3 surprising ways curiosity changes your brain

The psychology of curiosity

You are more engaged, active, and open-minded when you’re curious. But what is it about curiosity that makes it so powerful? In this issue, we explore the psychology of curiosity and three surprising ways it changes your brain.

Curiosity Boosts Memory

In a study published in 2014, researchers discovered a connection between memory and curiosity levels. Here are some of the key findings from the investigation by the University of California at Davis:

1. When people are curious to learn the answer to a question, they are better at learning that information — not only in the very short term but also after a 24-hour delay.
2. Most surprising, though, was participants had greater recall of unrelated, extraneous or incidental information present at the time.
3. Scans revealed when people were more curious, brain activity rose in regions that transmit dopamine signals; in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memory and regions related to reward.

Point number two helps me get a handle on the characteristic of being open-minded. We can remember more of our experiences when we are curious.