In our recent paper, we are investigating how information gathering changes over childhood and adolescence. We found that children gathered substantially more information before making a decision, but only if it came at no extra costs for sampling information. Using further computational modelling we showed that this effect was driven by a later emergence of subjective sampling costs for gathering information. These findings help us to understand how such cognitive functions develop, and how different information gathering impairments arise in adolescence-related psychiatric disorders.  More information can be found here:Bowler A, Habicht J, Moses-Payne ME, Steinbeis N, Moutoussis M & Hauser TU (2021). Children perform extensive information gathering when it is not costly. Cognition 104535 

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

In our new preprint, we present data of our longitudinal study in which we tracked obsessive-compulsive, anxiety and depression symptoms in the general public during the first Covid-19 pandemic wave. We show an elevation across all psychiatric symptoms. However, while depression scores decreased and anxiety symptoms remained stable over time, obsessive-compulsive symptoms rose further even though the peak of the first pandemic wave had passed. These OC symptoms were directly linked to Covid-related information seeking which gave rise to a higher adherence to government Covid-19 guidelines. For more details, see here:  https://twitter.com/AlisaLoosen/status/1337013227851554820?s=20 Loosen, A. M., Skvortsova, V., & Hauser, T. U. (2020). A Selective Increase in OC Symptoms is Driving Information Seeking and Guideline Adherence During the Covid-19 Pandemic. MedRxiv, 2020.12.08.20245803. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.08.20245803

In a recent paper published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, we review studies relevant to a computational psychiatry of juvenile OCD. Our investigation shows that juvenile OCD is mainly characterised by the disruption of complex reasoning systems. Based on reviewed findings, we suggest a new neurocomputational framework that illustrates how observed alterations may arise with development. Providing testable hypotheses this framework can now guide future research endeavours. More information can be found here: Loosen AM & Hauser TU (2020). Towards a computational psychiatry of juvenile obsessive-compulsive disorder Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 14;118:631-642