npj Science of Learning

Studying chess experts helps researchers understand how intensive practice shapes thinking skills. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adjust thoughts when rules or tasks change. Working memory is the ability to hold and use information over short periods. This study compared cognitive flexibility and working memory precision between adolescent chess players and non-players. Twenty-four professional chess players and twenty-five controls completed two novel behavioral tasks. Chess players showed better accuracy in both tasks than controls. They adapted more efficiently when rules changed during a continuous learning task. They also remembered facial expressions more precisely in a working memory task. Learning rates in the flexibility task did not differ between groups. These results indicate that chess expertise may improve rule-guided flexibility and visual working memory precision in adolescents.

Children often outperform adults in probabilistic statistical learning tasks, yet the mechanisms underlying this developmental advantage remain poorly understood. Here, we used eye-tracking measures of belief updating to examine how children and adults acquire and update predictions in a probabilistic sequence-learning task. Using the standard (oculomotor) reaction time measure, children showed stronger statistical learning than adults, replicating previous behavioral findings while revealing a more detailed profile of developmental differences in statistical learning. Critically, children updated their predictions more frequently: they were less likely to repeat previous predictions and more likely to shift their expectations in response to new input. Adults, in contrast, showed greater persistence, tending to maintain prior predictions even when those predictions were inconsistent with the underlying statistical structure. Despite these pronounced differences in updating behavior, the processing and use of prediction errors were remarkably similar across age groups. These findings indicate that developmental differences in statistical learning do not primarily arise from how prediction errors are computed, but rather from how prior beliefs and incoming information are weighted during belief updating. Children's enhanced learning may therefore reflect reduced reliance on stable priors and greater sensitivity to current sensory evidence, supporting a more exploratory learning strategy. Adults, by contrast, appear to favor an exploitative strategy that stabilizes existing predictions but reduces flexibility in probabilistic environments. More broadly, the results suggest that developmental changes in statistical learning may reflect age-related differences in how readily learners revise their predictions in response to incoming evidence. By integrating sensitive oculomotor measures with analyses that probe the mechanisms underlying belief updating, the present study provides a more fine-grained account of how predictive learning changes across development and offers a framework for reconciling previously inconsistent developmental findings in statistical learning.

Contextual word learning is a fundamental mechanism for vocabulary acquisition during childhood. In adults, successful inference of word meaning from context is intrinsically rewarding, and is associated with greater enjoyment and greater activity in reward-related brain regions. Whether similar reward mechanisms support word learning in children, and whether they differ as a function of ability, remains unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural responses during contextual word learning in 25 children aged 11-13 years with typical reading skills and in 20 age-matched children with dyslexia. Neurotypical readers showed enhanced activation in core reward-processing regions, including the ventral striatum, when successfully learning the meanings of novel words. In contrast, children with dyslexia did not exhibit comparable reward-related responses despite performing the same task. Crucially, this group difference was specific to word learning, as no significant group differences were observed in ventral striatal responses during a non-linguistic monetary reward task. In addition, to confirm the behavioural relevance of these neural findings, we examined an age-matched, independent sample of children. We found that stronger reading skills were associated with greater enjoyment during successful word learning. Together, these results suggest that interactions between reward and language systems during contextual word learning is influenced by reading proficiency. Reduced intrinsic reward responses to successful language learning may contribute to differences in reading development and have implications for the design of more engaging and effective reading interventions for struggling readers.

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to change the way of responding when the demands of the environment change. This study tested how cognitive flexibility develops across the lifespan. We used a new computerized task that gives a continuous score instead of just right or wrong answers. 221 healthy adults aged 18 to 71 completed the Continuous-score Probabilistic Reversal Learning Test (CPRLT). We calculated mean absolute error and adjusted error for rule-based learning, and fitted a Rescorla-Wagner model to estimate each persons learning rate (alpha) for reward-based learning. All three scores have one breakpoint, performance improved rapidly from childhood to young adulthood, then declined slowly. Rule-based learning peaked around age 20. Reward-based learning peaked earlier, around age 18. This suggests that reward-based learning matures before rule-based learning. The pattern fits with brain development: reward circuits mature earlier, while prefrontal regions for rule-based learning develop later. Our continuous measure captured this difference, which binary tasks would miss.

Building upon foundational psychological theories of event segmentation, this study addresses the limitation of overreliance on temporal boundaries as the primary segmentation criterion. Drawing on two experiments of direct and indirect causation in Mandarin Chinese, this study demonstrates how cognitive segmentation granularity and semantic integration jointly shape syntactic encoding. Results reveal distinct event encoding patterns for direct and indirect causation: coarse-grained segmentation leads to compact syntactic structures (e.g., verb-resultatives), while fine-grained segmentation yields varied multi-clausal expressions. Chinese speakers update event models via prediction errors of intentionality and protagonists, and tend to establish event boundaries at goal-relevant action endpoints when construing causal chains. These conceptual dimensions exert a modulating influence on both event segmentation and semantic integration. We propose a triad model integrating event segmentation, semantic integration, and linguistic specificity, providing a unified framework for elucidating the mind-language interface in conceptual construction and event coding of causation.

Attentional control balances proactive suppression of predictable distractors with reactive suppression of unexpected ones. Yet, how internal states such as alertness shape this balance is unclear. Using pupillometry and eye tracking across two probability-cueing experiments (conducted in 2024) with varying distractor prevalence, we distinguished tonic (baseline pupil size across blocks) from trial-level pupil size fluctuations (trial-by-trial residual variability in pre-stimulus pupil size). With moderate prevalence, suppression of frequent-region distractors developed gradually, whereas high prevalence induced near-immediate suppression. Behavioral measures (e.g., reaction times) were closely linked to tonic and trial-level pupil size fluctuations. Critically, both alertness components jointly influenced control: during early learning, heightened trial-level pupil size increased distractor capture and reduced target fixations, whereas later on, suppression shifted to a proactive mode resilient to trial-level fluctuations. Under high prevalence, this shift occurred faster. Notably, higher trial-level pupil size generally accelerated first target selection. These findings show that tonic alertness and trial-level alertness fluctuations dynamically regulate reactive and proactive control during statistical learning. Impact StatementThis study shows that people become better at ignoring predictable distractions over time, but that this improvement depends not only on what they have learned about the task environment, but also on their current level of alertness. By combining eye tracking and pupil measures, we found that temporary increases in alertness can sometimes help people orient more quickly to relevant information, yet during earlier stages of learning they can also make attention more vulnerable to distracting events. These findings suggest that successful focus in complex environments depends on a dynamic interplay between learned expectations and moment-to-moment fluctuations in mental state, with implications for understanding sustained attention in settings such as monitoring, driving, and other tasks that require people to stay engaged while resisting distraction.

Language production requires the coordination of multiple cognitive processes. The ability to anticipate and override a habitual response in favor of a contextually-appropriate response are key subprocesses of cognitive control which enable speakers to communicate effectively. Word retrieval involves the co-activation of semantically related alternatives from which the speaker must select the appropriate target representation. Although cognitive control mechanisms have been proposed to contribute to resolving semantic interference during language production, the nature of these control processes remain unclear. Studies investigating the temporal dynamics of cognitive control during decision making tasks have led to a distinction between two operating processes: proactive control, initiated prior to the occurrence of conflict, and reactive control recruited after conflict is detected. We investigated the roles of proactive and reactive control in resolving interference between competing linguistic representations during word retrieval. We analyzed congruency sequence effects combined with delta-plot distributional analyses to dissociate potential adjustments in proactive versus reactive cognitive control in a picture-naming task manipulating semantic context compared to a minimally-linguistic Stroop-like paradigm. Reaction time distributional properties following semantically related trials revealed the engagement of proactive control in semantic interference resolution during word retrieval in the PWI task. In contrast, reactive inhibitory control was engaged in resolving semantic interference following low conflict trials. This distinction was not present in the minimally-linguistic task, which did not appear to engage adaptive control to the same extent. These findings demonstrate that both proactive and reactive cognitive control mechanisms contribute to language production, and are engaged dynamically, adjusting trial-by-trial to resolve semantic interference during word retrieval. In addition, our study provides important insight into the comparison of language with other cognitive domains and positions linguistic paradigms as being instrumental in the study of cognitive control dynamics.

Racial equity remains a critical challenge in postsecondary science education, as Black students experience higher attrition rates and diminished well-being compared to their White peers. While active learning has been shown to reduce failure rates and narrow achievement gaps, the interpersonal affordances and constraints of peer discussions within these settings remain underexplored for Black students. Grounded in Critical Race Theory and utilizing the analytical lenses of racial microaggressions, microaffirmations, and Community Cultural Wealth, this study addresses this issue by investigating the racialized interpersonal experiences of Black students in active learning college science classrooms. Through semi-structured interviews, this study explores the nature of both exclusionary and affirming peer interactions and how students navigate these dynamics. Findings reveal that Black students frequently encounter racialized microaggressions--manifestations of macro-level anti-Blackness-- in the classroom which contribute to isolation and racial battle fatigue. Conversely, students describe instances of microaffirmations, predominantly through small counterspaces created by and for other students of color, which validate their intellectual contributions and foster a sense of belonging. Despite facing these tensions, participants advocate for active learning as a beneficial practice, provided that instructors implement explicit, equitable structures and facilitate culturally responsive classroom climates. These findings offer actionable implications for researchers and practitioners to design more inclusive active learning environments by explicitly addressing interpersonal dynamics, promoting cultural competence, and co-constructing humanizing science classroom climates.

Sentence comprehension requires the incremental construction of syntactic structure and semantic interpretation. Prior neural work (Nelson et al., 2017) identified key neural events at major phrase boundaries during sentence comprehension. To investigate a behavioral correlation of these processes, we used self-paced reading to examine the impact of syntactic phase boundaries, semantic congruence, and sentence structure on sentence processing. Participants read object-relative, subject-relative, and canonical control sentences one word at a time and a subsequent comprehension task. Reading times were analyzed relative to phrase boundaries, node-closing operations, and semantic congruence. Object-relative sentences produced the greatest processing difficulty, demonstrated by increased reading times and decreased comprehension accuracy. Reading times peaked at the phrase boundaries, indicating that processing costs are tied to constituent completion rather than individual lexical categories. Reading times also increased with the number of syntactic constituents completed at a phrase boundary. Agent-patient semantic congruence produced its largest effects in object-relative sentences, suggesting that semantic information interacts with syntactic computations when processing demands are greatest. These findings demonstrate that self-paced reading is sensitive to the incremental processing associated with syntactic constituent completion. Processing costs are tied more closely to phrase completion than to individual lexical categories, scale with the amount of syntactic structure completed at a boundary and interact with agent-patient semantic interpretation during object-relative sentence comprehension. Together, these findings support a view of sentence comprehension in which syntactic structure building and semantic interpretation proceed incrementally and interact continuously throughout online language processing.

While evidence suggests magnocellular deficits in the geniculostriate pathway in adults with dyslexia, neural deficits in the subcortical pathways during childhood remain unclear. Here, we used high-resolution fMRI to investigate subcortical abnormalities in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Fast achromatic motion stimuli and slowly drifting chromatic gratings were used to assess magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) functions, respectively. Relative to controls, children with dyslexia showed a selective reduction in responses to the M stimulus in the ventromedial pulvinar (vmPul) and the superficial layers of the superior colliculus (SCs), along with significantly reduced SCs-vmPul connectivity. Importantly, while vmPul responses to the M stimulus were positively associated with reading skills in healthy controls, this correlation was absent in children with dyslexia. Unlike previous findings in adults, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) exhibited a non-selective reduction in responses to both stimuli, no volume reduction, and no correlation with reading ability. These findings demonstrate a selective deficit to achromatic motion processing in the colliculus-pulvinar pathway in children with dyslexia, which contributes to their reading difficulties. This early subcortical disruption differs from, and precedes, the neural deficits previously reported in the adult LGN, offering new insight into the developmental trajectory of dyslexia.

Adiposity in adolescence can have detrimental effects on neural maturation, and is associated with incompletely understood alterations in brain structures and circuits. To address this important knowledge gap, N=3,341 youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) two-year follow-up cohort (median(IQR) age=12.0(1.1) years; 51.0% females), with structural MRI and resting-state fMRI were studied. Topological properties reflecting network strength, resilience, efficiency and modularity, information transfer, regional feedback costs associated with controllability of network dynamics, and morphometric characteristics were examined as a function of body mass index (BMI), body roundness index (BRI), overweight, obesity, and persistent excess BMI (across assessments). Youth who slept less, spent more time on electronic devices, were Hispanic and/or from lower-income families had higher BMI/BRI ({beta}=0.07-4.95, 95%CI=[0.03,7.05]), and higher odds of overweight or obesity (aOR=1.01-1.72, 95%CI=[1.01,2.28]). Higher BMI/BRI, overweight, obesity and/or persistent excess BMI were associated with weaker and less resilient networks supporting decision-making, control, emotional regulation, reward processing and social function ({beta}=-0.11 to -0.01, CI=[-0.16, -0.01]), and more topologically fragile thalamus and basal ganglia ({beta}=0.05-0.10, CI=[0.01,0.14], p<0.03). They were also associated with lower control costs in cognitive and topological hubs (including the precuneus and prefrontal regions) that play central roles in regulating brain dynamics, aberrant information transfer in limbic, frontoparietal, salience, somatomotor and cerebellar regions, and lower thickness and/or volume of distributed (including prefrontal) regions, and functional hubs ({beta}=-0.14 to -0.02, CI=[-0.18,-0.01]). Thus, adiposity in adolescence is associated with widespread structural and alterations of brain networks supporting developing cognitive processes, and fundamental mechanisms that control these networks dynamics.

Learning induces rapid microstructural plasticity in the human brain, yet the precise temporal dynamics of these changes remain unclear. Using dense temporal sampling of diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) combined with task-based fMRI, we assessed microstructural changes throughout a declarative learning paradigm and subsequent rest. Seventy-four participants (36 females) learned image-location associations across four encoding-retrieval repetitions while undergoing interleaved functional and DW-MRI acquisitions. A matched control group (N=37, 21 females) underwent a similar imaging protocol without learning. Dense sampling of DW-MRI acquisitions (k=2146 across 22 time points in 127 min) revealed that learning-induced mean diffusivity (MD) decreases emerged shortly after learning onset and continued to develop during post-learning rest. The most robust and spatially consistent change was localized to the left middle occipital/temporal gyrus, a region also showing functional activation during encoding and retrieval. Linear mixed-effects modeling further confirmed a significant group-by-time interaction, with MD reductions in the left middle occipital/temporal gyrus emerging as early as {approx}7 min after learning onset, becoming robust by {approx}35-40 min, and persisting throughout the extended post-learning period, while controls showed no changes. Our findings demonstrate that learning-related microstructural plasticity unfolds continuously from encoding to offline consolidation, with learning-induced structural changes emerging in functionally engaged regions. Dense temporal sampling of DW-MRI offers a powerful approach to bridge functional activation and structural remodeling, providing evidence of when and where experience-dependent plasticity occurs during memory formation.

Learning is typically understood as a process driven by prediction errors, when outcomes differ from expectations. Yet it remains unclear whether outcomes that perfectly match expectations are psychologically and computationally meaningful. Here, we tested whether zero prediction errors shape affect, belief updating, and neural feedback processing in human reinforcement learning. Participants repeatedly predicted rewards in environments varying in uncertainty, with a subset of trial outcomes manipulated to exactly match their predictions. Zero prediction errors produced the highest momentary happiness, and computational modeling showed that behavior was best explained by a model in which zero prediction errors induce a distinct latent belief state that guides subsequent updating, particularly under higher uncertainty and in individuals with greater intolerance of uncertainty. Outcome-locked EEG analyses further showed that zero prediction errors elicited distinct P3-like responses, with residual neural activity predicting attenuated updating after zero prediction errors but enhanced updating after standard prediction errors. These findings suggest that perfect predictions are not neutral, but informative events that actively shape affect, behavior, and neural feedback processing.

Temporal expectations are crucial for adaptive responding to predictable events. Most previous imaging studies have focused on the neural underpinnings of unexpectedness rather than expectedness, without considering that neural responses related to temporal expectations may be confounded by parallel learning processes. To identify the neural basis of overlearned expectancy with fMRI, we employed a multi-day detection paradigm with auditory cues preceding visual targets at likely and unlikely time points. After training left inferior parietal cortex was engaged in processing overlearned temporal expectations together with retrosplenial and prefrontal cortex. Remarkably, compared with untrained controls, we observed inverted brain responses as a function of stimulus likelihood and training status. Finally, the brain regions coding overlearned expectancy had previously been implicated in episodic retrieval and simulation (based on Neurosynth association tests), suggesting that frequently used temporal expectations may, over time, utilise episodic memory routines to simulate likely future events and thus guide behavior.

Neural oscillations synchronize to the rhythmic structure of speech, a process known as cortical tracking that is thought to support speech perception and language acquisition. Individual differences in cortical tracking during infancy predict later language outcomes, yet little is known about whether this neural mechanism can be shaped by recent auditory experience early in development. Here, we tested whether brief exposure to structured musical rhythms modulates cortical tracking of speech in Spanish-Basque bilingual infants at 6 and 10 months of age. Infants listened to speech preceded by either temporally regular musical sequences that mirrored the rhythmic structure of the speech signal or rhythmically irregular musical sequences. Cortical tracking was measured using electroencephalography and quantified as speech-brain coherence in the delta and theta frequency bands. Regular musical sequences enhanced subsequent cortical tracking of speech, but the effects varied across age, language, and frequency band. In Spanish, rhythmic priming enhanced delta-band tracking at 10 months of age, whereas in Basque it enhanced theta-band tracking at both 6 and 10 months. These language-specific effects suggest that rhythmic priming interacts with the temporal properties of individual languages and infants' developing linguistic experience. Together, the findings demonstrate that cortical tracking is a highly flexible neural mechanism during infancy and can be rapidly modulated by structured rhythmic input. Thus, we identify rhythmic experience as a potential pathway through which infants' auditory environment shapes neural speech processing during language development.

Context effects are ubiquitous across sensory systems and reflect a general encoding principle for both simple and complex stimuli. One simple context effect, contraction bias, manifests in two-interval perception tasks as a bias of the perceived magnitude of the first stimulus toward the center of the overall magnitude range. The underlying cause of contraction bias is unclear. One explanation is that a listeners magnitude estimate of the first stimulus is combined with a perceptual anchor, usually the mean stimulus magnitude, biasing it toward the anchor (sensory model). An alternative explanation is that a listeners response criterion shifts, based on the magnitude of the stimulus pair, relative to the mean magnitude of the stimuli range (decision model). Two pitch-discrimination experiments were performed to test these hypotheses in the auditory domain. The first was a forced-choice discrimination task, where listeners were asked to identify the higher or lower tone in a pair. The second was a same-different task where listeners indicated whether or not the two tones in a pair differed in frequency. Contraction bias was observed in the higher-lower discrimination task, even after extensive perceptual training with feedback. In contrast, no contraction bias was observed in the same-different task. Computational models of the sensory and decision hypotheses were fit to data from both experiments. The sensory model captured the pattern of results the higher-lower experiment but erroneously predicted a contraction bias in the same-different task. The decision model produced similar predictions to the sensory model in the higher-lower task but correctly predicted no contraction bias in the same-different task, and produced lower prediction errors and more stable parameter estimates in both paradigms. Overall, the results suggest that the underlying nature of the contraction bias may reflect decision, rather than sensory, biases based on the context.

Wakeful rest after learning has been proposed to facilitate memory consolidation compared to engaging in a distraction task, with prior EEG studies linking slow oscillation power during rest to better memory performance. However, replication attempts have yielded mixed results. We investigated whether 10 minutes of wakeful rest would enhance associative memory performance relative to 10 minutes of a hippocampus-dependent auditory short-term memory distraction task, using a within-participant design with continuous EEG recording. We employed both a replication-inspired analytical approach, closely modeled on prior work, and a data-specific approach adapted to our dataset. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found no advantage of rest over distraction on associative memory performance. We did, however, observe an order effect: performance was better for the second learning than the first, and this improvement was more pronounced when rest was performed second compared to first. At the neurophysiological level, neither slow oscillation nor alpha power during the post-learning period correlated with memory performance, regardless of analytical pipeline, although cross-over analyses revealed that the choice of EEG reference influenced the direction of some correlations. At the phenomenological level, self-reported mental activity during rest and distraction, as well as trait daydreaming frequency, were not related to memory outcomes, despite the two conditions inducing distinct subjective cognitive states. Together, these findings do not support a robust benefit of post-learning wakeful rest over a hippocampus-dependent distraction task for associative memory, nor do they replicate prior EEG correlates of consolidation. We discuss methodological factors, including task-learning effects in within-participant designs, the coarseness of averaged spectral power measures, and variability in EEG preprocessing pipelines, that may contribute to inconsistencies across the literature, and we call for greater standardization and transparency in future studies.

Background Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment is a well-documented concern among cancer survivors, yet the neural mechanisms underlying deficits in cognitive control remain poorly understood. This study examined group differences in brain activation during a flanker task using functional MRI (fMRI) between chemotherapy-exposed participants and healthy controls. Methods Participants (21 survivors (24.9 years old; 71.4 % female; 15 years from diagnosis) and 21 healthy controls (26.7 years old; 61.9 % female) completed a flanker task during fMRI, with congruent and incongruent conditions. Reaction time, accuracy, and Flanker scores were collected. Whole-brain group comparisons were performed for congruent, incongruent, and incongruent > congruent contrasts. Associations between the incongruent > congruent contrast and cognitive performance were examined. Results Compared to controls, the Chemo group had longer reaction times in both congruent and incongruent conditions (p < .001) and lower NIH Flanker scores (p = .01), with no differences in accuracy. They showed reduced activation in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri, supplementary motor area, and bilateral caudate, but greater activation in the right inferior temporal and cerebellar regions. The incongruent > congruent contrast correlated with increased activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal gyri, and fusiform gyrus with cognitive performance. Conclusions Chemotherapy-exposed participants showed cognitive control deficits and altered neural activation during a flanker task, indicating disrupted recruitment of frontoparietal and subcortical regions key for conflict processing. These findings improve understanding of neural causes of chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment and may help identify at-risk survivors and guide personalized rehabilitation.

Objective: The Add Health Cognitive Assessment, Physical, and Sensory Function Protocol (Add CAPS) was developed to assess cognitive, physical, and sensory function in early midlife in a nationally representative sample in the United States. Using Add CAPS, we developed two general cognitive performance measures. Methods: The sample included 2,525 participants from Add Health Wave VI who completed an in- home assessment of cognitive performance. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to derive two general cognitive performance (GCP) scores: (1) a five-domain score based on originally designed cognitive domains (Add CAPS GCP), and (2) a modified score aligned with the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) framework (Add CAPS GCP-H). We evaluated model fit using Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and tested factor scores for criterion validity. Results: Both models showed good fit (Add CAPS GCP: RMSEA = 0.025, SRMR = 0.031, CFI = 0.968; Add CAPS GCP-H: RMSEA = 0.027, SRMR = 0.033, CFI = 0.962), indicating that they adequately represent the underlying GCP construct. Discussion: The Add CAPS cognitive battery captures a robust, hierarchical structure of GCP across alternative domain specifications. The derived factor scores provide a valuable method for characterizing a person's cognitive baseline during midlife. Importantly, the Add CAPS GCP-H enhances comparability with the HCAP network, supporting cross-cohort analyses of cognitive aging.

Child maltreatment is a leading cause of preventable harm, yet how diverse risk factors accumulate to precipitate caregiving failure remains unclear. In non-human mammals, fatal abandonment or aggression toward offspring occurs under specific ecological conditions, suggesting evolutionarily conserved pathways for caregiving breakdown. To test whether similar structures apply to humans, we conducted a case-control study enrolling 39 caregivers imprisoned for (near-) lethal child maltreatment and 351 control caregivers in Japan. Across 70 examined factors spanning caregivers' childhood, socioeconomic, neurobiological, and proximate environmental profiles, severe maltreatment was associated with 4.6- and 5.9-fold higher exposure to cross-species factors in men and women, respectively. Developmental pathway modeling identified significant standardized total effects of low educational attainment, non-kin caregiving, isolated parenting, behavioral addiction, and maternal absence before age 15. This proof-of-concept study presents an integrated framework bridging evolutionary biology with contemporary human caregiving and suggests targets for actionable intervention.