To be productive effortlessly is a pleasant state of consciousness highly valued in business, art, research, education… actually everywhere where creativity is esteemed. The Creativity Research Lab at Drexel University was the first to use neuroimaging technology to discover how the brain enters this desired state of creative trance.
The researchers tested various theories of creative trance by recording high-density electroencephalograms Drexel
Letting Go of Control The study monitored brain activity associated with jazz improvisation, and findings published in the journal Neuropsychologia reveal that the state of creative trance involves two key factors: the experience that generates the desired type of ideas and “letting go of control” to allow this process to unfold with little or no conscious oversight.
Release of control – a guitarist plays while his electroencephalograms are recorded in Drexel’s Creativity Research Lab The results of the study also showed something else: creative trance is best achieved through practice and gaining expertise in a specific area, not necessarily in music or art but also in mathematical, programming, or any other field.
Hyperfocus and Autopilot Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi once defined creative trance, or flow, as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost.” And while flow has been the focus of hundreds of behavioral studies, there is no consensus on what it actually is and how it works.
The researchers tested different theories of creative trance by recording high-density electroencephalograms (EEG) in 32 technically diverse jazz guitarists. Some believe it is a state of highly focused concentration or hyperfocus that excludes other thoughts and external distractions. An alternative theory suggests that through years of intensive practice, the brain develops a specialized network for the automatic generation of a certain type of ideas, with little conscious effort. The executive control network relaxes its supervision so that the musician can “let go” and allow the specialized network to work on “autopilot.”
EEG results The researchers tested these competing theories of creative trance by recording high-density electroencephalograms (EEG) in 32 technically diverse jazz guitarists. Each musician improvised on six songs with programmed accompaniment of drums, bass, and piano. The musical quality of the recordings was evaluated by four jazz critics, and the researchers analyzed the EEG of all players.
When in a state of high trance, jazz musicians showed reduced activity in the frontal lobe areas. It turns out that musicians with more playing experience more frequently and intensively entered a trance state than musicians with less experience. From this, it could be concluded that expertise enables creative trance, but that doesn’t mean expertise is the only factor in the process.
Reaching a trance state is easiest through persistent practice. EEG showed that the trance state was associated with increased activity in the auditory and tactile areas of the left hemisphere involved in listening and playing music. Trance was also associated with decreased activity in the upper frontal lobes of the brain, the area of executive control. This is consistent with the idea that creative flow is associated with reduced conscious control.
‘Staying in the game’ All this actually means, say the researchers, that productive trance states can be achieved through practice, in line with old theories of “staying in the game” and the axiom that behind every success is “10 percent talent and 90 percent work.”
Brain activities associated with trance in musicians with higher (HE) and lower (LE) experience. “If you want to be able to fluidly convey your ideas, practice musical scales, solve mathematical problems, or anything else, from computer coding to writing novels,” advise the researchers, recalling the words of jazz great Charlie Parker: “You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up on the bandstand, forget all that and just let it go.”
