If the brain loves to form memories around situations and content that are presented in "novel" ways, what then is "novel" ?
UNEXPECTED comes to mind, as does SURPRISING
Here are some other technique-provoking synonyms for the word "novel."
I would add "sense-invoking" ...such as the unexpected sight, smell, taste, texture, or sound.
I might also add laughter, funny, emotional --all of which can be unexpected and surprising.
Excerpts from the December 2008 Scientific American "Mind and Brain" article:
Learning By Surprise
Novelty enhances memory. That fact has practical implications for educators
By Daniela Fenker, Hartmut Schütze
Psychologists have known for some time that if we experience a novel situation within a familiar context, we will more easily store this event in memory. But only recently have studies of the brain begun to explain how this process happens and to suggest new ways of teaching that could improve learning and memory.
Novelty Detector
One of the most important brain regions involved in discovering, processing, and storing new sensory impressions is the hippocampus, located in the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. Novel stimuli tend to activate the hippocampus more than familiar stimuli do, which is why the hippocampus serves as the brain’s “novelty detector.”
The hippocampus compares incoming sensory information with stored knowledge. If these differ, the hippocampus sends a pulse of the messenger substance dopamine to the substantia nigra (SN) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the midbrain. From there nerve fibers extend back to the hippocampus and trigger the release of more dopamine. Researchers, including John Lisman of Brandeis University and Anthony Grace of the University of Pittsburgh, call this feedback mechanism the hippocampal-SN/VTA loop (above right).
This feedback loop is why we remember things better in the context of novelty.
--https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/learning-by-surprise/
