Brainwaves Make Us More Creative

Creativity turns imagination into reality. It is rightly said that ‘If you have ideas but don't act on them, you are imaginative but not creative’. It is the process of bringing something new into being that requires passion and commitment. Creativity happens when we break away from the ideas that come to our minds more often, however we have no idea about how the brain processes it. After many studies and research, it is found that the human brain needs to suppress obvious ideas in order to reach the most creative ones. As a result of a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brainwaves are important in inhibiting habitual thinking modes to pave the way to access more remote ideas.

The researchers have found that these brainwaves, or alpha oscillations in the right temporal area of the brain, increase when individuals need to suppress misleading associations in creative tasks. It is also believed that higher the alpha brainwaves higher is the capability of people to come up with ideas which are further away from the obvious or well-known uses. A study was conducted by applying an electrical current to the brain through a non-invasive technique called transcranial alternating current brain stimulation (tACS) which causes minimal to no side effects or sensations. The researchers demonstrated the neural mechanism responsible for creativity by monitoring the brain's electrical activity through an electroencephalogram (EEG) which picks up electrical signals through small sensors placed on the head. The researchers proved that stimulating the right temporal part of the brain in the alpha frequency increases the capability of inhibiting obvious links in both types of creative thinking. Lead researcher Dr Caroline Di Bernardi Luft, from Queen Mary University of London, said that "If we need to generate alternative uses of a glass, first we must inhibit our past experience which leads us to think of a glass as a container. Our study's novelty is to demonstrate that right temporal alpha oscillations is a key neural mechanism for overriding these obvious associations.” However, as per result of various studies that have been conducted earlier, there are few people who prove to be more creative than others as they possess the ability to avoid strong associations. This study shows that there has been a big and crucial involvement of the alpha brainwaves in this process. Goldsmiths, University of London's Professor Joydeep Bhattacharya, a co-author of this study, added: "Two roads diverged in a wood, I took the one less travelled by. And that has made all the difference,' wrote Robert Frost in his famous poem."

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210150622.htm