Explore the vast range of titles available.

Many animals, and an increasing number of artificial agents, display sophisticated capabilities to perceive and manipulate objects. But human beings remain distinctive in their capacity for flexible, creative tool use—using objects in new ways to act on the world, achieve a goal, or solve a problem. To study this type of general physical problem solving, we introduce the Virtual Tools game. In this game, people solve a large range of challenging physical puzzles in just a handful of attempts. We propose that the flexibility of human physical problem solving rests on an ability to imagine the effects of hypothesized actions, while the efficiency of human search arises from rich action priors which are updated via observations of the world. We instantiate these components in the “sample, simulate, update” (SSUP) model and show that it captures human performance across 30 levels of the Virtual Tools game. More broadly, this model provides a mechanism for explaining how people condense general physical knowledge into actionable, task-specific plans to achieve flexible and efficient physical problem solving.

Stone tools provide some of the most abundant, continuous, and high resolution evidence of behavioral change over human evolution, but their implications for cognitive evolution have remained unclear. We investigated the neurophysiological demands of stone toolmaking by training modern subjects in known Paleolithic methods (\"Oldowan\", \"Acheulean\") and collecting structural and functional brain imaging data as they made technical judgments (outcome prediction, strategic appropriateness) about planned actions on partially completed tools. Results show that this task affected neural activity and functional connectivity in dorsal prefrontal cortex, that effect magnitude correlated with the frequency of correct strategic judgments, and that the frequency of correct strategic judgments was predictive of success in Acheulean, but not Oldowan, toolmaking. This corroborates hypothesized cognitive control demands of Acheulean toolmaking, specifically including information monitoring and manipulation functions attributed to the \"central executive\" of working memory. More broadly, it develops empirical methods for assessing the differential cognitive demands of Paleolithic technologies, and expands the scope of evolutionary hypotheses that can be tested using the available archaeological record.

Animal cognition experiments frequently reveal striking individual variation but rarely consider its causes and largely ignore its potential consequences. Studies often focus on a subset of high-performing subjects, sometimes viewing evidence from a single individual as sufficient to demonstrate the cognitive capacity of a species. We argue that the emphasis on demonstrating species-level cognitive capacities detracts from the value of individual variation in understanding cognitive development and evolution. We consider developmental and evolutionary interpretations of individual variation and use meta-analyses of data from published studies to examine predictors of individual performance. We show that reliance on small sample sizes precludes robust conclusions about individual abilities as well as inter- and intraspecific differences. We advocate standardization of experimental protocols and pooling of data between laboratories to improve statistical rigour. Our analyses show that cognitive performance is influenced by age, sex, rearing conditions and previous experience. These effects limit the validity of comparative analyses unless developmental histories are taken into account, and complicate attempts to understand how cognitive traits are expressed and selected under natural conditions. Further understanding of cognitive evolution requires efforts to elucidate the heritability of cognitive traits and establish whether elevated cognitive performance confers fitness advantages in nature.

Tool use is considered a driving force behind the evolution of brain expansion and prolonged juvenile dependency in the hominin lineage. However, it remains rare across animals, possibly due to inherent constraints related to manual dexterity and cognitive abilities. In our study, we investigated the ontogeny of tool use in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), a species known for its extensive and flexible tool use behavior. We observed 70 wild chimpanzees across all ages and analyzed 1,460 stick use events filmed in the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire during the chimpanzee attempts to retrieve high-nutrient, but difficult-to-access, foods. We found that chimpanzees increasingly utilized hand grips employing more than 1 independent digit as they matured. Such hand grips emerged at the age of 2, became predominant and fully functional at the age of 6, and ubiquitous at the age of 15, enhancing task accuracy. Adults adjusted their hand grip based on the specific task at hand, favoring power grips for pounding actions and intermediate grips that combine power and precision, for others. Highly protracted development of suitable actions to acquire hidden (i.e., larvae) compared to non-hidden (i.e., nut kernel) food was evident, with adult skill levels achieved only after 15 years, suggesting a pronounced cognitive learning component to task success. The prolonged time required for cognitive assimilation compared to neuromotor control points to selection pressure favoring the retention of learning capacities into adulthood.

The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution, but the question when hominins first developed this ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context.

Long-standing speculations and more recent hypotheses propose a variety of possible evolutionary connections between language, gesture and tool use. These arguments have received important new support from neuroscientific research on praxis, observational action understanding and vocal language demonstrating substantial functional/anatomical overlap between these behaviours. However, valid reasons for scepticism remain as well as substantial differences in detail between alternative evolutionary hypotheses. Here, we review the current status of alternative ‘gestural’ and ‘technological’ hypotheses of language origins, drawing on current evidence of the neural bases of speech and tool use generally, and on recent studies of the neural correlates of Palaeolithic technology specifically.

Parrots and corvids show outstanding innovative and flexible behaviour. In particular, kea and New Caledonian crows are often singled out as being exceptionally sophisticated in physical cognition, so that comparing them in this respect is particularly interesting. However, comparing cognitive mechanisms among species requires consideration of non-cognitive behavioural propensities and morphological characteristics evolved from different ancestry and adapted to fit different ecological niches. We used a novel experimental approach based on a Multi-Access-Box (MAB). Food could be extracted by four different techniques, two of them involving tools. Initially all four options were available to the subjects. Once they reached criterion for mastering one option, this task was blocked, until the subjects became proficient in another solution. The exploratory behaviour differed considerably. Only one (of six) kea and one (of five) NCC mastered all four options, including a first report of innovative stick tool use in kea. The crows were more efficient in using the stick tool, the kea the ball tool. The kea were haptically more explorative than the NCC, discovered two or three solutions within the first ten trials (against a mean of 0.75 discoveries by the crows) and switched more quickly to new solutions when the previous one was blocked. Differences in exploration technique, neophobia and object manipulation are likely to explain differential performance across the set of tasks. Our study further underlines the need to use a diversity of tasks when comparing cognitive traits between members of different species. Extension of a similar method to other taxa could help developing a comparative cognition research program.

Technological innovation has been crucial in the evolution of our lineage, with tool use and production linked to complex cognitive processes. While previous research has examined the cognitive demands of early stone toolmaking, the neurocognitive aspects of early hominin tool use remain largely underexplored. This study relies on electroencephalography to investigate brain activation patterns associated with two distinct early hominin tool-using behaviors: forceful hammerstone percussion, practiced by both humans and non-human primates and linked to the earliest proposed stone tool industries, and precise flake cutting, an exclusive hominin behavior typically associated with the Oldowan. Our results show increased engagement of the frontoparietal regions during both tasks. Furthermore, we observed significantly increased beta power in the frontal and centroparietal areas when manipulating a cutting flake compared to a hammerstone, and increased beta activity over contralateral frontal areas during the aiming (planning) stage of the tool-using process. This original empirical evidence suggests that certain fundamental brain changes during early hominin evolution may be linked to precise stone tool use. These results offer new insights into the complex interplay between technology and human brain evolution and encourage further research on the neurocognitive underpinnings of hominin tool use.

Despite extensive research into the biomechanical and cognitive dimensions of early hominin material culture, no study has explored these aspects together in the context of stone tool production and use. In contrast to fields like rehabilitation and sports science, where electroencephalography (EEG) and surface electromyography (sEMG) are often integrated, experimental archaeology lacks such a combined approach. This paper introduces and validates a new protocol that integrates EEG and sEMG to measure neuromechanical activity during a classic stone tool task: cutting leather with a flake. Our experimental design divides the task into three phases: Hold, Aim, and Execute. Consistent with our expectations, results show that all eight muscles are most active during task execution, with the non-dominant hand playing a key role in stabilization during both the Aim and Execute phases. In the preparatory Aim stage, we observed increased beta power in the left frontal region (linked to planning, problem-solving, and working memory) as well as heightened motor activity associated with using the non-dominant hand, which contributes to the stabilization of the target material during this stage. During the Execute phase, beta power in these cortical areas decreased, with peak muscle activation occurring alongside suspected beta desynchronization in the motor region, reflecting intensified movement activity. Overall, these findings closely align with our expectations, validating our combined EEG-sEMG protocol and highlighting the importance of segmenting tool-using tasks into distinct phases, which allows for the identification of dynamic brain-hand interactions throughout the process. The proposed step-by-step protocol offers a new methodological basis for future research into the complexities of hominin behaviors and tool use.

•The left ventro-dorsal stream contributes to mechanical problem solving.•A left fronto-parietal network is recruited for novel tool use and selection tasks.•Planning and preparatory phases are important to manipulate novel tools. Using tools effectively is a fundamental human ability. Besides the proper recall of semantic knowledge, the application of mechanical problem solving strategies allows one to execute tool-related tasks properly. Past fMRI studies have shown a mainly left-lateralized network, including ventral, ventro-dorsal, and dorso-dorsal streams while using familiar tools with access to semantic information. However, to what degree the network is recruited when applying mechanical problem solving strategies to handle novel tools remains unclear. An event-related fMRI study including 22 participants was conducted. During scanning, participants had to manipulate novel tools, the function of which they could infer by mechanical problem solving. Brain activity was measured during actual novel tool use and selection, both during the planning and execution phase. Similar brain activation during tool use and tool selection could be observed, ranging from left-hemispheric inferior parietal to frontal regions in the ventro-dorsal stream with lack of ventral activation. Task-specific activations were more pronounced during the planning phases. During mechanical problem solving brain activation is more pronounced in the ventro-dorsal stream, where mechanical understanding and motor control need to be integrated. Similar networks recruited during tool selection compared to tool use trials reflect mental simulation strategies used to determine the appropriate tool-recipient fit. The ventral stream, linked to the recall of semantic knowledge, plays a subordinate role during this task and a stronger involvement of anterior regions reflect the relevance of the frontal lobe contributing to mechanical problem solving.