An educator with over three decades of experience, Willy Wood of Columbia, Missouri, serves as the president of Open Mind Technologies, Inc. Willy Wood also publishes articles on neurological research, including topics such as the role of curiosity in education.
Recent studies in neuroscience demonstrate the importance of curiosity in enhancing learning ability. These studies have found that not only does curiosity help people to learn information faster, but it also assists with information retention. Additionally, they remember non-related information experienced in conjunction with the topic.
For instance, in one study, originally published in Neuron, participants rated how curious they were about the answer to a particular trivia question while an MRI machine measured their brain activity. They also saw an image of a human face with each question, and had to make a particular decision about that person prior to seeing the answer to the trivia question.
When participants in this study took a surprise test on the trivia material and facial image recognition, it revealed that curiosity led to greater recall, both of the relevant information and surrounding details (i.e., the photos of the faces). The MRIs taken of participants' brain activity supported this conclusion. Curiosity increased activity in the part of their brain known as the hippocampus, which controls memory, and also in the brain sections related to reward.
Recent studies in neuroscience demonstrate the importance of curiosity in enhancing learning ability. These studies have found that not only does curiosity help people to learn information faster, but it also assists with information retention. Additionally, they remember non-related information experienced in conjunction with the topic.
For instance, in one study, originally published in Neuron, participants rated how curious they were about the answer to a particular trivia question while an MRI machine measured their brain activity. They also saw an image of a human face with each question, and had to make a particular decision about that person prior to seeing the answer to the trivia question.
When participants in this study took a surprise test on the trivia material and facial image recognition, it revealed that curiosity led to greater recall, both of the relevant information and surrounding details (i.e., the photos of the faces). The MRIs taken of participants' brain activity supported this conclusion. Curiosity increased activity in the part of their brain known as the hippocampus, which controls memory, and also in the brain sections related to reward.