Learning happens inside our brain

when new information connects  with existing memory.

When we are excited or enthusiastic our  brain happens to do that much better.

In a famous experiment American psychologist  Hans Breiter put cocaine addicts into an MRI.

The effect of the drug excited the addicts

and the researcher saw a lot of activity  in what’s called the Nucleus Accumbent.

German scientists did the same experiment  with young men and pictures of Porsche cars,

which caused the same area to light up.

When they did it with pictures  of a Daihatsu, it didn’t.

What’s going on here?

As soon as we expect something nice to happen,

the brain releases it's happiness chemicals

dopamine and endorphin

as well as other neurotransmitters.

While dopamine and endorphin delight us,

the other neurotransmitters  send information from A to B.

This connects new information from outside  the brain with stored memories inside...

and that’s learning.

Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that  everything “fun” helps us learn.

Shopping for example makes us happy,

but as German Neuroscientists  Manfred Spitzer measured,

it only lasts 12 seconds.

Then the dopamine level drops

and we have to shop more to bring it back up.

This happens because the brain  releases neurotransmitters in  

anticipation of something nice.

But once we get it,

the dopamine rush ends and the  information exchange slows.

Accumulating new things  therefore doesn’t make us happy,

nor does it help us to learn.

Being excited about something for a  longer time or being surprised does.

For example: When we are excited  to plan a trip with our friends

or when we have an unexpected and  inspiring conversation with a stranger,

our brain releases neurotransmitters in abundance

and we start recording with all  our senses in high definition.

The synapses add existing  footage from the long-term memory

to make it a creative and memorable experience.

It’s like we turn on a learn turbo.

Neuroscientist Prof. Dr. Hüther

even argues that young children can learn  multiple languages and so many other things,

mainly because of their ability to be excited.

And most are excited about  everything until they get held back

to follow their interest by the  expectations of their parents or schools.

When learning a new language in  a boring class at age 35 however,

we have little left to be excited about

and hence we learn next to nothing.

Prof. Hüther believes any 75-year old Chinese man,

who falls in love with a young  65-year old British lady,

will speak English very fast.

If you are able to constantly learn  new things in an exciting way,

the chemicals released in your brain are likely  to outlive the pleasures of drugs or shopping.

It seems as if happiness and learning not  only come from the same region in our brain,

but they also promote one another.

What is your experience?

Is learning a side product of enthusiasm?

Or can we learn without passion or interest?

Share your thoughts in the comment below!