Study Finds Mice Pay 4-6 µl of Water for Information, With 1,138 OFC Neurons Encoding Its Value
Updated
Updated · Nature.com · Jul 30
Study Finds Mice Pay 4-6 µl of Water for Information, With 1,138 OFC Neurons Encoding Its Value
3 articles · Updated · Nature.com · Jul 30
Summary
Mice chose an information-giving option even when it did not change reward outcomes, selecting it on 78% of free-choice trials and sacrificing water worth an estimated 4-6 µl to get it.
In an odor-based task, the animals learned cues that predicted whether reward information would be revealed; their preference weakened when the delay before reward shrank, indicating information itself carried value.
Microendoscope recordings from 1,138 Orbitofrontal cortex neurons in seven mice showed separate population codes for information-related value and water reward, including distinct signals for predicting and receiving each.
Decoding analyses found OFC activity could distinguish information from no-information trials with 73% accuracy on forced trials, while information and water value occupied near-orthogonal neural dimensions.
The authors say the mouse model offers a tractable system for studying curiosity-like information seeking and how the brain represents intrinsic versus extrinsic value.