Retinal Patterns and the Role of Autofluorescence in Choroideremia.

Background: Choroideremia is a monogenic inherited retinal dystrophy that manifests in males with night blindness, progressive loss of peripheral vision, and ultimately profound sight loss, commonly by middle age. It is caused by genetic defects of the gene, which result in a deficiency in Rab-escort protein-1, a key element for intracellular trafficking of vesicles, including those carrying melanin. As choroideremia primarily affects the retinal pigment epithelium, fundus autofluorescence, which focuses on the fluorescent properties of pigments within the retina, is an established imaging modality used for the assessment and monitoring of affected patients.

Autistic traits foster effective curiosity-driven exploration.

Curiosity-driven exploration involves actively engaging with the environment to learn from it. Here, we hypothesize that the cognitive mechanisms underlying exploratory behavior may differ across individuals depending on personal characteristics such as autistic traits. In turn, this variability might influence successful exploration.

Exploration in 4-year-old children is guided by learning progress and novelty.

Humans are driven by an intrinsic motivation to learn, but the developmental origins of curiosity-driven exploration remain unclear. We investigated the computational principles guiding 4-year-old children's exploration during a touchscreen game (N = 102, F = 49, M = 53, primarily white and middle-class, data collected in the Netherlands from 2021-2023). Children guessed the location of characters that were hiding following predictable (yet noisy) patterns.