In our recent paper, we are investigating the catecholaminergic bases of different exploration strategies. Previously it was thought that exploration-exploitation trade-off is solved by using computationally demanding exploration algorithms, however, we show that humans also use additional computationally cheaper strategies using a newly developed 3-armed bandit task. Furthermore, we show that one of these heuristics, value-free random exploration (ϵ-greedy), is modulated by noradrenaline. Upon administration of a single dose of propranolol, we found a reduction in value-free random exploration. This could be interesting in the context of disorders of exploration, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and how aberrant catecholamine function might contribute to the core behavioural impairments.

More information can be found here:
Dubois M, Habicht J, Michely J, Moran R, Dolan RJ & Hauser TU (2021). Human complex exploration strategies are enriched by noradrenaline-modulated heuristics eLife 10:e59907