This bilingual experience reorganizes brain networks to create more effective mechanisms for executive control and results in cognitive benefits when non-linguistic processing draws on the same executive control networks 125 . As language switching involves the same frontal systems involved in executive control and inhibitory processes, it is thought that the bilingual experience results in general enhancement of these brain systems 123 , 126 .

Current research in bilingualism has produced mixed results, and there is no consensus regarding the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive advantages in the executive function domain. Some researchers report cognitive benefits in bilingual individuals 127 , while others fail to replicate these findings in typically developing children 128 and adults 129 . However, the bilingual advantage has been observed in children of lower socio-economic status 124 , 127 . Likewise, in individuals experiencing age-related cognitive decline, a ‘cognitive reserve’ has been observed whereby the bilingual brain is more resistant to neurodegeneration and dementia 123 . The observation that bilingual experience helps offset age-related losses in executive processes has led to the proposal that bilingualism may act as a neuroprotective factor against dementia by buffering against the decline in cognitive control abilities typically observed in later life 130 , 131 . Thus, the bilingual advantage may manifest itself under specific circumstances, but further research is needed on this topic.

Summary and future directions

The global COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for optimal levels of flexibility at the level of institutions and individuals. Neuroscience research has probed flexibility using paradigms that are capable of spanning both human and animal investigations. This research has demonstrated that cognitive and behavioural flexibility involve executive control processes that rely on the coordinated functioning among several large-scale frontoparietal and frontostriatal brain networks enacting salience detection, attention, inhibition, working memory and switching processes 20 . Understanding the typical development of these networks, their stabilization in adulthood and their potential for breakdown with ageing is the first step towards pinpointing effective strategies for addressing flexibility deficits in psychiatric and neurological disorders and enhancing flexibility across the lifespan. For example, the identification of unique brain profiles supporting various degrees of flexibility across clinical and neurotypical populations could aid in identifying interventions with the highest probability of success for a particular individual. Capturing mechanistic insights with the aid of neuroimaging will help to improve our current diagnostic nosology and move us towards achieving the goals of precision medicine.

Future directions include addressing issues of measurement to maximize ecological and construct validity in research on flexibility. It is important to acknowledge that highly reliable self-report or informant-report measures may better predict individual differences in real-life outcomes, whereas laboratory performance-based measures that are sensitive to within-person experimental manipulations can reveal processes underlying task performance 21 . Standardized, transdiagnostic assessments that are normed for targeted age ranges must be developed and universally adopted to permit characterization of common and unique aspects of flexibility that are affected across clinical conditions. Several self-report scales have been developed for use in adults, including the Cognitive Control and Flexibility Questionnaire 132 , the Cognitive Flexibility Scale 133 and the Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire 134 . Consistent use of questionnaires in future studies will provide a clearer picture of the clinical profile of flexibility deficits. Generally however, self-report/informant-report and behavioural measures are only weakly correlated, as behavioural measures index responses during structured situations, whereas self-report/informant-report queries how individuals behave in real-life situations 21 . Going forward, the challenge of how to bridge laboratory-based, objective behavioural measures of flexibility with real-world indices of flexible behaviour must be tackled. Recent approaches focus on measurement of ‘hot’ or emotionally salient flexibility 135 , 136 , and have also turned towards implicit rather than explicit flexibility performance measures 33 as possible bridges between real-world and laboratory performance.

Translational neuroscience research adopting the RDoC framework will likely continue to build on findings that interactions among the M-CIN, L-FPN and M-FPN are implicated as common neurobiological substrates for mental illness 28 , 137 . The emerging field of computational psychiatry that strives to use data-driven approaches and machine-learning to improve disease classification and predict treatment outcomes 138 will benefit by focusing on transdiagnostic constructs such as flexibility, with clear links to real-life outcomes. The success of these clinically oriented endeavours, however, hinges on progress in neuroinformatics efforts to construct biologically informed taxonomies of psychological processes 139 .

At present, there have been no interventional studies demonstrating the role of changing brain network dynamics in supporting successful training of flexibility. Following similar work providing evidence for dynamic reconfiguration of brain networks with working memory training 140 , future research should focus efforts towards delineating how effective cognitive and behavioural flexibility training alters brain dynamics. Studies of cognitive training generally provide limited support for far transfer of skills. Similarly, while the cumulative effects of exercise are clearly beneficial for the brain and cognition, more research is needed to determine the type and dosage of physical activity intervention that is most suited to enhance executive function and flexibility. If bilingualism can confer a flexibility advantage in some instances, then encouraging bilingualism might be a ‘natural intervention’ strategy to improve flexibility. The bolstering of flexibility that may be conferred by bilingualism provides an added incentive to promote the learning of multiple languages from a young age. The next frontier of flexibility research will likely involve collaborations among clinical psychologists, medical professionals, neuroscientists, engineers, computer scientists and educators.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH107549), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a Gabelli Senior Scholar award from the University of Miami to L.Q.U.

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Peer review information

Nature Reviews Neuroscience thanks L. Kenworthy, R. Cools and the other, anonymous, reviewer for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Related links

MRIcron: https://www.nitrc.org/projects/mricron

Neurosynth: https://neurosynth.org/

University of Miami Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory: https://bccl.psy.miami.edu/

Twitter: @LucinaUddin

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What is cognitive flexibility, and why does it matter?

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What is cognitive flexibility?

Why is cognitive flexibility necessary, 3 cognitive flexibility examples, what does cognitive inflexibility mean, how to improve your cognitive flexibility, 3 tools and tests to measure your cognitive flexibility.

Build your cognitive flexibility

Have you ever worked with someone who can focus on multiple high-stakes tasks at once with relative ease?

Or someone who can come up with a novel idea under the pressure of a deadline?

These are all examples that help illustrate the definition of cognitive flexibility. 

Cognitive flexibility is key for success in the workplace, but also in everyday life. It allows for flexible thinking to adapt to various situations.

Let’s explore the cognitive flexibility definition and how you can improve your own flexibility.

Sometimes known as cognitive shifting, cognitive flexibility is all about your brain’s ability to adapt to new, changing, or unplanned events.

Cognitive flexibility is also the ability to switch from one way of thinking to another. This is also known as task switching.

Think about it this way. You shift your body to change direction. You also shift your car into a new lane to avoid danger. 

You can also learn to shift your thinking process to become more adaptable to the situation at hand. This is a prime example of cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility is important both on a micro and a macro scale in the workplace. It allows you to juggle multiple concepts at once and improve your cognitive function.

You use cognitive flexibility without realizing it on a daily basis. This happens when you multitask or when you switch from task to task. 

It also happens when you interact with other people and when you go from talking to a customer to your peers. 

Without mental flexibility, you’d be unable to ‘switch’ your brain from situation to situation. 

It’d be difficult to  concentrate on a task  and perform it adequately. It’s a necessary cognitive process for productivity.

On a more macro scale, people also exhibit cognitive flexibility when thinking about a: 

• Product within an industry
• Person within a team
• Single step forward when solving a complex problem

Your brain can shift from “zoomed in” to the micro (the product) to “zoomed out” to the macro (the industry).

As a result, cognitive flexibility allows you  to solve problems creatively , adapt to curveballs, and act appropriately in varying situations. This is because you’re able to see from a different perspective.

So what can this look like in real situations? Here are three examples that illustrate mental flexibility.

What’s for dinner:  you planned a recipe for tonight’s dinner but find you’re missing an ingredient when you get ready to cook. Cognitive flexibility will allow you to consider your options and improvise a new recipe instead of getting upset. 

Your friend suddenly stops talking to you:  with cognitive flexibility, you can think about why they’re acting this way. It allows you to consider their point of view and analyze the possibilities from every angle.

Someone gets sick for an event:  let’s say a key volunteer for a charity event gets sick. Cognitive flexibility will allow you to consider all the options to adjust quickly. You’ll think of other people you can call. Or you’ll find ways to adjust the event with the volunteers you currently have.

The opposite of cognitive flexibility is cognitive rigidity or cognitive inflexibility. 

Think about the way water moves. Water in its liquid state is similar to cognitive flexibility. But water in its frozen state is similar to cognitive rigidity. When water travels, it has the capacity to find many different paths. This is true for small streams, raging rivers, or dropped water in your kitchen.

If you’ve ever noticed how a water leak moves, you’ve seen this in action. The water will flow in several directions. It will find endless ways to surpass obstacles and continue flowing. Water follows the path of least resistance or the most efficient path for it to take.

Ice, on the other hand, is rigid. If it meets an obstacle, it cannot move past it until it melts. You can’t easily force something that’s rigid to be more fluid. 

When you’re flexible, you have the cognitive ability to find more paths to a solution. You can see from multiple perspectives.

On the other hand, if you have rigid thinking, you may struggle to solve problems.

But even if you struggle with cognitive flexibility, you can work to improve this skill. Just like ice, you can melt back into water with a little bit of heat or pressure.

There’s no doubt that cognitive flexibility takes mental energy. 

Think about what it feels like to go from a conversation with a toddler to a conversation with a manager. It can take a few moments to get in the right frame of mind and adapt your style to the different audiences. 

Even switching between two adults can be difficult depending on the individual differences between them.

In a recent study , researchers tested the problem-solving abilities of capuchin and rhesus monkeys. They also performed the same test on humans. 

100% of the monkeys demonstrated cognitive flexibility by finding a shortcut. But only 60% of humans did the same.

Practicing cognitive flexibility can create new neural pathways in your brain and improve your cognitive flexibility skill. This makes it easier to practice  divergent thinking  and creative problem-solving.

Here are some ways you can improve your cognitive flexibility so that you can approach a tough situation in a different way:

1. Start small

One way to practice cognitive flexibility is to introduce it in small, low-stakes ways in your life. You can expose yourself to new situations and different contexts without going too far outside of your comfort zone.

Here’s an example: the next time you order a meal at your favorite restaurant, pick something from your top three meals instead of ordering your first choice. 

Imagine if the menu changes or if they’re out of your favorite food for the evening. By taking small flexible steps, you’ll start opening up to other options when you need to practice flexibility.

You’ll also become more open to trying new restaurants and new experiences. 

Even if you start small, you can start improving your cognitive flexibility. 

In a recent study,  researchers taught rats to drive small cars. They learned that:

• The rats were more open to new challenges after learning the basics
• Rats’ stress levels went down once they mastered driving
• Richer environments led to faster learning

Like the rats, if you open yourself up to new experiences and challenges, you’ll be more open to experiencing more.

2. Build your empathy muscles

Understanding others’ experiences, processes, routines, and methods all help you build cognitive flexibility. 

That’s because it helps you get out of the mentality that your way is the only way to go. 

Struggling to build your empathy? Try reading fiction to see a story from someone else’s point of view. 

You can also start approaching other people at work with your challenges. Ask them how they would approach a problem.  Make sure you listen actively  when they give their explanation. 

Maybe you won’t agree with your coworker’s approach. But that’s not the point of the exercise. Doing this helps you see from their point of view. 

Plus, listening can help improve your empathy and make you a better learner. 

You’ll start to see that there are several ways you can approach one problem. You’ll also grow your knowledge by listening to others.

3. Interrupt and redirect your thoughts

This tactic is for people who tend to go down rabbit holes with negative thoughts about themselves.  Catastrophizing  is a common display of cognitive rigidity. 

Here’s an example. Have you ever experienced something negative and then start telling yourself you’re a failure and that you’ll never get anything right? 

You can start thinking you’ll get fired over one mistake and that you’ll never get another job opportunity. 

In five seconds flat, your brain already reaches the point of thinking: “I’m a failure, and I will always be.” 

When this happens, you can practice redirecting your thoughts. Be mindful of what you are thinking and interrupt the thought spiraling through your mind. Change the topic to something else entirely. 

This can be easier said than done. To help you get there, get up and change your scenery. You can take a walk around the block, go on your lunch break earlier than usual, or go see one of your peers to ask about their day.

Think of it as pressing “pause” on your thoughts. You’re pressuring your brain to  stop worrying , redirect, and focus on something else. This is an act of cognitive flexibility. 

The more you do it, the easier it’ll become.

4. Ask yourself what else might be true

You can try this tip for yourself. But this is also a great tactic for managers to use when interacting with employees. 

You can use this if one of your employees is stuck, frustrated, or a bit stubborn.

Ask them, “What else might be true?” Make sure you do this in a gentle and kind way. This will help them take a broader look at a situation. It will encourage them to consider other perspectives and look at other possible options.

For example, if an employee is upset about a canceled client meeting, they might say:

 “The client canceled, and I bet they’re going with our competitor. I knew we should have priced it differently.”

Your job as a manager is to urge them to think about what else might be true. Maybe the client got sick. Maybe something else came up that you don’t know about. Maybe the support staff forgot to book a conference room. 

There are so many alternative explanations. Urging your employees to think this way enhances not only their cognitive flexibility skills, but also their strategic thinking skills.

Want to know where you stand regarding cognitive flexibility? Here is how you can perform the test on yourself.

The Cognitive Control and Flexibility Questionnaire

This questionnaire was developed in the context of  research  completed in 2018. 

Here are statements the researchers developed. Your job is to decide if these statements are true or false for you:

• I get easily distracted by upsetting thoughts or feelings.
• My thoughts and emotions interfere with my ability to concentrate.
• I have a hard time managing my emotions.
• It’s hard for me to shift my attention away from negative thoughts or feelings.
• I feel like I lose control over my thoughts and emotions.
• It is easy for me to ignore distracting thoughts.
• It’s difficult to let go of intrusive thoughts or emotions.
• I find it easy to set aside unpleasant thoughts or emotions.
• I can remain in control of my thoughts and emotions.
• I take the time to think of more than one way to resolve the problem.
• I approach the situation from multiple angles.
• I consider the situation from multiple viewpoints before responding.
• I take the time to see things from different perspectives before reacting.
• I take the time to think of several ways to best cope with the situation before acting. 
• I weigh out my options before choosing how to take action.
• I manage my thoughts or feelings by reframing the situation.
• I control my thoughts and feelings by putting the situation into context.
• I can easily think of multiple coping options before deciding how to respond. 

The Cognitive Flexibility Scale

Just like the previous cognitive flexibility test, this is another  research-backed tool  to help you with cognitive flexibility.

You can  run a demo of the test  to see what results you get for yourself.

Flanker test and stroop test

Flanker and Stroop tests were developed in the ’70s, but they’re still used today to evaluate cognitive flexibility.

They involve using colors or arrows to see how well you can react to change.

You can test yourself  here  and practice reading the colors to improve your cognitive flexibility.

Or, you can run a more complete version of the flanker test by using  the demo available here . It may take some practice to get used to how this test works.

Cognitive flexibility requires practice in the small moments of your everyday life.

If you want to improve your own cognitive flexibility, you can practice at work or at home.

When you get upset or feel stuck, remember to give yourself some grace. It takes practice to develop cognitive flexibility. 

If you still experience getting stuck, it’s normal. Pause and breathe for a few seconds and consider what else might be possible in your situation.

With the right coaching, you can build your cognitive flexibility even faster.  Try BetterUp today  to see how you and your team can build cognitive flexibility together.

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The impact of cognitive flexibility on prospective EFL teachers' critical thinking disposition: the mediating role of self-efficacy

• Research Article
• Published: 31 August 2024

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• Şenol Orakcı   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1534-1310 1 &
• Tahmineh Khalili   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6268-0991 2  

Critical thinking as one of the key skills for success in the 21st-century has been considered by many scholars in teacher education. This study tries to examine the interaction of critical thinking disposition with two other key characteristics of successful teachers: cognitive flexibility and self-efficacy. To this end, a sample of pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers was selected for this study. Based on the findings, a positive and strong relationship between cognitive flexibility and critical thinking disposition, and a positive and robust correlation between self-efficacy and critical thinking disposition were observed. Hence, it can be suggested that teacher-educationists can use this link for designing teacher-training courses with tailored tasks for both in and pre-service teachers. The main contribution of the findings might be beneficial for homogenizing teacher-training courses around the globe with the 21st-century trends. In addition, this line of research can be followed by empirical studies for checking the effectiveness of tailored tasks for provoking teachers’ critical thinking dispositions, cognitive flexibility, and self-efficacy in teaching activities.

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IQ Tests Can’t Measure It, but ‘Cognitive Flexibility’ Is Key to Learning and Creativity

Summary: Cognitive flexibility, an ability to switch between different concepts, or adapt behavior to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment, is a key player in both learning and creativity.

Source: The Conversation

IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology. In fact, many people have an  endless fascination  with the IQ scores of famous people. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have  primarily relied on  qualities such as creativity, imagination, curiosity and empathy.

Many of these traits are embedded in what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behaviour to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. It is essentially about learning to learn and being able to be flexible about the way you learn. This includes changing strategies for optimal decision-making. In our ongoing research, we are trying to work out how people can best boost their cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it. If you normally take the same route to work, but there are now roadworks on your usual route, what do you do? Some people remain rigid and stick to the original plan, despite the delay. More flexible people adapt to the unexpected event and problem-solve to find a solution.

Cognitive flexibility may have affected how people coped with the pandemic lockdowns, which produced new challenges around work and schooling. Some of us found it easier than others to adapt our routines to do many activities from home. Such flexible people may also have changed these routines from time to time, trying to find better and more varied ways of going about their day. Others, however, struggled and ultimately became more rigid in their thinking. They stuck to the same routine activities, with little flexibility or change.

Huge advantages

Flexible thinking is key to creativity – in other words, the ability to think of new ideas, make novel connections between ideas, and make new inventions. It also supports academic and work skills such as problem solving. That said, unlike working memory – how much you can remember at a certain time – it is largely independent of IQ, or “ crystallised intelligence ”. For example, many visual artists may be of average intelligence, but highly creative and have produced masterpieces.

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, creativity is also important in science and innovation. For example, we have discovered that entrepreneurs who have created multiple companies  are more cognitively flexible  than managers of a similar age and IQ.

So does cognitive flexibility make people smarter in a way that isn’t always captured on IQ tests? We know that it leads to better “ cold cognition ”, which is non-emotional or “rational” thinking, throughout the lifespan. For example, for children it leads to  better reading abilities  and  better school performance .

It  can also help protect  against a number of biases, such as confirmation bias. That’s because people who are cognitively flexible are better at recognising potential faults in themselves and using strategies to overcome these faults.

Cognitive flexibility is also associated with higher resilience to  negative life events , as well as  better quality of life  in older individuals. It can even be beneficial in emotional and social cognition: studies have shown that cognitive flexibility has a strong link to the ability  to understand the emotions , thoughts and intentions of others.

The opposite of cognitive flexibility is cognitive rigidity, which is found in a number of mental health disorders including  obsessive-compulsive disorder ,  major depressive disorder  and  autism spectrum disorder .

Neuroimaging studies have shown that cognitive flexibility  is dependent on  a network of frontal and “striatal” brain regions. The frontal regions are associated with higher cognitive processes such as decision-making and problem solving. The striatal regions are instead linked with reward and motivation.

There are a number of ways to objectively assess people’s cognitive flexibility, including the  Wisconsin Card Sorting Test  and the  CANTAB Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift Task .

Boosting flexibility

The good news is that it seems you can train cognitive flexibility. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), for example, is an evidence-based psychological therapy which  helps people change  their patterns of thoughts and behaviour. For example, a person with depression who has not been contacted by a friend in a week may attribute this to the friend no longer liking them. In CBT, the goal is to reconstruct their thinking to consider more flexible options, such as the friend being busy or unable to contact them.

Structure learning  – the ability to extract information about the structure of a complex environment and decipher initially incomprehensible streams of sensory information – is another potential way forward. We know that this type of learning involves similar frontal and striatal brain regions as cognitive flexibility.

In a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University, we are currently working on a “real world” experiment to determine whether structural learning can actually lead to improved cognitive flexibility.

Studies have shown the  benefits of training  cognitive flexibility, for example in children with autism. After training cognitive flexibility, the children showed not only improved performance on cognitive tasks, but also improved social interaction and communication. In addition, cognitive flexibility training has been shown to be  beneficial for children  without autism and in  older adults .

As we come out of the pandemic, we will need to ensure that in teaching and training new skills, people also learn to be cognitively flexible in their thinking. This will provide them with greater resilience and wellbeing  in the future .

Cognitive flexibility is essential for  society to flourish . It can help maximise the potential of individuals to create innovative ideas and creative inventions. Ultimately, it is such qualities we need to solve the big challenges of today, including global warming, preservation of the natural world, clean and sustainable energy and food security.

Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Her research is conducted within the NIHR MedTech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operative (MIC) and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Mental Health and Neurodegeneration Themes. She consults for Cambridge Cognition. The University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC) research project is funded by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

Christelle Langley is funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Victoria Leong receives funding from the Ministry of Education, Singapore and the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC). CLIC is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

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Source: The Conversation Contact: Victoria Leong, Christelle Langley and Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian – The Conversation Image: The image is in the public domain

This is a very interesting and informative article. However, there is one point that this article brought in which I think was not well covered. Namely, bringing OCD, Autism, and Major Depression in as examples of cognitive rigidity; and them leaving them without properly addressing their intricacies and individuality. Yes, people with these disorders can definitely have cognitive rigidity; however they can also have cognitive flexibility alongside their rigidities. One of the key points that I have found in my own experience with Depression, OCD, and Autism – and with the people I have met who have these disorders – is that we are incredibly creative, empathetic, and also flexible. The hallmarks of these three conditions do bring in cognitive rigidity; however this article brought these examples in without addressing how incredibly diverse individuals are, and how rigidity in some aspects does not equate rigidity in all aspects. Example: I can be almost certain that my rigidity in my OCD is not normal or healthy; I can see how illogical my fears can be, and why others would view them as unnecessary, yet I cannot quite convince my brain to the point where my obsession and compulsion for the issue are not necessary. And, in other aspects of my life – like with ideas and societal issues such as politics, human rights, problem solving, etc. – I am incredibly flexible in my thinking, and I have found that most of the interesting and well-thought-out counter arguments I hear in conversation on these topics are from other neurodiverse people with the same ‘cognitively rigid’ disorders. Furthermore, most of these neurodiverse people are very empathetic and will listen to your argument on subjects and give creative solutions. I have found that if I walk into a room of neurodiverse people and mention to each one that I’m Non-Binary and Gay; then most of them if not all of them will readily accept this as fact and I have never received homophobia or transphobia from these people. However, with neurotypicals I am more likely to have to slowly explain to them my “reasons” for being gay and Non-binary, or to patiently listen to their homophobic/transphobic reasoning on why they think it’s wrong. So, the use of these disorders in this article is not entirely wrong – there are definitely aspects of rigid thinking in certain areas for these people – however I think that if you bring in a disorder for example, then you should explain your studies that you used to back up this evidence. These disorders are already highly stigmatized and I have encountered many people who will generalize the rigidity in my disorders as a basis to not listen to me. I think you need to be careful in what you bring into papers such as these, especially when they are scientific and therefore likely to be believed and wholly trusted and not questioned by the average reader. Next time, maybe mention how in certain aspects of life these disorders display cognitive rigidity, but then also mention how people with these disorders can be extremely cognitively flexible in many areas of life, including and especially human rights and general acceptance of others just the way they are. People with Autism, OCD, and other neurodiversities face stigma in so many aspects of our lives; it would be appreciated if scientific articles could use our disorders as examples with thought to how it may affect the general public’s perception of our already highly generalized and misunderstood disorders.

Thanks again for the interesting article.

I asked my elderly mother, how do you keep going with all these things, potentially emotionally devastating, happening to you in your life and she said “go with the flow”.

General good points, but missing the major one. That is IQ test do measure cognitive flexibility. The IQ test is comprised of many sub tests requiring the subjects to flex constantly between different tasks and knowledge, etc. The total score is very much a reflection of flexibility. Low scorers are by definition, less flexible!

Big five: openness

Very interesting insights! I’ve heard that cognitive behavioral therapy is sometimes regarded as controversial, but it seems like the practice is gaining more traction as the neuroscience community studies it more. Interested to see future trends in this area.

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IQ tests can’t measure it, but ‘cognitive flexibility’ is key to learning and creativity

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Disclosure statement

Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Her research is conducted within the NIHR MedTech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operative (MIC) and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Mental Health and Neurodegeneration Themes. She consults for Cambridge Cognition. The University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC) research project is funded by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

Christelle Langley is funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Victoria Leong receives funding from the Ministry of Education, Singapore and the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC). CLIC is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

University of Cambridge provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology. In fact, many people have an endless fascination with the IQ scores of famous people. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have primarily relied on qualities such as creativity, imagination, curiosity and empathy.

You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here .

Many of these traits are embedded in what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behaviour to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. It is essentially about learning to learn and being able to be flexible about the way you learn. This includes changing strategies for optimal decision-making. In our ongoing research, we are trying to work out how people can best boost their cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it. If you normally take the same route to work, but there are now roadworks on your usual route, what do you do? Some people remain rigid and stick to the original plan, despite the delay. More flexible people adapt to the unexpected event and problem-solve to find a solution.

Cognitive flexibility may have affected how people coped with the pandemic lockdowns, which produced new challenges around work and schooling. Some of us found it easier than others to adapt our routines to do many activities from home. Such flexible people may also have changed these routines from time to time, trying to find better and more varied ways of going about their day. Others, however, struggled and ultimately became more rigid in their thinking. They stuck to the same routine activities, with little flexibility or change.

Huge advantages

Flexible thinking is key to creativity – in other words, the ability to think of new ideas, make novel connections between ideas, and make new inventions. It also supports academic and work skills such as problem solving. That said, unlike working memory – how much you can remember at a certain time – it is largely independent of IQ, or “ crystallised intelligence ”. For example, many visual artists may be of average intelligence, but highly creative and have produced masterpieces.

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, creativity is also important in science and innovation. For example, we have discovered that entrepreneurs who have created multiple companies are more cognitively flexible than managers of a similar age and IQ.

So does cognitive flexibility make people smarter in a way that isn’t always captured on IQ tests? We know that it leads to better “ cold cognition ”, which is non-emotional or “rational” thinking, throughout the lifespan. For example, for children it leads to better reading abilities and better school performance .

It can also help protect against a number of biases, such as confirmation bias. That’s because people who are cognitively flexible are better at recognising potential faults in themselves and using strategies to overcome these faults.

Cognitive flexibility is also associated with higher resilience to negative life events , as well as better quality of life in older individuals. It can even be beneficial in emotional and social cognition: studies have shown that cognitive flexibility has a strong link to the ability to understand the emotions , thoughts and intentions of others.

The opposite of cognitive flexibility is cognitive rigidity, which is found in a number of mental health disorders including obsessive-compulsive disorder , major depressive disorder and autism spectrum disorder .

Neuroimaging studies have shown that cognitive flexibility is dependent on a network of frontal and “striatal” brain regions. The frontal regions are associated with higher cognitive processes such as decision-making and problem solving. The striatal regions are instead linked with reward and motivation.

There are a number of ways to objectively assess people’s cognitive flexibility, including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the CANTAB Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift Task .

Boosting flexibility

The good news is that it seems you can train cognitive flexibility. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), for example, is an evidence-based psychological therapy which helps people change their patterns of thoughts and behaviour. For example, a person with depression who has not been contacted by a friend in a week may attribute this to the friend no longer liking them. In CBT, the goal is to reconstruct their thinking to consider more flexible options, such as the friend being busy or unable to contact them.

Structure learning – the ability to extract information about the structure of a complex environment and decipher initially incomprehensible streams of sensory information – is another potential way forward. We know that this type of learning involves similar frontal and striatal brain regions as cognitive flexibility.

In a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University, we are currently working on a “real world” experiment to determine whether structural learning can actually lead to improved cognitive flexibility.

Studies have shown the benefits of training cognitive flexibility, for example in children with autism. After training cognitive flexibility, the children showed not only improved performance on cognitive tasks, but also improved social interaction and communication. In addition, cognitive flexibility training has been shown to be beneficial for children without autism and in older adults .

As we come out of the pandemic, we will need to ensure that in teaching and training new skills, people also learn to be cognitively flexible in their thinking. This will provide them with greater resilience and wellbeing in the future .

Cognitive flexibility is essential for society to flourish . It can help maximise the potential of individuals to create innovative ideas and creative inventions. Ultimately, it is such qualities we need to solve the big challenges of today, including global warming, preservation of the natural world, clean and sustainable energy and food security.

Professors Trevor Robbins , Annabel Chen and Zoe Kourtzi also contributed to this article.

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Enhancing Cognitive Flexibility for Better Problem-Solving and Productivity

Roman Ceresnak, PhD

Disruptive Leaders Journal

In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to solve problems and adapt to changing situations is more important than ever. Cognitive flexibility, the capacity to switch between different mental tasks and perspectives, plays a crucial role in enhancing problem-solving skills and overall productivity. Whether you’re working on a complex project or facing unexpected challenges, having a flexible mindset enables you to approach problems from different angles and explore creative solutions.

Understanding cognitive flexibility

Cognitive flexibility refers to the brain’s ability to shift between different cognitive processes and adapt to new information or changing circumstances. It involves the capacity to switch between tasks, perspectives, or ways of thinking in response to different demands. Cognitive flexibility allows individuals to break free from rigid patterns of thought and explore alternative solutions, leading to improved problem-solving abilities.

Having cognitive flexibility means being able to consider different viewpoints, generate multiple solutions, and adapt to new situations. It involves being open to new ideas, embracing ambiguity, and being comfortable with uncertainty. Developing cognitive flexibility can have a profound impact on how you approach challenges and can lead to increased creativity, adaptability, and resilience.

The importance of cognitive flexibility in problem-solving

Problem-solving is an essential skill in both personal and professional life. It involves analyzing a situation, identifying challenges, and finding effective solutions. Cognitive flexibility plays a vital role in problem-solving as it allows individuals to approach problems from different angles and consider various perspectives.

When faced with a complex problem, individuals with high cognitive flexibility can quickly switch between different strategies, evaluate their effectiveness, and adjust their approach accordingly. They are more likely to consider unconventional solutions and think outside the box. This ability to explore alternative solutions can lead to more innovative and effective problem-solving outcomes.

Moreover, cognitive flexibility also helps individuals overcome cognitive biases and preconceived notions that may hinder problem-solving. By being open to different perspectives and challenging their own assumptions, individuals can broaden their thinking and come up with more creative and effective solutions.

Cognitive flexibility and productivity

Enhancing cognitive flexibility can have a significant impact on productivity. When individuals are more flexible in their thinking, they can adapt to changing circumstances and find new ways to approach tasks. This flexibility allows them to overcome obstacles and find efficient solutions, leading to increased productivity.

Cognitive flexibility also enables individuals to switch between different tasks and prioritize their workload effectively. They can quickly shift their attention between different projects and adapt to competing demands. This ability to multitask and switch focus efficiently can significantly enhance productivity in today’s fast-paced work environments.

Furthermore, cognitive flexibility fosters a growth mindset, which is essential for personal and professional growth. By embracing change and being open to new ideas, individuals can continuously learn and improve their skills, leading to increased productivity over time.

Techniques to improve cognitive flexibility

Enhancing cognitive flexibility is a skill that can be developed and strengthened over time. There are various techniques and strategies that individuals can incorporate into their daily lives to improve their cognitive flexibility. Let’s explore some of these techniques:

Incorporating mindfulness practices for cognitive flexibility

Mindfulness practices, such as meditation and deep breathing exercises, can help improve cognitive flexibility. Mindfulness involves being fully present in the moment and observing thoughts and emotions without judgment. By practicing mindfulness, individuals can develop a greater awareness of their thoughts and emotions, allowing them to respond to challenges with greater flexibility.

Mindfulness also helps individuals break free from automatic thought patterns and become more open to new ideas and perspectives. It encourages a non-judgmental attitude, which can enhance cognitive flexibility by reducing the influence of biases and preconceived notions.

The role of physical exercise in enhancing cognitive flexibility

Physical exercise has been shown to have numerous cognitive benefits, including enhancing cognitive flexibility. Engaging in regular physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, promotes the growth of new neurons, and improves brain connectivity. These physiological changes can lead to improved cognitive flexibility and problem-solving abilities.

Incorporating different types of physical exercises, such as aerobic exercises, strength training, and coordination exercises, can further enhance cognitive flexibility. The variety in physical activities challenges the brain to adapt and switch between different movement patterns, improving cognitive flexibility.

Strategies to enhance cognitive flexibility in the workplace

The workplace is an ideal environment to foster cognitive flexibility. Here are some strategies that can be implemented to enhance cognitive flexibility in the workplace:

• Encourage diverse perspectives: Create a work culture that values diverse perspectives and encourages employees to consider different viewpoints. This can be done through team brainstorming sessions, cross-functional collaborations, and open discussions.
• Foster a learning environment: Create opportunities for continuous learning and growth. Encourage employees to take on new challenges, learn new skills, and explore different approaches to problem-solving. Provide resources and support for professional development.
• Embrace change and innovation: Foster a culture that embraces change and encourages employees to think outside the box. Encourage experimentation and reward innovative thinking. Create an environment where taking risks is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a failure.

Cognitive flexibility and decision-making

Cognitive flexibility plays a crucial role in effective decision-making. When faced with complex choices, individuals with high cognitive flexibility can consider different options, weigh the pros and cons, and adapt their decision-making strategies accordingly. They are more likely to consider long-term consequences, anticipate potential risks, and make informed decisions.

Moreover, cognitive flexibility allows individuals to adjust their decisions based on new information or changing circumstances. It enables them to be agile in their decision-making and respond effectively to unexpected challenges or opportunities.

Cognitive flexibility and creativity

Cognitive flexibility is closely linked to creativity. When individuals are more flexible in their thinking, they can explore different perspectives, generate novel ideas, and make unique connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. This ability to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions is essential for creativity.

By enhancing cognitive flexibility, individuals can break free from rigid thinking patterns and embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. This openness to new ideas and perspectives can lead to more creative problem-solving and innovative outcomes.

Conclusion: Harnessing cognitive flexibility for personal and professional growth

Cognitive flexibility is a valuable skill that can greatly enhance problem-solving abilities and overall productivity. By developing cognitive flexibility, individuals can approach challenges with a more open mind, explore alternative solutions, and adapt to changing circumstances. Whether through mindfulness practices, physical exercise, or strategies in the workplace, there are various techniques that can be employed to improve cognitive flexibility.

By embracing cognitive flexibility, individuals not only become better equipped to tackle problems effectively but also cultivate a mindset that embraces change and innovation. This flexibility leads to personal and professional growth, allowing individuals to thrive in today’s dynamic and fast-paced world. So, whether you’re an entrepreneur, a professional, or a student, it’s time to embrace cognitive flexibility and unleash your full potential.

Written by Roman Ceresnak, PhD

AWS Cloud Architect. I write about education, fitness and programming. My website is pickupcloud.io

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Cognitive Flexibility: The Multitool for Problem-Solving

By GGI Insights | September 2, 2024

Table of contents

In this article, we will explore the various aspects of cognitive flexibility and how it can be harnessed as a multitool for problem-solving.

Neurological Foundations

Cognitive flexibility is deeply rooted in the intricate workings of the brain. Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, plays a crucial role in the development and enhancement of cognitive flexibility. By constantly rewiring and adapting, the brain becomes more nimble and adaptable in tackling complex tasks and finding solutions. Lifelong learning stimulates this neuroplasticity, fostering continued growth and adaptability of the brain. Delayed gratification is also an aspect of this adaptability, as it requires the brain to prioritize long-term rewards over immediate pleasures, strengthening cognitive control and decision-making abilities.

One key aspect of neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to learn from failure . Each time we encounter failure, our brain restructures itself, learning from the experience and adapting for future encounters. This neuroplastic response to failure is essential for the development of cognitive flexibility. Self-reflection in these moments is crucial as it allows individuals to critically analyze their experiences, gaining deeper insights into their cognitive processes and patterns.

Neuroplasticity is a captivating phenomenon that enables the brain to reshape itself in response to experiences and learning. It is not a static and inflexible organ, but rather a dynamic and adaptable structure that can undergo growth and change throughout our lives. This extraordinary capacity of the brain to rewire itself is what empowers us to acquire new skills, embrace new environments, and overcome challenges with a growth mindset .

Plasticity and Pathways

The brain's plasticity allows for the creation of new pathways, enabling information to flow more freely and efficiently between different regions. This enhanced connectivity fosters cognitive flexibility by facilitating the integration of diverse perspectives and promoting the exploration of alternative solutions. It empowers individuals to break free from ingrained thought patterns and engage in more adaptive and flexible thinking. A s part of this dynamic process, a feedback loop is created, where the outcomes of our actions and decisions feed back into our brain, influencing future responses and enhancing our adaptability. Self-awareness is a key factor in this loop, as it helps individuals recognize and understand the impact of their thoughts and actions on their cognitive development.

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Imagine the brain as a vast network of interconnected roads, with each road representing a neural pathway. In a rigid and inflexible brain, these roads would be narrow and limited, restricting the flow of information. However, in a brain with high plasticity, these roads are wide and well-connected, allowing for a seamless exchange of ideas and information. This feedback loop , constantly reinforced through new experiences and learning, is a fundamental aspect of cognitive flexibility, allowing for continual adaptation and growth.

As we encounter new experiences and challenges, the brain starts to forge new pathways, like building new roads to connect previously isolated regions. This process not only strengthens existing connections but also creates new ones, expanding the brain's capacity for cognitive flexibility. It's like opening up new avenues of exploration and possibilities within our minds.

Neuroplasticity is not limited to a specific age or stage of life. While the brain's plasticity is most pronounced during childhood, it continues to be present throughout adulthood. This means that we have the potential to enhance our cognitive flexibility at any age by actively engaging in activities that stimulate the brain, such as learning new skills, solving puzzles, or engaging in creative endeavors.

By embracing the concept of neuroplasticity and understanding its role in cognitive flexibility, we can appreciate the remarkable adaptability of the human brain. It is a testament to our brain's capacity for growth and change, offering us endless opportunities to expand our thinking, challenge our assumptions, and approach problems from different angles.

Tools for Enhancement

There are various strategies and techniques that can be employed to enhance cognitive flexibility and tap into its problem-solving potential.

Cognitive flexibility, the ability to adapt and shift thinking in response to changing circumstances, is a valuable skill that can be developed and improved over time. It allows individuals to approach problems from different angles, consider multiple perspectives, and generate creative solutions.

Mind Maps to Lateral Thinking

Mind maps, visual representations of ideas and concepts, are effective tools for stimulating cognitive flexibility. By visually connecting different ideas, mind maps encourage nonlinear thinking and facilitate the exploration of alternative connections and solutions.

When creating a mind map, individuals can start with a central idea and branch out to related concepts, allowing their thoughts to flow freely. This process encourages the brain to make new associations and connections, expanding cognitive flexibility. As the mind map grows, it becomes a visual representation of the individual's thought process, capturing the complexity and richness of their thinking.

Practicing lateral thinking, a deliberate effort to approach problems from unconventional angles, helps stretch cognitive flexibility and unlock innovative problem-solving strategies. This technique encourages individuals to break free from traditional thought patterns and explore new possibilities.

By intentionally challenging assumptions and exploring alternative perspectives, individuals can expand their cognitive flexibility and discover unique solutions to complex problems. Lateral thinking encourages individuals to ask "what if" questions, consider different scenarios, and explore uncharted territories of thought.

Lateral thinking can be practiced through various techniques, such as brainstorming, role-playing, and using provocative statements. These methods encourage individuals to think beyond the obvious and embrace ambiguity, fostering cognitive flexibility and enhancing problem-solving abilities.

Mind maps and lateral thinking are powerful tools that can enhance cognitive flexibility and unlock the problem-solving potential of individuals. By visually representing ideas and exploring unconventional approaches, these techniques stimulate creative thinking and encourage the exploration of alternative solutions. Incorporating these tools into daily practice can lead to improved cognitive flexibility and a broader range of problem-solving strategies.

Flexibility in Crisis

In times of crisis or uncertainty, the ability to adapt and think flexibly becomes even more crucial. Cognitive flexibility empowers individuals to navigate unforeseen challenges and find effective solutions. Utilizing positive self-talk can significantly influence this adaptability, reinforcing the individual's confidence and ability to handle challenging situations.

When faced with a crisis, it is often the individuals who can think outside the box and embrace flexibility that emerge as problem solvers. The power of cognitive flexibility lies in its ability to enable individuals to approach challenges with adaptability and creativity. By being open to new ideas and perspectives, individuals can navigate through the complexities of a crisis and find innovative solutions.

Adaptability Case Studies

Real-life examples demonstrate the power of cognitive flexibility in dire situations. From emergency response teams making quick decisions to individuals facing unexpected obstacles, adaptability is a defining characteristic of successful problem solvers. These case studies showcase the importance of embracing flexibility and highlight the positive outcomes that can be achieved by harnessing this multitool for problem-solving.

One notable case study involves an emergency response team during a natural disaster. As they faced rapidly changing circumstances and limited resources, their cognitive flexibility allowed them to quickly assess the situation and come up with creative solutions. By adapting their strategies and thinking outside the conventional approaches, they were able to save lives and minimize the impact of the disaster.

Another example of cognitive flexibility in action is seen in individuals facing unexpected obstacles. Whether it is a sudden change in their career path or a personal setback, those who possess cognitive flexibility are better equipped to adapt and find new opportunities. They are able to reframe their perspectives, explore alternative options, and embrace change as a catalyst for growth.

Cognitive flexibility serves as the multitool for problem-solving by enabling individuals to approach challenges with adaptability and creativity. Its neurological foundations in plasticity and pathways provide a solid framework for enhancing cognitive flexibility. By utilizing strategies such as mind maps and lateral thinking, individuals can further develop and hone their cognitive flexibility skills. In times of crisis, cognitive flexibility becomes even more vital, allowing for quick adaptation and effective problem-solving. Embracing cognitive flexibility as a valuable asset in problem-solving endeavors can lead to innovative solutions and positive outcomes.

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Home » SEL Implementation » Nurturing Cognitive Flexibility: How IEP Goals Can Support Social Emotional Learning

Nurturing Cognitive Flexibility: How IEP Goals Can Support Social Emotional Learning

Key takeaways:.

• Cognitive flexibility is vital for problem-solving, decision-making, and social interactions.
• IEP goals tailored to cognitive flexibility nurture adaptive thinking and emotional resilience.
• Collaboration, individualized instruction, and monitoring progress are crucial for successful implementation.

Introduction: Nurturing Cognitive Flexibility: How IEP Goals Can Support Social-Emotional Learning

In today’s post, we will explore the importance of cognitive flexibility in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and how Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals can support the development of this crucial skill. Let’s dive in!

I. Introduction

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a framework that promotes the development of essential social and emotional skills in individuals. These skills include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Cognitive flexibility, a key component of SEL, plays a vital role in problem-solving, decision-making, social interactions, and emotional well-being.

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a personalized plan designed for students with special needs to support their academic, social, and emotional growth. By incorporating cognitive flexibility into IEP goals, educators can provide targeted interventions and strategies to nurture this skill in students.

II. Understanding Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to adapt and shift thinking in response to new information or changing circumstances. It involves being open-minded, considering multiple perspectives, and adjusting one’s thoughts and actions accordingly. This skill is essential for problem-solving and decision-making, as it allows individuals to consider different approaches and solutions.

In the context of social interactions, cognitive flexibility enables individuals to understand and empathize with others’ perspectives, leading to more effective communication and collaboration. Moreover, cognitive flexibility contributes to emotional well-being by allowing individuals to regulate their emotions and adapt to challenging situations.

III. Incorporating Cognitive Flexibility in IEP Goals

IEP goals play a crucial role in supporting students with special needs. By incorporating cognitive flexibility into these goals, educators can provide targeted interventions and strategies to nurture this skill. Here are specific IEP goals that can help develop cognitive flexibility:

1. Goal 1: Enhancing perspective-taking skills

By setting a goal to enhance perspective-taking skills, educators can help students understand and appreciate different viewpoints. This can be achieved through activities such as role-playing, discussions, and analyzing real-life scenarios. Encouraging students to consider alternative perspectives fosters cognitive flexibility and empathy.

2. Goal 2: Promoting adaptive thinking and problem-solving strategies

Setting a goal to promote adaptive thinking and problem-solving strategies encourages students to explore various approaches to solve problems. Educators can teach students different problem-solving techniques and provide opportunities for them to apply these strategies in real-life situations. This goal nurtures cognitive flexibility by challenging students to think outside the box.

3. Goal 3: Encouraging flexibility in social interactions

Encouraging flexibility in social interactions is crucial for students with special needs. Setting a goal to develop flexible social skills involves teaching students how to adapt their communication and behavior in different social contexts. Role-playing activities and social scripts can be used to practice and reinforce flexible social interactions.

4. Goal 4: Developing self-regulation and emotional flexibility

Self-regulation and emotional flexibility are essential for managing emotions and adapting to changing situations. Setting a goal to develop these skills involves teaching students strategies for self-calming, emotional regulation, and flexibility in response to challenging emotions. Mindfulness exercises and reflection activities can support the development of self-regulation and emotional flexibility.

IV. Strategies for Implementing IEP Goals

Implementing IEP goals requires collaboration among educators, students, parents, and other professionals. Here are some strategies to effectively implement cognitive flexibility goals:

A. Collaborating with the student, parents, and other professionals

Engaging students, parents, and other professionals in the goal-setting process ensures that everyone is aligned and invested in the student’s progress. Regular communication and collaboration allow for a holistic approach to support cognitive flexibility development.

B. Individualized instruction and interventions

Adapting instruction and interventions to meet the unique needs of each student is crucial. Educators should consider the student’s strengths, interests, and learning style when designing activities and interventions to promote cognitive flexibility.

C. Incorporating real-life scenarios and role-playing activities

Real-life scenarios and role-playing activities provide practical opportunities for students to apply cognitive flexibility skills. By simulating real-world situations, students can practice adapting their thinking and behavior in a safe and supportive environment.

D. Providing opportunities for reflection and self-assessment

Reflection and self-assessment activities allow students to evaluate their progress and identify areas for growth. By encouraging students to reflect on their thinking, problem-solving strategies, and social interactions, educators can support the development of metacognitive skills and self-awareness.

V. Monitoring and Assessing Progress

Ongoing monitoring and assessment are essential to track students’ progress and make informed decisions about their IEP goals. Here are some strategies for monitoring and assessing cognitive flexibility development:

A. Importance of ongoing monitoring and assessment

Regular monitoring and assessment provide valuable insights into students’ growth and help educators make data-driven decisions. By collecting and analyzing data, educators can identify areas of strength and areas that require additional support.

B. Utilizing data collection tools and progress monitoring techniques

Data collection tools and progress monitoring techniques, such as checklists, rating scales, and observations, can provide objective information about students’ cognitive flexibility skills. These tools help educators track progress over time and make adjustments to interventions as needed.

C. Adjusting IEP goals based on individual needs and progress

IEP goals should be flexible and responsive to students’ individual needs and progress. Regular review and adjustment of goals ensure that they remain relevant and meaningful. Educators should consider students’ feedback, assessment data, and input from other professionals when modifying IEP goals.

VI. Benefits of Nurturing Cognitive Flexibility through IEP Goals

Nurturing cognitive flexibility through IEP goals can have numerous benefits for students with special needs. Here are some potential outcomes:

A. Improved social interactions and relationships

Developing cognitive flexibility enhances students’ ability to understand and adapt to social cues, leading to improved social interactions and relationships. Students become more effective communicators, collaborators, and problem-solvers.

B. Enhanced problem-solving and decision-making skills

Cognitive flexibility is closely linked to problem-solving and decision-making abilities. By nurturing this skill, students become more adept at considering multiple perspectives, generating creative solutions, and making informed decisions.

C. Increased emotional resilience and adaptability

Cognitive flexibility supports emotional resilience and adaptability. Students learn to regulate their emotions, cope with stress, and adapt to changing circumstances. This skill empowers students to navigate challenges and setbacks with greater ease.

VII. Conclusion

Incorporating cognitive flexibility into IEP goals is a powerful way to support students’ social emotional learning. By setting specific goals, implementing targeted strategies, and monitoring progress, educators can nurture cognitive flexibility and empower students with special needs to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

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Cognitive flexibility and adaptability to environmental changes in dynamic complex problem-solving tasks

Affiliation.

• 1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071, Granada, Spain. [email protected]
• PMID: 12745698
• DOI: 10.1080/0014013031000061640

People who show good performance in dynamic complex problem-solving tasks can also make errors. Theories of human error fail to fully explain when and why good performers err. Some theories would predict that these errors are to some extent the consequence of the difficulties that people have in adapting to new and unexpected environmental conditions. However, such theories cannot explain why some new conditions lead to error, while others do not. There are also some theories that defend the notion that good performers are more cognitively flexible and better able to adapt to new environmental conditions. However, the fact is that they sometimes make errors when they face those new conditions. This paper describes one experiment and a research methodology designed to test the hypothesis that when people use a problem-solving strategy, their performance is only affected by those conditions which are relevant to that particular strategy. This hypothesis is derived from theories that explain human performance based on the interaction between cognitive mechanisms and environment.

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