Cited by 89Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Neural circuitry of information seeking

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Bromberg-Martin, Ethan S, Monosov, Ilya E·2020·Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Humans and animals navigate uncertain environments by seeking information about the future. Remarkably, we often seek information even when it has no instrumental value for aiding our decisions - as if the information is a source of value in its own right. In recent years, there has been a flourishing of research into these non-instrumental information preferences and their implementation in the brain. Individuals value information about uncertain future rewards, and do so for multiple reasons, including valuing resolution of uncertainty and overweighting desirable information. The brain motivates this information seeking by tapping into some of the same circuitry as primary rewards like food and water. However, it also employs cortex and basal ganglia circuitry that predicts and values information as distinct from primary reward. Uncovering how these circuits cooperate will be fundamental to understanding information seeking and motivated behavior as a whole, in our increasingly complex and information-rich world.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [12]Daly HB: Preference for unpredictability is reversed when unpredictable nonreward is aversive: procedures, data, and theories of appetitive observing response acquisition. In Learning and Memory: The Behavioral and Biological Substrates. Edited by Wasserman IGaEA: L.E. Associates; 1992: 81– 104.
  2. [67]Schultz W, Dayan P, Montague PR: A neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science 1997, 275: 1593– 1599. 9054347

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Authors
Bromberg-Martin, E. S., & Monosov, I. E.
Affiliations
Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Corresponding author
Bromberg-Martin, Ethan S
Venue
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-10
Volume
35
Pages
62-70
ISSN
2352-1546 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3081352861
Cited by
89
References
101
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 1
FWCI
1.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH110594, R 01MH116937)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Keywords
information seeking, neural circuits, uncertainty, value of information, reward prediction, basal ganglia, cortex, motivated behavior, decision-making, future rewards

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