One New Experience a Day Boosts Memory and Mood

• New events created richer memories — The more unique an activity — like visiting a new place or cooking a new dish — the more vivid the memory. These memories included specific details like conversations, emotions and surroundings. The brain clearly recognized and held onto these moments, even when they weren’t replayed through the app.

• Feeling better was tied to doing something different — On days when participants did something out of the ordinary, they reported feeling happier and less bored. Time felt like it passed faster. On dull, repetitive days, boredom returned and time dragged. The difference came down to whether the experience broke their usual pattern.

• Ordinary moments became meaningful through replay — Less unique events got the biggest upgrade from being replayed. If the day was repetitive, replaying helped turn it into a more memorable moment. This means even if your routine doesn’t allow for big changes, reflecting on or journaling about your day still helps your brain hold onto it.

• Personal memories got the biggest boost — What improved most was episodic memory — the kind of memory that helps you recall personal moments like what you were doing, where you were and how you felt. These are the memories most vulnerable to aging and early dementia. General facts or knowledge didn’t improve as much.

• Replay and novelty worked in different ways — Replay helped because it gave the brain a second chance to focus and store details. Novelty helped by waking up the brain’s attention system. When combined, the two worked even better, but each had its own effect. Replay made boring events more memorable, while novelty turned everyday life into something worth remembering.

• Your brain is wired to notice new things — While the study didn’t include brain scans, the researchers believe that novel experiences likely activated the part of the brain that helps form memories. This suggests that even small changes to your routine prompt your brain to pay attention and start storing information in more detail.

• The biggest impact came from small shifts — You don’t need a big trip or dramatic change. Just stepping outside your usual path, planting something new in the garden or calling someone you haven’t talked to in a while is enough. Your brain doesn’t need big events — it just needs difference.

• Participants felt better on days with more variety — On days when people went to new or less-frequented places, they consistently reported more positive feelings like joy, curiosity and contentment. Even after accounting for weather, travel distance and the day of the week, the link between novelty and mood stayed strong.

• Distance didn’t matter — newness did — It wasn’t about how far they traveled but how different the surroundings were to their normal environments. Going somewhere unfamiliar — even nearby — had a bigger impact than simply covering more miles.

• Diverse neighborhoods improved emotional well-being — People felt happier when they visited places that exposed them to a broader mix of people. Exploring areas with different age groups, income levels, or backgrounds gave their mood an extra boost.

• Better mood today encouraged more exploring tomorrow — The relationship worked both ways. When people felt good, they were more likely to go somewhere new the next day. This created a loop — more novelty led to better mood, which then encouraged more novelty the following day.

• Brain scans explained why new experiences feel good — In a smaller group of participants, brain imaging showed that those who felt the strongest mood benefits from novelty had better connectivity between two important areas: the hippocampus, which helps process new experiences and memories, and the ventral striatum, which manages feelings of reward and motivation.

• Some brains are wired to benefit more from novelty — When these two brain regions work closely together, you’re more likely to feel emotionally rewarded by exploring. This might explain why some people naturally seek out new experiences — they get more benefit from it at a brain level.

• Small acts of novelty create momentum for better mental health — This research supports the “upward spiral” idea: small changes boost your mood, which makes you want to keep making more positive changes. You don’t need a dramatic shift — just stepping out of routine helps train your brain to feel better and seek out more rewarding experiences each day.

1. Choose one new experience each day, no matter how small — Add a little novelty to your day. You could take a new route for your daily walk, cook a dish you’ve never tried, rearrange a room or talk to someone you haven’t seen in a while. It doesn’t have to be thrilling — it just has to be different. Your brain thrives on contrast. Try something new for lunch. Sit in a different spot to read. Even tiny changes add up fast.

2. Track what you did and how it made you feel — Use a notebook or a calendar to write down each new thing you did that day, even if it seemed small. Did it make you feel more awake, more curious or less bored? The act of tracking helps you stay aware and reinforces the behavior, which boosts your sense of control and achievement. This alone improves mood by creating a feedback loop between action and awareness.

3. Revisit and reflect on meaningful moments — At the end of each week, pick two or three of those new experiences and reflect on them. Replay them in your mind like scenes in a movie. What made them stand out? Why were they memorable? This helps anchor the memory deeper in your brain, and it strengthens the reward circuits that make you want to keep exploring.

4. Switch up your physical environment regularly — Even if you’re homebound, change your surroundings. Open different windows. Add a new scent. Move furniture. Explore a different neighborhood when you walk or drive. If you live in a city, try visiting blocks you’ve never walked before. Diversity in your physical surroundings supports your brain’s memory hub and boosts emotional reward centers.

5. Use boredom as a signal, not a sentence — When you notice boredom creeping in, don’t suppress it. Treat it like a cue that your brain is under-stimulated. Instead of scrolling, do something unexpected — switch tasks, call someone or go for a hike in a spot that’s new to you. Boredom means your system needs fresh input. Responding to it helps prevent emotional flatness and cognitive fatigue.