Neural mechanisms of information seeking

TY - JOUR

T1 - Neural mechanisms of information seeking

AU - Kobayashi, Kenji

AU - Kable, Joseph W.

N1 - Funding Information: J.W.K. was supported by funding from the National Institute of Aging (RF1AG058065), from the AE foundation, and from the Facebook/Meta Research Foundational Integrity research program. The authors thank Laura Zaneski for the illustrations in Figure 1. Conceptualization and writing, K.K. and J.W.K. The authors declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2024/6/5

Y1 - 2024/6/5

N2 - We ubiquitously seek information to make better decisions. Particularly in the modern age, when more information is available at our fingertips than ever, the information we choose to collect determines the quality of our decisions. Decision neuroscience has long adopted empirical approaches where the information available to decision-makers is fully controlled by the researchers, leaving neural mechanisms of information seeking less understood. Although information seeking has long been studied in the context of the exploration-exploitation trade-off, recent studies have widened the scope to investigate more overt information seeking in a way distinct from other decision processes. Insights gained from these studies, accumulated over the last few years, raise the possibility that information seeking is driven by the reward system signaling the subjective value of information. In this piece, we review findings from the recent studies, highlighting the conceptual and empirical relationships between distinct literatures, and discuss future research directions necessary to establish a more comprehensive understanding of how individuals seek information as a part of value-based decision-making.

AB - We ubiquitously seek information to make better decisions. Particularly in the modern age, when more information is available at our fingertips than ever, the information we choose to collect determines the quality of our decisions. Decision neuroscience has long adopted empirical approaches where the information available to decision-makers is fully controlled by the researchers, leaving neural mechanisms of information seeking less understood. Although information seeking has long been studied in the context of the exploration-exploitation trade-off, recent studies have widened the scope to investigate more overt information seeking in a way distinct from other decision processes. Insights gained from these studies, accumulated over the last few years, raise the possibility that information seeking is driven by the reward system signaling the subjective value of information. In this piece, we review findings from the recent studies, highlighting the conceptual and empirical relationships between distinct literatures, and discuss future research directions necessary to establish a more comprehensive understanding of how individuals seek information as a part of value-based decision-making.

KW - curiosity

KW - decision neuroscience

KW - decision-making

KW - dopaminergic reward system

KW - evidence accumulation

KW - exploration

KW - information seeking

KW - novelty

KW - uncertainty

KW - value of information

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85193430948&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.008

DO - 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.008

M3 - Review article

C2 - 38703774

AN - SCOPUS:85193430948

SN - 0896-6273

VL - 112

SP - 1741

EP - 1756

JO - Neuron

JF - Neuron

IS - 11

ER -