Researchers reveal deeper workings of brain’s information hub

The human brain processes vast amounts of information continuously, even in simple tasks like driving. A brain network called the frontoparietal cortex plays a crucial role in managing this flow of information. It receives signals from various parts of the brain, determines which information is most important, and coordinates the appropriate response. New research from the University of Iowa provides a more detailed look at how this system operates when people face uncertainty in decision-making.

In a study published in 2025, researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex creates an ongoing high-level summary of information from other brain regions. It evaluates incoming signals, including potentially incomplete or uncertain data, combines them into a more useful overall representation, and then helps direct other brain regions toward an appropriate response.

The cortex acts like an air traffic controller in an airport, constantly receiving information from other areas, filtering out less relevant signals, and giving greater attention to more relevant ones.

To investigate how adaptable the frontoparietal cortex is, the researchers conducted experiments with 38 participants aged 18-35. Participants learned associations between different combinations of colors, faces, and scenes and specific responses, such as pressing a button using a certain finger on either hand. The researchers later altered these learned pairings, introducing uncertainty into the task.

This allowed them to observe how the frontoparietal cortex's connections with other brain regions changed as participants tried to adjust their associations.

The team combined behavioral data from the experiments with functional MRI scans, developing a computational model that revealed how the frontoparietal cortex brought together information from different brain areas. Instead of simply becoming more active during difficult tasks, the researchers observed that the network dynamically changes its communication patterns with other brain regions depending on the information needed at each stage of a decision.

This suggests that challenging decisions are handled by adjusting which brain regions the frontoparietal cortex communicates with, rather than just increasing activity within this network.