Your Curiosity Fix is Enhancing Your Memory and IntellectHeather Callaghan Curiosity may put the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn, and also everything around it, explains Dr. Matthias Gruber. Take a look at the current lackluster educational systems in place and it becomes clear the more curious we would be about a topic, the easier it is to soak up information about it. Ask anyone who took four years of Spanish and remembers none of it then talk to that person after he travels and immerses himself in the language what happens? What happens when you are motivated to investigate something deeper? New research publishing online October 2 in the Cell Press journal Neuron provides insights into what happens in our brains when curiosity is piqued. Scientists think they have found ways to enhance overall learning and memory in both healthy people and those with neurological conditions. Lead author Dr. Gruber, of University of California at Davis said: For the study, participants 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 which time the participants were shown a picture of a neutral, unrelated face. Afterwards, participants performed a surprise recognition memory test for the faces that were presented, followed by a memory test for the answers to the trivia questions. During certain parts of the study, participants had their brains scanned via functional magnetic resonance imaging. The study revealed three major findings. Gruber says: This reward circuit relies on dopamine, a chemical messenger that relays messages between neurons. (In other words, curiosity is kind of drug-like, but in a good way.) principal investigator Dr. Charan Ranganath said: The brain circuits that rely on dopamine tend to decline in function as people get older, or sooner in people with neurological conditions. The dysfunction of dopamine uptake is associated with ADHD symptomology and some mood disorders. On a side note, these problems are at least in part caused and definitely exacerbated by nutritional deficiencies and chemicals/toxins that affect neurological development. But understanding the relationship between motivation and memory could stimulate new efforts to improve memory in the healthy elderly and for new approaches for helping people with memory disorders. They anticipate that for the classroom or workplace learning what might be considered boring material could be enhanced if teachers or managers are able to harness the power of students and workers curiosity about something they are naturally motivated to learn. Beyond that what has the curiosity fix done for you, lately? Source: Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work atNaturalBlaze.com and selfnewsPost.com. Like at Facebook. Recent posts byHeather Callaghan: 