Neural circuitry of information seeking
Open accessAbstract
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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All the neuromodulatory systems with their origins in VTA, SN, DRN, LC and VSN have at one time or another been proposed to reflect uncertainty or the potential for information gain.
“all the neuromodulatory systems with their origins in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), substantia nigra (SN), dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), locus coeruleus (LC) and ventral septal nucleus (VSN) have at one time or another been proposed to reflect uncertainty or the potential for information gain3,21–27”
From Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
All major neuromodulatory systems have been linked to uncertainty processing, but identifying a specific or preeminent contribution has been difficult.
“All major neuromodulatory systems have at one time or another been linked to uncertainty processing3,21–27, but identifying a specific or preeminent contribution has been difficult.”
From Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
Activity in individual neurons in both habenula and VTA reflects both the value of a stimulus in terms of the reward that it predicts and VoI.
“Activity in individual neurons in both habenula and VTA reflects both the value of a stimulus in terms of the reward that it predicts58–60 as well as VoI21,22,27,61”
From Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
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When less is more: coy display behaviours and the temporal dynamics of animal courtship
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Representations of the intrinsic value of information in mouse orbitofrontal cortex
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Laser stimulation of the skin for quantitative study of decision-making and motivation
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Self-citationA neural signature of rewardPreprint
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Striatal Dopamine Represents Valence on Dynamic Regional Scales
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A Common Stay-on-Goal Mechanism in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex for Information and Effort Choices
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Prospective Distractor Information Reduces Reward-Related Attentional Capture
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Cognitive control and consciousness in open biological systems
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How the value of the environment controls persistence in visual search
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Self-citationThe availability of non-instrumental information increases risky decision-making
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Non-instrumental information seeking is resistant to acute stress
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Information‐seeking when information doesn't matter
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Theoretical Mechanisms of Paradoxical Choices Involving Information
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Do goldfish like to be informed?
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Disinformation elicits learning biasesPreprint
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The Effect of Gamification on Employee Boredom and Performance*
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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)
- PMC
- PMC7928425
- 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
- green
- europepmc.org
- 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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