The brain is built to ignore the old and focus on the new...
Novelty is probably one of the most powerful signals to determine
what we pay attention to in the world. This makes a lot of sense from an evolutionary standpoint, since we don't
want to spend all of our time and energy noticing the many things around us that don't change from day to day...
Researchers have found that novelty causes a number of brain systems
to become activated, and foremost among these is the dopamine system. This system, which lives deep in the brain
stem, sends the neurotransmitter dopamine to locations across the brain... When dopamine is released, it is a signal
to the brain that is it now time to start learning what is going on...
