AUTHOR=Ramirez Butavand D. , Hirsch I. , Tomaiuolo M. , Moncada D. , Viola H. , Ballarini F. 

TITLE=Novelty Improves the Formation and Persistence of Memory in a Naturalistic School Scenario

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00048

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00048

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=One of the top challenges in education and neuroscience consists in translating laboratory results into strategies to improve learning and memory in teaching environments. In that sense, during the last two decades, researchers have discovered specific temporal windows around learning, during which the intervention with some experiences induces modulatory effects on the formation and/or persistence of memory. Based on these results, the aim of the present study was to design a specific strategy to improve the memory of students in a high-school scenario, by assessing the effect of a novel situation experienced close to learning. We found that the long-term memory about a geometrical figure was more precise in the group of students that faced a novel situation one hour before or after learning the figure than the control group of students who did not face the novelty. This enhancement probably triggered by processes acting on memory formation mechanisms remained evident forty-five days after learning, indicating that the improvement was sustained over time. In addition, our results showed that novelty no longer improved the memory if it was experienced four hours before or after learning. However, far beyond this window of efficacy, when it was faced around ten hours after learning, the novel experience improved the memory persistence tested seven days later. In summary, our findings characterized different temporal windows of the effectiveness of novelty acting on memory processing, providing a simple and inexpensive strategy that could be used to improve memory formation and persistence in high-school students.