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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 1, 2025

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice
09:15

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

Published on: February 4, 2015

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Rational inattention in mice.

Nikola Grujic1,2, Jeroen Brus2,3, Denis Burdakov1,2

  • 1Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Science Advances
|March 4, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Mice demonstrate rational inattention by optimizing sensory resource allocation for maximum reward, adapting efficiently to new environments despite imprecise perception of common stimuli.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Organismal behavior is often perceived as irrational due to inconsistency and bias.
  • The underlying mechanisms driving these seemingly suboptimal behaviors are not well understood.
  • Understanding resource allocation is key to explaining adaptive behavior under constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how organisms allocate limited processing resources to balance sensory precision and metabolic cost for maximal utility.
  • To determine if behavior, even if appearing suboptimal, can be explained by rational principles under neurobiological constraints.
  • To reveal the mechanisms of adaptive perception in novel environments.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a novel behavioral task and normative framework.

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Last Updated: Oct 1, 2025

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  • Analysis of resource allocation strategies in mice within novel stimulus-reward environments.
  • Investigation of the role of arousal systems and reinforcement learning in regulating sensory precision.

    • Main Results:

    • Mice function as rational inattentive agents, adaptively allocating sensory resources to maximize reward.
    • Perception of frequent stimuli was imprecise, indicating an "awareness" of neurocognitive limitations.
    • Reward distribution information is conveyed by arousal systems, regulating sensory precision via top-down normalization.

    Conclusions:

    • Organisms can efficiently perceive and adapt to novel environments by acting as rational inattentive agents.
    • Behavioral "irrationality" can reflect an optimal strategy for managing limited neurobiological resources.
    • This framework provides insights into the adaptive nature of perception and decision-making under constraints.