# Neurocomputational mechanisms of explore-exploit decision making in prefrontal and motivational neural circuits

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $762,772

## Abstract

Project Summary
The explore-exploit dilemma refers to the challenge of deciding when to forego choices with known
consequences to explore new opportunities and learn more about them. Managing this trade-off is a fundamental
component of behavioral flexibility. Excessive exploration or exploitation impedes learning and results in poor
choices leading to undesired outcomes. Explore-exploit decision making is understudied in psychiatry despite
its ecological validity and relevance in understanding disorders characterized by inflexible behaviors. One reason
for this is we have not identified if the brain encodes information relevant for managing explore-exploit tradeoffs
differently when exploration is motivated by either appetitive or aversive consequences. Another reason is that
while there is evidence in humans that frontopolar cortex—the most anterior part of prefrontal cortex which is
unique to primates—implements decisions to explore new opportunities, the neural mechanisms underlying
changes in frontopolar activity that prompt exploration are unclear. Neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex,
basolateral amygdala, and nucleus accumbens encode value signals that inform explore-exploit decisions. This
suggests a more dynamic interplay between frontopolar cortex and motivational brain regions during explore-
exploit decision making than is currently hypothesized. This proposal tests the hypothesis that frontopolar cortex
implements decisions to explore, but is reliant on appetitive and aversive value signals computed in motivational
neural circuits to balance exploration and exploitation. We predict that bottom-up feedback to frontopolar cortex
from brain regions classically associated with signaling reward value is critical for balancing exploration and
exploitation. In Aim 1 we will test if monkeys explore more often when choices in a multi-arm bandit task are
associated with gains or losses, and use computational modeling of choices to define valence dependent
differences in their willingness to explore. In Aim 2 we will simultaneously record neural activity in frontopolar
and orbitofrontal cortex, basolateral amygdala, and nucleus accumbens to determine if bottom-up information
flow from motivational brain regions to frontopolar cortex predicts decisions to explore or exploit, and if
exploratory choices are encoded differently when exploration is motivated by gains versus losses. In Aim 3 will
use pathway-specific chemogenetics to excite or inhibit basolateral amygdala neurons that project to the nucleus
accumbens, while recording neural activity in the nucleus accumbens and frontopolar cortex. We will to test the
prediction that excitation of this pathway increases exploitation due to heightened encoding of exploitative signals
in nucleus accumbens and decreased encoding of exploration signals in frontopolar cortex. Upon completion of
these aims, we will understand how imbalances in explore-exploit decision making emerge in different psychiatric
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10178736
- **Project number:** 1R01MH125824-01
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** VINCENT D COSTA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $762,772
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10178736

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10178736, Neurocomputational mechanisms of explore-exploit decision making in prefrontal and motivational neural circuits (1R01MH125824-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10178736. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*