Cog/comp neuro folks: is there a mechanism that an organism can draw on to increase the randomness in the ideas that "occur to it" as possible actions in a given situation?
If an organism is frustrated in its goals or faced with no good options, can it (~choose to) dial up cognitive "exploration" to expand the action search space?
Are any such neural mechanisms known? (e.g., acetylcholine signals of arousal...?) (cc @DrYohanJohn re Grossbergian "arousal" signals)
In a two-stage process, where (i) ideas for what to do are generated ("spring to mind") and (ii) they are evaluated and one is selected, can the variability of step (i) be regulated?
Can the "temperature" be raised so as to help dislodge the system from current attractors and enable exploration of new ones?
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