Post by leunas on Aug 28, 2006 3:01:47 GMT -5
If you've ever felt that sense of awe at exploring a new world in a video game, or perhaps found yourself reflecting on the effects of a new experience, such as going someplace you've never been before or being in a different social situation, then you might be pleased to know something about how your mind works.
As much as you may actually fear change or new things, your brain actually likes it.
In the August 3 edition of Neuron Magazine, researchers Nico Bunzeck and Emrah D zel discussed their findings on how novelty works on our brains. Our brain, specifically the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA) which acts as a novelty center for it, responds well to new experiences. This information, while seemingly useless to us, does play an important role in our lives.
The SN/VTA influences our ability to learn things, as it's connected to our brain's learning center (the hippocampus) and emotion processor (the amygdala). When the SN/VTA is stimulated, it enhances our ability to learn. It gives us a direct connection between learning and experiences, real and virtual.
For instance, imagine your first time playing World of Warcraft if you'd never played a 3D MMO before. Were you awed by the what you were seeing? Did you explore and take the time to finish quests and talk to people, and try out different ways of mastering your character? Did you become a better player the more you revisited the game world?
The same idea can be explained to some degree by the results of Bunzeck and D zel's findings: the activation of the SN/VTA by new experiences is akin to specific models of brain function "that see novelty as a motivating bonus to explore an environment in the search for reward rather than being a reward itself."
In WoW terms, the journey to 60 seems a lot more fun than being at 60, most of the time. No wonder we like our video games; it's pretty much a new world every time.
Now, if only we could get that much stimulation out of schoolwork, then we gamers would all be genu... jeenus... geni... really, really smart!
feeds.feedburner.com/~r/qj/qjnet/~3/16951734/63501