Curiosity: primate neural circuits for novelty and information seeking
Abstract
For many years, neuroscientists have investigated the behavioural, computational and neurobiological mechanisms that support value-based decisions, revealing how humans and animals make choices to obtain rewards. However, many decisions are influenced by factors other than the value of physical rewards or second-order reinforcers (such as money). For instance, animals (including humans) frequently explore novel objects that have no intrinsic value solely because they are novel and they exhibit the desire to gain information to reduce their uncertainties about the future, even if this information cannot lead to reward or assist them in accomplishing upcoming tasks. In this Review, I discuss how circuits in the primate brain responsible for detecting, predicting and assessing novelty and uncertainty regulate behaviour and give rise to these behavioural components of curiosity. I also briefly discuss how curiosity-related behaviours arise during postnatal development and point out some important reasons for the persistence of curiosity across generations.
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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 [3]
ACC and AI project to or are adjacent to VTA and SN, with multisynaptic routes via habenula.
“which project to or are adjacent to VTA and SN3,22,29–33,54,55 (with multisynaptic routes via habenula56,57)”
From Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering (2026) · cites this paper as [3]
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 [3]
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Temporal-orbitofrontal pathway regulates choices across physical reward and visual novelty
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- Authors
- Monosov, I. E.
- Affiliations
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Monosov, Ilya E.
- ORCID
- Monosov, Ilya E.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Published
- 2024-01-23
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 195-208
- ISSN
- 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0048
- OpenAlex
- W4391133130
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 186
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 5
- FWCI
- 3.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2024-02-12)
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychological and Educational Research Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- curiosity, information seeking, novelty detection, uncertainty, novel object exploration, postnatal development, value-based decision making
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Exploratory Behavior, Humans, Primates, Reward, Uncertainty, Information Seeking Behavior
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