Information is its own reward - same neurons signal thirst for water, knowledge

I would like to see this test with some info on how badly they wanted the fore-knowledge.<p>i.e. they can choose: know in advance, or get a better drink.

Is this article's title misleading or am I missing something? Shouldn't it be that "same neurons signal thirst for water, knowledge about water", as in "same neurons signal 'thirst' for A, knowledge about A"? I think this is implied from the article but not from the title.

I have discussed this topic at length with friends, typically when I am struggling to grind through "dry" material in an effort to understand something.<p>I have found that my neurons are extremely resistant to learning any kind of meaningful knowledge and are very receptive to learning all manner of useless knowledge. ;D<p>Psychologically, it seems odd to me that it is so hard to be disciplined when it comes to learning material when you know intellectually that you will grow from understanding it.<p>Sometimes I truly want to understand something, I am curious and I want to know the answer, but the work required to gain that understanding is sometimes so painful that I just decide to do something else instead.

Does information overload drown us then? :P