January 1, 2025
Curiosity is more than a mere desire to know. It is a vital cognitive tool that shapes how our brain functions, learns, and adapts, wrote Matt Murrie, “The Impact of Curiosity on Brain Function: Exploring Cognitive Benefits,” (Whatifcuriosity.com)
Psychologists Celeste Kidd and Benjamin Y Hayden have determined that curiosity is crucial to healthy development. Additionally, despite its pervasiveness, psychologists and social scientists have not agreed upon what curiosity is. Although there have been various barriers to defining curiosity over the last century, interest in studying curiosity has grown steadily among modern neuroscientists and psychologists.
American Philosopher and Psychologist William James called curiosity an impulse towards better cognition. James summarized curiosity as a desire to understand what is known but not yet understood. Curiosity is a tool for increasing knowledge, a powerful motivator, and an innate human behavior.
Although curiosity is a basic element of our cognition, its biological function, mechanisms, and neural underpinning remains poorly understood.
According to writer Jeremy Schwartz, “How Curiosity Changes Your Brain,” we are born naturally curious. He adds curiosity is a desire to know more, be aware, our sense of curiosity can lessen over time.
According to Psychologs, an Indian mental health online magazine, not everyone experiences curiosity in the same way. Educational and early childhood experience play a crucial role in nurturing or suppressing natural curiosity. Though it is thought that children are famously curious, healthy adults can maintain high level of curiosity throughout life. The focus may shift from a broad exploration to deeper, more specific interests.
As our brains continue to grow and change throughout our lives, it changes the structure of our brains. Learning to think differently has longstanding effects on our brains, wrote Schwartz.
As a thought enters our brain, neurons fire. As we learn and experience emotion, new neural paths are created and portions of our brain become larger. You can indeed change your brain with one action at a time, wrote Schwartz.
According to Psychologs magazine, per an evolutionary perspective, curiosity provided our ancestors with significant survival advantages. A desire to learn about their environments helped our ancestors to identify dangers and opportunities.
Interestingly, modern neuroscience has revealed new insights into how curiosity operates in the brain. When we encounter novel or puzzling information, it triggers our curiosity. That then releases dopamine involved with eating, sex, and other pleasurable activities. From that point, curiosity primes our brains for learning. The hippocampus, which is crucial for memory formation, becomes more active when we are curious. Indeed, research has shown that curiosity is a vital cognitive tool for growth.
Resources:
The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4635443/Retrieved on 12/29/2024.
“How Curiosity Changes Your Brain” by Jeremy Schwartz, August 4, 2017. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4635443/ retrieved on 12/29/2024.
“The Psychology of Neuroscience of Curiosity” by Psychologs Magazine. November 27, 2024. https://www.psychologs.com/the-psychology-and-neuroscience-of-curiosity/Retrieved on 12/29/2024. Psychologs is India’s first mental health magazine.
Curious and Creative 