Routine tasks that require working memory, like baking, involve remembering both some general rules (e.g., read the oven temperature and time from the recipe and then set them on the oven) and some specific content for each instance (e.g., 350 degrees for 45 minutes for a loaf of rye, but 325 degrees for eight minutes for cookies). A new study provides a novel explanation for how the brain distinctly manages the general and specific components of such cognitive demands. The research, led by scientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning…
