The old metaphor of creativity being sparked makes it sound like there’s a creativity center in the brain that’s just waiting to kick things off. But brain scans of jazz improvisers point to a much more diffuse picture of creativity’s location.
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Over a decade ago, we talked about neuroscience more in terms of specific brain regions. A 2008 imaging study placed jazz musicians in fMRIs and scanned their brains while playing scales, scripted notes, and while improvising. The Charles Limb-led study showed that improvising inhibited regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (linked with executive decision-making) and activated regions like the medial prefrontal cortex (linked with language and creativity).
New Research Points to a Much More Complicated Picture of Creavity
A new study placed 16 more jazz musicians in fMRIs to see which brain networks were activated during improv, compared to while participants played by heart or with sheet music.
Brain networks are the interconnected brain regions that work together to perform complicated functions like talking, seeing, hearing, or problem-solving.
This new study found that improv led musicians to experience two special brain states: the performance state and the deep creativity state.
Performance State
When the jazz musicians were improvising, they were more likely to have auditory and sensorimotor networks activated, which means being able to hear a melody in their heads while being able to immediately play the notes on their instrument.
The performance state doesn’t require an intermediary. There’s no brain region that has to help the auditory and sensorimotor networks to collaborate. There’s no time for this while improvising. Instead, the two networks are able to activate and engage with each other without executive control.
Deep Creativity State
Improv also activated three brain networks to enable freer creative expression. The default mode network, executive control network, and the language network were all activated during improv.
The default mode network includes the brain regions that are active even when you feel like you’re offline, when you’re daydreaming and imagining.
The executive control network is used for planning and making decisions.
The language network makes meaning.
So instead of previous ideas of left brain versus right or dorsolateral versus medial prefrontal cortex, creativity is more complicated. It’s a shift from simple decision-making to a complicated dance between seemingly competing brain networks.
Creativity is daydreaming and imagination. But it’s also being able to process information and execute on ideas. Creativity is the complex dance between all these brain networks, not a simple on switch.
However, even though brain scans are pointing to an increasingly interconnected and complicated picture of creativity, it doesn’t have to feel difficult in practice.
Sometimes all we have to do is focus on the task at hand and let ourselves go.
Oh yeah, and practice. Lots of practice.