Age-Related Changes in Curiosity: The Influence of Locus Coeruleus on Information-Seeking Behavior

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Hsiang-Yu Chen¹ (hsiangyuchen@brandeis.edu), Emma Lepore Carlson¹, Johanna L. Matulonis¹, McKenna S. Costello¹, Katherine E. O'Malley¹, Heidi I. L. Jacobs², Jacob M. Hooker², Anne S. Berry¹; ¹Brandeis University, ²Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital

Curiosity is a fundamental motivation that enhances learning and memory and has been linked to the function of the locus coeruleus (LC), which undergoes age-related structural decline. To investigate how aging affects curiosity and its influence on information-seeking, we developed the Photographic Art Storytelling Task (PAST). In this task, participants were shown photographs and told that each image was associated with a secret “story”. For each photograph, participants rated their initial curiosity and then read a subset of these stories, which were designed by experimenters to be either interesting (rich in historical or contextual detail) or boring (simple descriptions). Participants then reappraised their curiosity to assess subsequent information-seeking behavior. This design allowed us to distinguish between intrinsic motivation- versus story content-driven information-seeking. A "story bias" metric quantified how much curiosity reappraisal was influenced by the story outcomes. A total of 59 older and 48 younger adults participated, with 26 older and 36 younger adults undergoing structural MRI scans of the LC. Results indicated that initial curiosity influenced the perception of story outcomes and subsequent information-seeking, such that “high curiosity” photographs remained of high interest (low story bias) even if the story behind the photograph was revealed to be boring and devoid of rich contextual detail. Individuals with greater LC structural integrity exhibited lower story bias, highlighting the LC's role in regulating curiosity. This effect was more pronounced in younger adults, suggesting that age-related changes in LC function may alter curiosity-driven information-seeking.

Topic Area: THINKING: Development & aging