If you don't know what year Bob Hope and Shirley Ross originally sang "Thanks for the Memory," but are curious to find out, chances are you'll remember once we tell you.
They sang the memorable tune (it won the Oscar for Best Original Song) in a movie called "The Big Broadcast of 1938." And "Thanks for the Memory" became Hope's theme song for the next 65 years.
What's the reason, if you're curious, that you're likely to remember that the year is 1938? It turns out that when you are curious and when that curiosity is satisfied, it activates your brain's dopamine reward system, just like chocolate does.
According to new research published in the journal “Cell,” when curiosity (defined as an intrinsic motivation to learn) stimulates production of the neurotransmitter dopamine, what you learn sticks with you longer.
That sharper brain function can increase your memory of other things happening around you, too.
In addition to juicing up your dopamine response, chocolate seems to improve your memory because the flavonols it contains increase blood flow in the brain. That causes dendrites (the parts of neurons that receive messages) to grow, translating to increased brainpower.
So what lesson can you learn from all this? For a better memory, sit down with some really good dark chocolate (70 percent cacao) and an old Bob Hope movie.
Without looking, now; if you were to pick a year to start with, what would it be? We're just curious
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