Much of that research on curiosity had examined its role in memory and learning,14 showing that someone’s curiosity can determine the amount of material that is remembered, the depth of the understanding, and the length of time that the material is retained.15 This isn’t just a question of motivation: even when their additional effort and enthusiasm is taken into consideration, people with greater curiosity still appear to be able to remember facts more easily. Brain scans can now tell us why this is, revealing that curiosity activates a network of regions known as the ‘dopaminergic system’.
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