Curiosity is associated with enhanced tonic firing in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex

Disparity between current and desired information, known as information gap, is an important driver of information-seeking and curiosity. To gain insight into its neural basis, we recorded responses of single neurons in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) while rhesus macaques performed a task that induces and quantifies demand for information. We find that enhanced firing rates in dACC before the start of a trial predict a stronger bias towards information-seeking choices. Following choices of uninformative options, firing rates are tonically enhanced until information is delivered. The level of enhancement observed is correlated on a trial-by-trial basis with the value assigned to the prospective information. Finally, variation in this tone is positively correlated with receptiveness to new information, as inferred by preference changes on subsequent trials. These patterns are not observed in a complementary dataset collected in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), suggesting these effects reflect at least somewhat anatomically localized processing.