Your brain needs novelty to avoid burnout

👣 SHIFT | ⚡ SPARK | ✍️ SCRIPT

By Mark Jones

Turns out, there’s scientific reasons that those ‘walk and talk meetings’ we all made so popular in Covid days may help boost your productivity and evade burnout in this chapter of your life, too.

New research has discovered different physical scenery has a positive biological impact on the brain in ways that few of us stuck back in old omni-location habits realise.

The novelty of change is powerful, and necessary, for our brains to fire on all cylinders. Let’s look at the research, then consider how the same principles might apply to your ‘inner scenery’ as well - the old stories you tell yourself.

Enter the dopamine researchers

In early 2025, a team of scientists in Germany set out to capture something elusive – the way our biochemistry changes in real-time during moments of cognitive task switching.

Twenty‑five researchers, led by Isabelle Miederer and Mathias Schreckenberger, recruited 18 volunteers and placed them inside a PET scanner (Positron Emission Tomography, for those playing at home).

To get a bit geeky, the PET scanner lets scientists see beyond anatomy: it tracks radiotracers – tiny radioactive molecules injected into the bloodstream – to visualise biochemical activity in the living brain.

The point of this machine is quite amazing. You can see how dopamine is released in the brain during different blocks of tasks by using a tracer, a small, safe chemical that’s tagged with a tiny amount of radioactive material.

In this case they used a tracer called [^18F]fallypride that sticks to dopamine receptors – the parts of your brain that help regulate mood, motivation, and decision-making.

Once it’s in your brain, the tracer lights up these dopamine receptor areas so researchers can watch how active or inactive they are by looking through the PET scanner.

It’s a bit like watching where bees land on flowers in a garden – except the “bees” are molecules, the “flowers” are brain receptors, and the “camera” is a PET scanner.

Here’s how it worked

Participants were asked to complete two blocks of tasks.

In the first, they did two computer-based challenges where the rules governing these challenges stayed the same. It provided a baseline condition.

Then, after about 100 minutes and being injected with the tracer, the second block began.

This time the rules kept changing. The challenges demand task-switching and cognitive flexibility.

POW! The PET images lit up. Specifically, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) – a region tied to flexibility and decision-making – clearly showed the tracer, which the team mapped as dopamine release.

And here’s the kicker:

"participants who released more dopamine were able to switch tasks more efficiently and with less cognitive cost."

This was the first time anyone had directly visualised human dopamine at work during mental shifting.

So what?

The study means that when the brain detects novelty – like a sudden mental rule change – it responds biochemically.

And those who released more dopamine were able to switch tasks more efficiently. They were able to break free from stuck patterns or adopt new frames of reference than those with less dopamine.

Real world impact

Here’s where it matters in everyday life at work.

Ever been stuck in a negative spiral? Find yourself overwhelmed by deadlines and negative feedback loops? Your brain is hard‑wired to feel like there’s no way out. Been there and it’s not fun.

Well, the technical term for this is cognitive inertia.

"Cognitive inertia is like your brain defaults back into old, worn-out beliefs and hopeless negative loops." - Mark Jones

The good news is this research confirms that’s exactly the moment a change of scenery isn’t just a tired old cliché.

It’s the neurochemical reset we need to change internal narratives and adopt a positive, and more productive mindset.

Three easy steps: 👣 SHIFT | ⚡ SPARK | ✍️ SCRIPT

Here’s my take on what’s next. Three simple S’s to quickly flip the script on negative mindsets.

Shift – Literally shift or move. Walk to a new spot, switch rooms, work outdoors, or even just change the view.

Spark – Enjoy the spark as your brain chemistry kicks in. Dopamine sharpens attention and loosens fixed mindsets or mental knots.

Script – Begin writing a new script for a different scene or completely new stage, as it were. A new physical space or different view helps us reframe challenges as possibilities and get creative.

How to flip the internal track when you feel stuck

Nice and simple, eh?

The great thing to realise is that if you’ve ever felt guilty for ducking outside to get fresh air - feel guilty no longer. It’s not time-wasting, it’s productivity-boosting.! The science proves you’re not crazy or unable to handle the heat. You need to get fresh air because your body is craving a mental reset.

Proactively shifting your environment – changing the scene – fires dopamine in your brain. It’s the spark that gives you permission to rewrite the stories you’re telling yourself.

What a nice, happy irony.

"Change on the outside literally changes what’s going on inside." - Mark Jones

So next time you’re about to give your team a pep talk, deliver a speech or lead a meeting, give yourself a hit of dopamine first. Go for a quick walk, stretch, or change your focus for a little while.

You might not get a literal holiday when you stand up and move, but the hit of positive energy could be the change you need to make a difference.

Onwards!

Mark

Hey, you got to the end! Nice work.

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