In a recent paper that we have just published in Journal of Neuroscience, we show that Information Gathering can be modulated using the noradrenergic Beta-Receptorblocker Propranolol. Upon a single dose propranolol, we found a reduction in information gathering. Computational modelling revealed that this is due to an earlier rise of an internal urgency signal, which promotes timely decisions. This could be interesting in the context of OCD, because we found a delay in this urgency signal in patients with OCD. Hauser TU, Moutoussis M, Purg N, Dayan P* & Dolan RJ* (2018). Beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering. J Neurosci 38 (32) 7170-7178

We just published a new paper in Translational Psychiatry, where we investigate information gathering behaviour across a compulsivity spectrum. Crucially, we recruited subjects with high or low obsessive-compulsive symptoms, but which were matched for other psychiatric dimensions, such as depressive symptoms. We found that these subjects differed in the extent that they gathered information before making a decision. We thus expend our previous findings in which we show a similar difference in juvenile OCD patients. Our findings thus speak for an increased information gathering being a marker for a compulsive dimensions, which exceeds a mere clinical distinction. further reading: Hauser TU, Moutoussis M, Iannaccone R, Brem S, Walitza S, Drechsler R*, Dayan P* & Dolan RJ* (2017). Increased decision thresholds enhance information gathering performance in juvenile obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). PLoS Comput Biol 13(4): e1005440. Hauser TU, Moutoussis M, NSPN Consortium, Dayan P* & Dolan RJ* (2017). Increased decision thresholds trigger extended information gathering across the compulsivity spectrum. Nat Translat Psychiatry 7(12):1296