Résumé
Modifying habits, particularly unwanted behaviors, is often challenging. Cognitive research has focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying habit formation and how habits can be rewired.<p>A key mechanism is statistical learning, the continuous, implicit extraction of probabilistic patterns from the environment, which forms the basis of predictive processing. However, the interplay between executive functions (EF) and the rewiring -or updating -of these probabilistic representations remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, we conducted an experiment consisting of four sessions: (1) Learning Phase -acquisition of probabilistic representations, (2) Rewiring Phase -updating these probabilistic representations, (3) Retrieval Phase -accessing learned representations, and (4) EF assessment, targeting five key aspects: attentional control, inhibition, working memory, flexibility, and verbal fluency. We focused on the relationship between these EF measures and the updating of previously acquired knowledge using an interindividual differences approach. Our results revealed a positive relationship between rewiring and inhibition, suggesting that better inhibitory control may facilitate the adaptive restructuring of probabilistic predictive representations. Conversely, a negative relationship was identified between rewiring and semantic fluency, implying that certain underlying aspects of verbal fluency tasks, such as access to long-term memory representations, may hinder the updating process. We interpret this relationship through the lens of competitive memory network models. Our findings indicate that the rewiring of implicit probabilistic representations is a multifaceted cognitive process requiring both the suppression of proactive interference from prior knowledge through cognitive inhibition and a strong reliance on model-free functioning.Contemporary challenges like the pandemic, climate change, and rapid societal shifts result in significant environmental changes, often fostering problematic habits and maladaptive behaviors 1 . In this context, the detailed comprehension of the neurocognitive dynamics underlying habit formation and the way we modify them has become a research question of the utmost importance. Traditionally, habits have been conceptualized as automatic links between stimuli and responses 2 indifferent to the outcome value of the response, which distinguishes them from goal-directed behaviors in non-human animal studies 3 . In the context of humans, habits take on a more intricate nature, defined by a set of behavioral attributes 4-6 . They are acquired gradually through associative learning processes over extended periods of practice, frequently without conscious awareness 7 . Once established, these habits can be executed with minimal thought or attention, essentially operating automatically 8 .>