Affective Benefits of Experiential Diversity Across Development

Abstract

Animal studies of environmental enrichment indicate that diversity in one’s daily experience has sustained benefits for affective well-being. Increased exposure to novelty is proposed to be a central mechanism underlying this effect. Cross-species evidence suggests that sensitivity to environmental novelty is most pronounced during adolescence, however to date, there has been little study of how novelty and diversity in humans’ everyday experiences influences their affective state, and whether this relation changes across adolescent development.