Summary: Researchers identified a neural signature in mice that encodes the intrinsic value of information, separate from physical rewards.
In a series of experiments, laboratory mice actively sought advance knowledge about upcoming outcomes—even when obtaining that information reduced the amount of physical reward they received. Concurrent population neural recordings revealed that roughly 20% of decision-related neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) change their firing specifically to represent the expected value of information.
These results offer a biological framework for curiosity, showing that mammalian brains represent the value of information with distinct neural codes, analogous to how they represent rewards such as food or water.
Key Facts
- Information as a tradable commodity: Mice preferred advance cues about water delivery and even accepted smaller water rewards to receive that advance knowledge, indicating information has intrinsic value beyond its utility.
- Dedicated neural population in OFC: High-density recordings found that about 20% of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex modulate their activity specifically in response to the expectation and value of information.
- Separate representations of value: By independently varying water volume and information availability, researchers dissociated neural signals for extrinsic reward (water amount) from those encoding intrinsic information value.
- Curiosity driven by uncertainty: The tendency to seek informative cues grew when delays before reward delivery increased, consistent with the idea that information seeking reduces internal uncertainty.
- Evolutionary implications: Finding information-valuation neurons in rodents suggests curiosity is an ancient, conserved mechanism in mammals rather than a uniquely human trait.
Source: Zuckerman Institute
We all hunger for information. Sometimes that drive leads to a concrete outcome—like checking reviews before choosing a restaurant—but often we pursue knowledge for its own sake. From Galileo training his telescope on the heavens to a child exploring a backyard, curiosity motivates behavior that does not always yield immediate physical benefits. What neural mechanisms drive these curiosity-driven quests?
Neuroscientists at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute set out to answer that question. In research published July 30 in Nature Neuroscience, Jennifer J. Bussell, PhD, and colleagues report a neural signal that represents the value of information independent of tangible rewards.
Their work began by demonstrating that mice, like humans and other animals in previous studies, will choose to obtain information even when it does not change reward outcomes. This behavioral finding has broad implications for educators, economists, philosophers and anyone interested in the origins of curiosity.
“Curiosity is a fundamental human experience, but we still do not fully understand how it is implemented in the brain,” said Dr. Bussell, an associate research scientist in the Axel lab at the Zuckerman Institute. “Understanding where and how information is valued could illuminate how learning, exploration, and decision-making are organized across species.”
Curiosity has been discussed since antiquity—Aristotle claimed humans “by nature desire to know”—and modern researchers have modeled curiosity with decision tasks in which subjects pay for information that provides no strategic advantage. Prior studies in non-primate animals showed similar behavior, and recent work by co-author Ethan Bromberg-Martin revived and extended these paradigms to reveal brain responses to information that resemble responses to primary rewards.
Building on that foundation, Dr. Bussell designed an odor-based choice task for mice. On each trial, mice could poke one of two holes. One hole produced an otherwise neutral odor cue (for example, cut grass) that reliably predicted whether a water reward would follow; the other hole produced no predictive cue, though the overall probability of receiving water was the same. Most mice preferred the informative cue, choosing it even when doing so reduced the eventual water volume.
“Because animals cannot verbalize their motives, careful task design is essential,” Dr. Bussell explained. “These mice showed a clear and consistent preference for advance information, effectively paying in water to learn about future events.”
While mice learned the task, the team recorded large populations of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex using microendoscopic imaging. The OFC is known to play a central role in evaluating options during decision making. Comparing neural activity across trials where mice expected information versus no information, the researchers found a distinct subset of neurons—about 20%—that altered their firing specifically in response to the anticipated presence and value of information.
Further analysis contrasted activity when mice expected different water volumes. This separation allowed the researchers to identify one neural pattern linked to extrinsic reward magnitude and another pattern specifically representing intrinsic information value. A latent variable model reproduced these different representations in the low-dimensional dynamics of OFC population activity, supporting the idea that separate neural pathways encode information value and physical reward value.
Why would the brain assign intrinsic value to information? One explanation is evolutionary: information that reduces uncertainty about the environment can confer survival advantages, so neural systems that treat useful information as rewarding may have been selected for. Alternatively, organisms may find the resolution of uncertainty intrinsically rewarding, or anticipating known outcomes may enhance subjective pleasure. Dr. Bussell’s data provide evidence consistent with uncertainty reduction—mice were more likely to seek information when delays increased—but the full picture likely involves multiple interacting motives.
“The study opens a new avenue for neuroscience,” Dr. Bussell said. “We can now use mice to map the circuits that assign value to information and trace how those signals influence learning and behavior.” Future experiments will aim to trace connections between the OFC and other brain regions that contribute to curiosity and to determine how information-value signals are generated and used during decision making.
Key Questions Answered:
A: The experiment offered a choice between an “information” hole that produced an odor cue predicting whether water would follow and a “no-information” hole that produced no cue. When the rules were changed so that choosing the information hole reduced the amount of water given, mice still preferred the informative option, demonstrating a willingness to trade physical reward for advance knowledge.
A: The orbitofrontal cortex evaluates and compares the values of available options. In this study, roughly 20% of recorded OFC neurons specifically signaled the intrinsic value of expected information, forming a representation distinct from neurons that encode the size of a physical reward.
A: Information that reduces uncertainty can help animals anticipate threats, locate resources, and make better choices, providing a fitness advantage. Over evolutionary time, systems that treat valuable information as intrinsically rewarding may have become hardwired, promoting curiosity even when immediate physical benefits are absent.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- The original journal paper was reviewed in full.
- Additional context was provided by editorial staff.
About this neuroscience research news
Author: Charles Choi
Source: Zuckerman Institute
Contact: Charles Choi – Zuckerman Institute
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “Representations of the intrinsic value of information in mouse orbitofrontal cortex” by Jennifer J. Bussell, Ryan P. Badman, David Márton, Ethan S. Bromberg-Martin, L. F. Abbott, Kanaka Rajan & Richard Axel. Nature Neuroscience
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-026-02377-y
Abstract
Representations of the intrinsic value of information in mouse orbitofrontal cortex
Animals are motivated to seek information even when it does not change reward outcomes, indicating information has intrinsic value. The authors developed an odor-based information-seeking task showing that mice choose to receive predictive cues even though those cues do not alter reward contingencies.
Mice were willing to sacrifice water to obtain information, further demonstrating that information itself carries intrinsic value. Using a microendoscope to monitor orbitofrontal cortical activity during task learning, the researchers found distinct neural representations for odors that predicted information and odors that predicted water rewards.
A latent variable model reproduced these distinct representations in the low-dimensional dynamics of OFC population activity. The findings suggest that mice possess separate neural pathways to represent the intrinsic value of information and the extrinsic value of water reward, making the mouse a tractable model for studying the neural basis of curiosity and information valuation.