Hacking your brain for creativity

0
276

Hacking Your Brain for Creativity. Whether or not we are thinking about ourselves as creative individuals, our brains are built for creativity. We all have this innate ability to produce original and unusual ideas, or to make something new or imaginative.

“I believe creativity is part of what it means to be human. We all have it. Most of us need to fulfil more of it,” said Dr Mark Runco, Director of Creativity Research and Programming at Southern Oregon University.

In 2009, Dr James Kaufman and Dr Ronald Beghetto identified four developmental levels of creativity which they see as a lifespan concept. Their Four C Model of Creativity includes:

  • Mini-c – “transformative learning” involving “personally meaningful interpretations of experiences, actions, and insights”. Every time we try a new task, we use some creativity. What we create at this level may not be revolutionary, but it is new and meaningful to us.
  • Little-c – everyday problem solving and creative expression which grows from the mini-c level. With some appropriate feedback and improvement-oriented practice we can create something that might be of value to others.  
  • Pro-C – exhibited by people who are professionally or vocationally creative though not necessarily famous. At this level, someone would have had many years of deliberate practice and specialist training. While not everyone at this level can make a living with their creative efforts, as a rule, they would love to do so.
  • Big-C – creativity considered so great in the given field that it secures a place in the history books for those who possess it.

When we think about creativity, we often associate it with the arts first and foremost. Yet our everyday life provides plenty of opportunities for our creative expressions – from adapting our favourite recipes to the contents of our cupboards to uncommon uses of available tools in our garages and coming up with clever jokes to entertain our friends or kids.

But why do some people appear to be more creative than others?

Despite the persistence of a neuromyth about “left brain” (analytical and logical) people and “right brain” (creative and emotional) people, a large study conducted at the University of Utah in 2013 found no evidence to support the idea that people are intrinsically left or right sided in how their brains are “wired”.

In fact, creativity is a whole brain process which involves cognition, emotion and conscious and unconscious processing. The Neuroscience of Creativity book by Dr Anna Abraham gives fascinating insights into the intricate workings of our creative minds and explains what happens in our brains when we operate in a creative mode as opposed to an uncreative mode.

In his article The Creative Brain, Dr Roger Beaty from the Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Laboratory (CNCL) at Penn State University examines the part of the brain that directs creative thinking and asks the million-dollar question: Can creativity be enhanced?

Based on his research, Dr Beaty concluded that creativity requires cognitive effort – “in part, to overcome the distraction and “stickiness” of prior knowledge” so that we can free our minds for new and unexplored ways of thinking and doing things. Dr Beaty and his colleagues consider “general creative thinking as a dynamic interplay between the brain’s memory and control systems. Without memory, our minds would be a blank slate—not conducive to creativity, which requires knowledge and expertise. But without mental control, we wouldn’t be able to push thinking in new directions and avoid getting stuck on what we already know.”

So far, research in psychology and neuroscience has made significant progress in our understanding of creativity and how the creative brain works. Among other things, it established that, at least short-term (i.e. state) creativity can be boosted by a number of strategies, or “brain hacks” which include the following:

–       Using random music to help creativity – if you are facing a creative block, listen to random music for a while to “space out” and then return to your task. Music will have stimulated many brain regions that may not be related to your task in hand, but could help with creating a solution using other stimulated regions of the brain. In this way you will engage more brain areas to help you with the challenge. According to the construal level theory, random music will increase the processing load of your task and, thus, will shift your thinking to a “global” big-picture perspective, allowing your brain to think in an abstract way. This will promote your creative thinking.

–       Using binaural beats for creativity – although they are not a one-size-fits-all solution, binaural beats can be effective in enhancing brainstorm-like creative thinking in individuals with low striatal dopamine levels (but note that they can impair performance in exactly the same kind of task in other people). Play this music track with binaural beats on the background while focussing on a creative task to see whether it works for you (I am listening to it right now as I am writing this article). If it does, then you have found your own brain hack which you can use any time you wish – there are plenty of tracks with binaural tunes available to listen to on YouTube free of charge.

–       Using the power of blue – scientists from the University of British Columbia established that colour blue boosts creativity, while colour red improves attention to detail. They found that that participants of the study who were exposed to or surrounded by the colour blue, were able to think more creatively. You may consider repainting your office (I did it when I found out about this research a few years ago) or, if this is not possible, you can change your desktop or laptop background (I did this too).

–       Being childish (at least some times) – according to research on Creativity as Flexible Cognitive Control undertaken by scientists at North Dakota State University, “a playful, childlike mindset among adults facilitates creative originality.”

–       Taking naps – a research team based at MIT and Harvard University discovered evidence that the brief period when drifting off to sleep may be a sweet spot for dreams that facilitates creative thinking and problem solving. Findings of this research add to growing evidence that the earliest stage of sleep might be harnessed and guided to enhance creativity.

Dr Amantha Imber, author of the international bestseller Time Wise described the following scientifically proven (even though they sound weird) hacks to boost your creativity:

–       Squeeze a ball with your left hand.

–       Raise your eyebrows.

–       Fall asleep while thinking about the problem.

–       Look at a photo depicting an “odd one out”.

Read her article on LinkedIn to find out how, exactly, these and other hacks work to enhance creativity.

The book Your Creative Brain by Harvard psychologist Dr Shelly Carson will equip you with many more science-backed strategies for training your creative brain.

And if you are really serious about bringing your creativity to the next level, then The Cambridge Book of Creativity will help you along the way.

The World Creativity and Innovation Day has been observed on 21st April by citizens and organisations in over 50 countries since 2002. This year’s theme is “step out and innovate”. You can use this date to kick-start your journey to more joy of creativity and innovation in your personal and professional life.

Want to know more about brain hacking? Great! My next article will follow soon.