Arousal, exploration and the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system

Jepma, M. (2011)

Doctoral Thesis

The studies described in this thesis address a range of topics related to arousal, exploration, temporal attention, and the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system. Chapters 2 and 3 report two studies that investigated a recent theory about the role of the LC-NE system in the regulation of the exploration-exploitation trade-off. Chapter 4 reports a study on neurocognitive function in patients with dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DβH) deficiency. Chapter 5 reports an fMRI study on the neural correlates of perceptual curiosity. Chapter 6 and 7 reported several experiments investigating the effects of ‘accessory stimuli’ and temporal certainty on information processing, using scalp electrophysiology and sequential-sampling models of decision making. Taken together, the studies reported in this thesis suggest that arousal, exploration and temporal attention are closely related, which is likely due to a shared neural basis.

• Arousal
• Cognitive control
• Curiosity
• Decision making
• Exploration
• Locus coeruleus
• Norepinephrine
• Temporal attention

• All authors: Jepma, M.
• Supervisor: Hommel, B.
• Co-supervisor: Nieuwenhuis, S.
• Committee: -
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2011-05-12
• ISBN (print): 9789491211300
• Court: LEI Universiteit Leiden