In this chapter, we present an overview of the literature addressing the neuroscience of attention, information-seeking, and active sampling, and we discuss its potential significance for learning and learning progress. First, we review the emerging hypothesis that attention is an active mechanism for information sampling and exploration in the environment. We then turn to a discussion of how reward motivates attention and how attention can be employed to reduce uncertainty about knowledge of one's current state. We further consider the way rewards interact with other factors (including novelty, surprise, and task relevance). Throughout the review, we particularly focus on the distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, highlighting curiosity as a key example of the latter in motivating the search for intrinsically desirable information that benefits learning on both long and short timescales. Finally, we discuss the role of cognitive control in directing attention during learning, as well as the way neural systems underlying cognition and motivation have implications for informing techniques for teaching and learning in wider educational contexts.