Curiosity a Key to Learning

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it is also a key to learning in humans as it causes changes in the brain, according to a recent study. And the more a topic piques our interest, the easier it is to learn information about it.

The new findings could help scientists find ways to enhance overall learning and memory in both healthy individuals and those with neurological conditions.

In order to determine what role curiosity plays in our ability to learn, scientists asked healthy volunteers to rate their curiosity to learn the answers to a series of trivia questions. In order to see what role curiosity has to play when it comes to learning, the scientists recruited healthy participants. The volunteers rated their curiosity to learn the answers to a series of trivia questions. When they were later presented with a selected trivia question, there was a 14 second delay before the answer was provided. During this time, the volunteers were shown a picture of a neutral, unrelated face. After, they performed a surprise recognition memory test for the faces that were presented, followed by a memory test for the answers to the trivia questions. The participants' brains were also scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

It turns out that when participants were curious to learn an answer, they were better at learning the information. More surprising, scientists found that once their curiosity was aroused, they showed better learning of entirely unrelated information, such as face recognition. They were also better able to retain the information learned while curious during a 24-hour delay.

But that's not all. When curiosity motivated learning, there was increased activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important for forming new memories. It also seems that when one is curious, parts of the brain are activated that are related to reward.

"We showed that intrinsic motivation actually recruits the very same brain areas that are heavily involved in tangible, extrinsic motivation," lead author Dr. Matthias Gruber, of University of California at Davis, said in a statement.

The findings, published in the Cell Press journal Neuron, could have implications for creating new learning strategies for those with neurological issues and also for healthy individuals. In fact, it could be applied to medicine, the classroom, or workplace.