According to a study led by Matthias Gruber, a researcher at the University of California, the expectation generated by a certain topic puts the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information.
In this state, our mind not only absorbs what interests us but also retains all the data surrounding the matter of our interest. That explains why sometimes when we read a novel we effortlessly memorize details of the plot and instead when we have to study it is more difficult for us to remember the data.
Also, being curious about something activates the brain’s reward system and dopamine, a neurotransmitter that leads us to achieve goals, is secreted. The hippocampus, fundamental in the formation of memory, also benefits from expectations and is more activated when we show interest.
The combination of the reward circuit with the work of the hippocampus makes the brain more receptive to learn and retain information , even when it is not of special interest or importance. For the authors of the work, this facility to learn when we feel interest can help teachers to put the brain of their students in a state of curiosity that allows them to better assimilate the knowledge they impart.
The experiment carried out by the researchers at the University of California consisted of asking the participants trivial questions, which they had to score from 0 to 6 according to their probability of knowing the answer. They then had to rate their curiosity for the correct answer. They were also given a “pop quiz” to see their ability to recognize faces they had previously seen, followed by a memory test for the answers to the trivia questions they had been given. In addition, the participants underwent functional MRI to see their brain activation.
The study revealed three main findings . First, and as expected, when participants were very curious to know the answer to a question, they were better at learning that information . But more surprising was the fact that once their curiosity was aroused, they learned better the information that was not related to the answer, and they were also better at recognizing the faces that they had previously been shown, in which they were not curious. In addition, they were also able to better retain the information learned during this state of curiosity even though the delay to know the answer was 24 hours.
Second, the researchers found that when curiosity is stimulated, there is increased activity in the brain’s reward circuitry , which is dependent on dopamine, a chemical messenger that transmits messages between neurons.
Third, the team found that in curiosity-motivated learning there was increased activity in the hippocampus , a region of the brain that is important for the formation of new memories, and they also saw an increase in interactions between the hippocampus and the reward circuit.
