Distinct contributions of prefrontal, parietal, and cingulate signals to exploratory decisions.
Victor. K.S. Chan, Nicole H. L. Wong, Tsz-Fung Woo, Kei Watanabe, Masahiko Haruno, Chun-Kit Law, Bolton K. H. Chau · Bernstein Conference 2024
Exploratory behaviors are crucial to the adaptation of organisms to uncertain environments. Human neuroscience studies have implicated the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in exploratory behaviors. However, the roles of these regions in signaling specific aspects of exploratory behaviors remain unclear. Based on earlier studies, we classified exploratory behaviors into two types driven by different motives: internal and external explorations. Internal exploration involves encountering options with uncertain outcomes and seeking in