Neurobiologists have known that a novel environment sparks exploration and learning, but very little is known about whether the brain really prefers novelty as such. Rather, the major “novelty center” of the brain–called the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA)–might be activated by the unexpectedness of a stimulus, the emotional arousal it causes, or the need to respond behaviorally. The SN/VTA exerts a major influence on learning because it is functionally linked to both the hippocampus, which is the brain’s learning center, and the amygdala, the center for processing emotional information.

Now, researchers Nico Bunzeck and Emrah Düzel report studies with humans showing that the SN/VTA does respond to novelty as such and this novelty motivates the brain to explore, seeking a reward.

The researchers found that the SN/VTA does, indeed, respond to novelty, and these response scales according to how novel the image was. They concluded that their data provide evidence for “a functional hippocampal-SN/VTA loop” that is driven by novelty rather than other forms of stimulus salience such as emotional content or the need to respond to an image. The researchers said their finding that the SN/VTA is more activated by greater novelty is compatible with 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.”

Also, Bunzeck and Düzel found that novelty enhanced learning in the subjects. “Thus, the human SN/VTA can code absolute stimulus novelty and might contribute to enhanced learning in the context of novelty,” they concluded.

Of course, this study needs to be expanded to include age and crankiness!