Learning from Surprises (IMAGE) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Caption Research by Kepecs and colleagues indicates that cholinergic neurons broadcast messages to the rest of the brain when mice encounter unexpected things -- things they welcome (depicted here as food, right side) and things they fear (here, a predator, left side). "The fact something is unexpected, and knowing the degree to which it is, is an obvious advantage to the individual," Kepecs says, suggesting why such real-time alerts may have evolved. Credit Kepecs Lab, CSHL Usage Restrictions please give credit License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.