Neural correlates of information gain during search revealed by fMRI.

Overview

1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand
2. NeuraSearch Laboratory, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
3. School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Abstract

When confronted with uncertainty, humans engage in information-seeking behavior to gather sufficient information. Identifying the brain regions involved offers insight into the underlying cognitive mechanisms. Using Shannon information theory, we quantified the information contained in the image tiles presented in an fMRI experiment. Nineteen participants judged whether a caption described an image by viewing a sequence of tiles and signaling when it matched. Random-effects ANOVA and representational similarity analysis revealed that regions associated with information gain resulted in two complementary patterns. The first, involving right Ph2 and left hIP5, showed a graded relationship with information gain, consistent with tracking currently available perceptual evidence. The second, involving bilateral PGp with left hIP3 and left FG2, was more sensitive to intermediate information gain, possibly reflecting integrative processes relating accumulated visual information to task-relevant semantic expectations. These findings offer a neurocognitive framework for how information is acquired and evaluated during a sequential search.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data and code availability

• Representational dissimilarity matrices and statistical probability maps have been deposited at OSF and are publicly available as of the date of publication; the DOI is listed in the key resources table (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/F9HSB). The caption–image stimulus set generated in this study is available from the lead contact upon request. Raw fMRI data cannot be deposited in a public repository because of ethics and participant-consent restrictions. • This paper does not report original code. • Any additional information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 3, 28 September 2026

• Authors: added Sakrapee Paisalnan (0000-0002-2600-1824); removed Sakrapee Paisalnan

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 4 keywords, 1 funder, 49 references.

Cite

This paper

Paisalnan, S., Moshfeghi, Y., & Pollick, F. (2026). Neural correlates of information gain during search revealed by fMRI. iScience, 29(9), 117445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117445

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