Brain growth. Dopamine. Confidence. These are just a few rewards when trying new things. From trying a new sport to trying a new cooking recipe, it is common to get these positive side effects along with having fun. Trying new things is an important way to grow and mature as a person.
Studies from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have shown that being exposed to new experiences increases the brain’s flexible information encoding. In an experiment, scientists trained mice to navigate a maze in a certain way for a reward. Then some of the mice explore a new space while the other mice explore a familiar space. After that, they put the mice into a different maze that required a different strategy. The mice that explored the new space overcame their bias of the original strategy and adapted to the new environment and solved the maze. When put back into the original maze, they were able to switch back to the original strategy.
After these experiments, scientists from NIMH and Columbia University (who tried a similar experiment), found that the mice with new experiences had a better time adapting to the new and also learning. They found that the mice’s hippocampus/ theta wave (a part of the brain that plays a central role in learning and memory) increased in strength while exploring new areas and decreased after becoming familiar with the area. We are in a way similar to these mice. When we are trying new things and having new experiences, we are growing our brain in learning, memory, and flexibility.
But there is something holding us back; fear. Trying something new may cause discomfort and is just downright scary. It might be the thought and fear of failing or even just change in general that is holding us back. However, many people have been there before and whether it worked out or not, most people gain something from the experience. Whether this is a new friend, realizing a talent, or just having fun, there are so many possible outcomes from trying something new.
Along with that, articles from the University of Washington School of Medicine (UW Medicine) have shown that trying new things and overcoming the fear and stress causes a rush of adrenaline and dopamine. This happy chemical is a reward for the hard work you have done both during the new experience and also just by overcoming the fear.
Trying new things can also help our social connections. On the basic level, trying new things can lead to meeting new people. By going out into a new environment or activity, it is common to be surrounded by a completely different group of people than you might be used to. This can lead to unexpected friendships and a glimpse of other aspects of life.
A commonly overlooked element to trying new things is relability. By trying new things and getting new experiences, it is easy to relate and start a conversation with new people. In a friend group, having a common experience that everyone can relate to causes a sense of a shared purpose. This often deepens friendships and can help boost your mental health.
Trying new things is scary but it has so many positive effects on your life. Just by overcoming the fear and trying something new will cause you to grow your brain’s memory, flexibility, and learning. Along with that, when going through new experiences, your brain will release the happy chemical dopamine to reward your hard work. New experiences are also a great way to interact and socialize with new people. To conclude, trying new things can be scary and difficult but it is important for us to have these new experiences in order to grow and become a well rounded person.
