Modular Cognitive Architecture Emerges in Large Language Models

작성자

카테고리:

← 피드로
arXiv cs.AI · Pengrui Han, Jacob Andreas, Evelina Fedorenko, Andrea Gregor de Varda · 2026-08-17 AI

[Submitted on 27 Jun 2026]

View PDF

Abstract:The human brain exhibits a striking degree of functional specialization, with distinct networks supporting language, formal reasoning, reasoning about other minds, and reasoning about the physical world. Is this modular organization a fundamental principle of how intelligent systems must be built, or an evolutionary accident specific to biological brains? Here, we test whether a similar organization emerges in Large Language Models–another class of intelligent systems created through a very different optimization process. Using circuit analyses across N=46 tasks spanning four cognitive domains (language, formal reasoning, social reasoning, physical reasoning), we find that LLMs develop a modular architecture that mirrors the human brain: tasks drawing on the same network in humans recruit overlapping neurons in LLMs, whereas tasks drawing on different networks recruit distinct neurons. The convergent emergence of modularity in brains and neural networks suggests that it may be a fundamental property of intelligent systems.

Submission history

From: Pengrui Han [view email]
[v1] Sat, 27 Jun 2026 01:56:22 UTC (6,479 KB)

원문에서 계속 ↗

추출 본문 · 출처: arxiv.org · https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.13567