Practice a lot and then let go: this is the secret to letting that creative flow flow from the brain that produces new ideas, useful for example for improvising a jam session, painting a picture or looking for the solution to a scientific problem.
This is demonstrated by the study of the brain activity of 32 jazz musicians, conducted by researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
The results are published in the journal Neuropsychologia.
The creative flow "was identified and studied for the first time by the pioneer of psychological sciences Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,” explains study coordinator John Kounios, who directs the Creativity Research Lab at Drexel University. “He defined it as a state in which people they are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so pleasant that people continue to do it, even at great expense, just for the sake of it."
According to some scholars, this flow would be a state of hyper concentration that excludes extraneous thoughts and distractions to allow superior performance.
According to a recent theory, in particular, flow is generated when the brain's default network (the one we use for example to daydream in a state of alert rest) is activated and operates under the control of the brain's frontal lobes. .
An alternative theory instead maintains that the creative flow arises from a long experience, which leads specialized brain circuits to produce certain types of ideas without a great conscious effort: the magic then occurs when the supervisory brain circuit lets go of the reins, allowing the insertion of a sort of automatic pilot that leads to the production of new ideas.
To test these theories, the researchers recorded the electroencephalogram of 32 jazz guitarists improvising to six scores.
The results demonstrate that more experienced musicians generate more frequent and intense creative flows than less experienced musicians.
Flows are also associated with a reduction in activity in the superior frontal gyrus (a control region of the brain), in line with the theory that creative flow is the result of experience and the ability to let go.
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