“
What the teachers realized was that curiosity became the engine for learning.”~ Matthias Gruber
This is a wide-ranging and exciting conversation about neuroscientist Matthias Gruber’s ongoing efforts to understand curiosity’s role in learning and memory. There’s a lot here. You may have to listen more than once — I know I did!
We talk about his working definition of curiosity; surprising developmental differences in young adolescents’ curiosity, interest and memory; what we do with moment to moment fluctuations in curiosity and interest; building cognitive maps (spoiler alert: we’re not so different from rats); leveraging curiosity in the classroom; the intriguing role of stress tolerance in how curiosity manifests; and how wonderfully humbling it is for neuroscientists to see the real-world impact of their work.
Episode webpage: https://lynnborton.com/2025/08/21/curiosity-becomes-the-engine-for-learning-with-matthias-gruber/