Intrinsic functional connections determine how curiosity and prediction errors enhance memory

Individuals differ in the way they seek information, acquire knowledge, and form memories. Neural finger-prints of intrinsic functional connectivity distinguish between individuals and predict inter-individual differences in task performance. Both curiosity - the desire to acquire new information - and information prediction errors (IPEs) - the mismatch between information and previous expectations - enhance memory but differ considerably between individuals. The present study assessed whether inter-individual differences in functional connectivity measured using resting-state fMRI determine the extent to which individuals benefit from memory-enhancing effects of curiosity and IPEs. We found a double dissociation between individual differences in mesolimbic functional connectivity, which accounted for curiosity-driven but not IPE-related memory enhancements, and individual differences in cingulo-hippocampal functional connectivity, which predicted IPE-driven but not curiosity-related memory enhancements. These novel findings on how inter-individual differences in dissociable intrinsic functional networks determine memory enhancements stress the need to account for these differences in theoretical frameworks of curiosity and memory.