Figure 1. Predictions on the neural correlates of curiosity elicitation during development.

Our predictions are centred within the PACE (Prediction, Appraisal, Curiosity, and Exploration) Framework which proposes multiple levels of analyses of how curiosity is elicited and how it enhances memory (Gruber & Ranganath, 2019). In the PACE Framework, curiosity is triggered by significant prediction errors in the hippocampus and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). While prediction errors in the hippocampus are proposed to generally result from encountering novel or unexpected contexts (i.e., contextual prediction errors), prediction errors in the ACC are triggered by cognitive conflict resulting from previous knowledge (i.e., informational prediction errors). PACE suggests that these prediction errors are appraised via lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) mechanisms in order to evaluate whether the information could be valuable in the future. When curiosity is triggered, a PACE cycle enhances memory encoding through increased attention, exploration, and information-seeking via the dopaminergic circuit, leading to enhanced hippocampus-dependent memory of curiosity-related information. We predict that in young children (left graph) due to ongoing development of the hippocampus and the ACC (indicated by green arrows), hippocampus- and ACC-dependent prediction errors will elicit curiosity in a rather obligatory manner without a strong contribution of PFC-related appraisal processes (indicated by green dashed lines). In older children (middle graph), we expect that age differences in curiosity will primarily result from ongoing development of ACC, PFC along with hippocampal-PFC and ACC-PFC connections (indicated by green arrows and dashed lines, respectively). In adolescents (right graph), protracted PFC development along with connections between the PFC and dopaminergic circuit areas (i.e., ventral striatum and SN/VTA) are proposed as the key mechanisms eliciting curiosity. While brain development in these age groups is not limited to the highlighted regions and their connections, we only depicted those aspects that are proposed to drive corresponding differences in curiosity.