New experiences in daily routine might improve brain health, study finds

Brandeis Stories

New experiences in daily routine might improve brain health, study finds

By David Levin
May 5, 2026

How does our daily routine affect our mood and cognition? Jenny Crawford, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at Brandeis, wants to find out. In a recent study, Crawford used wearable fitness trackers and smartphone apps to follow 180 people throughout their day, recording their location, activity and mood. Her findings suggest that people who had novel or new experiences in their daily routine improved their moods - and their overall brain health. We talked to her about what the study could mean for all of us.

This study is one of the first to use wearable technology to track people's mental states - why is getting data from daily life so important?

A lot of what we know about cognition and mood comes from snapshots - you bring someone into the lab, run tests and send them home. What we don't know is if any of that reflects what actually happens in peoples' lives. This study tried to bridge that gap. Participants wore Oura fitness tracking rings continuously for three weeks, had a GPS-tracking app running on their phones and answered brief surveys on their phones about their mood and activities four times a day.

What did that information tell you?

We found that on days when people had more variety than was typical for them - like doing more novel activities or visiting more novel places - they tended to feel happier. That finding held true across all ages, from 18 to 90 years old. The amount they were affected was steady, too - the mood benefit for older adults who seek out novelty seems to be just as strong as the benefits for a 25-year-old.

You also took brain scans of participants in the lab. Why was it important to get that data as well?

Getting both real-world data and neuroimaging from the same group of people is pretty rare, and that's where this study got interesting. It turned out that the two types of variety we measured in the field each affected a different brain system. The mood boost from visiting novel places was linked to the health of the brain's main hub for norepinephrine, a chemical messenger involved in alertness and attention. The mood boost from doing novel activities, however, was linked to a structure that produces dopamine, a chemical most people associate with motivation and reward. The fact that the two effects mapped so clearly onto different brain systems was honestly very surprising.

Why was that finding important?

It's notable because the part of the brain that handles norepinephrine, the locus coeruleus, is one of the first regions affected by Alzheimer's disease. There's a theory in our field that regularly engaging with new environments helps preserve the health of its structure over time - that essentially, you maintain it by continuing to use it. Our data are consistent with that idea. It doesn't prove cause and effect, but it suggests there may be a real neurological reason why getting out into the world is good for you as you age.

What's the practical takeaway from this experiment?

I always feel a little cliché saying it, but variety is the spice of life. When you go somewhere new, or try a new activity, you tend to feel better, whether you're 18 or 85. My colleague Anne Berry, who has done important work on aging and neurodegeneration, told me that when she thinks about those findings on dark, sluggish winter days, she decides to go try a new restaurant. So that, in a small way, is the study working in real life.