Convergent neural dynamical systems for task control in artificial networks and human brains

The ability to switch between tasks is a core component of human intelligence, yet a mechanistic understanding of this capacity has remained elusive. Long-standing debates over how task switching is influenced by preparation for upcoming tasks or interference from previous tasks have been difficult to resolve without quantitative neural predictions. We advance this debate by using state-space modeling to directly compare the latent task dynamics in task-optimized recurrent neural networks and human electroencephalographic recordings. Over the inter-trial interval, both networks and brains converged into a neutral task state, a novel control strategy that reconciles the role of preparation and interference in task switching. These findings provide a quantitative account of cognitive flexibility and a promising paradigm for bridging artificial and biological neural networks.