HOW CREATIVITY WORKS IN THE BRAIN IC VITY CR T EC A R A E R E A T CREA TIVI T R TY I I V Y V I T C Y T IT CR I C Y E C Y AT T I V R ATIVITY C I E R V E A CR E R E Y A I E TIT T C C IV TI Y CR T V E A I R A AT E IT IVI R Y Y TY T R VC T I V Y Y I T I I Y I T T V A V Y I TI I A T T E T V C I E A T R CREA T I IV E E A C CRE ITY R C A AY C R T V R I V EI I REATIV T T T C I R T E A C Y A Y E T C E R A Y E I T T E R R VI I T Y A C TI Y A C R E A T I V T A T I I Y E I V T V T R E I I A V Y T V Y I C C T Y I T T A I I I T V T R V V T A I Y A T T E C T I I I R V E A I V C E I C C I Y T I T I R R T Y T Y V I IV T C I R C V T Y A T V Y E T R IT Y I Y T I E C R Y T I C V C C T A TC A T E R R I I R R E I V C I E T A A R A V E A I E V A T V I C V E I V I I Y A T I E E I T A I T T T I C T E T R R C E Y R R T A I T T A I R T A E A I T V C V V C I E I R RC C T E C ITY T Y A IV Y R T T V A A IV E E R IT C R E I Y Y Y C T I I T I E Y V T A T I I A T E R R A A C T T V R I C Y Y T A C I TI E E V A I T ITY C C R Y E R VITY EA V Y I T I A E R C I C R AT VI I E T I HOW CREATIVITYE V C E T A Y T C T A V R R T R T IV C Y I I V T R ITY T E Y A I V E T V Y C I C C I Y I I R R Y A V R I T E A I I T E E T T Y T T ITY A T A Y I I V V T T I T Y A T Y T I A I C I V E E V V V T I R I I R I V T R C T Y Y V Y Y I I C T T I C T I Y Y V I A Y T I T T T I I R C I V E V Y I E A I T T V C T A T C R A A E I T E R I R C T AE EA VIT TY C T I R Y V C E Y E R I Y C CR EAT R I Y EATI Y CR R VIT RR T C A A E A V E R C V I T A R I T C E I T I E C T T T R Y C I E Y A T V I V A I T E I Y I Y V I Y T T R T T T WORKSI IN THE BRAINI I A C V T I V V T I Y Y Y I I V Y T T I T T A V V T I E T A A A E E E R C R I I I R CR V Y I E C C R C T Y A T R C T C C T I R E R IV E A A E I T A C T Y I T V I R V I E T I A T Y V Y I T T I C V Y A I Y T E T Y R RE C T I I T V Y Y A A VIT I T E I V T IVI C R EAT I I TY C CR T Y R V C R E A T A E Y A T R I T I I T I V C E C E T V C I I R CR R T A E A RE C E C A A R V Y T C E A T I V I T Y I T T T I I V V REA I T I I Y T V Y I C R E T A T I V Y I T Y Insights from a Santa Fe Institute Working Group, NationalCosponsored Endowment byfor the the Arts How Creativity Works in the Brain Insights from a Santa Fe Institute Working Group, Cosponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts July 2015 National Endowment for the Arts 400 7th Street SW Washington DC 20506 202-682-5400 arts.gov Prepared by Deanne and Gary Gute, Creative Life Research Center, University of Northern Iowa Produced by the NEA Office of Research & Analysis Sunil Iyengar, Director Ellen Grantham, Program Analyst Melissa Menzer, Program Analyst Editorial Assistance by Rebecca Gross Designed by Kelli Rogowski The NEA’s Office of Research & Analysis would like to thank the following individuals for valuable feedback on the report: Eric Schulze, National Science Foundation; Bruce Carter, Florida International University; and Rex Jung, University of New Mexico. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Nature of Creativity in the Brain (Meeting) (2014 : Santa Fe, N.M.) How creativity works in the brain : insights from a Santa Fe Institute working group / cosponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. 1. Creative ability--Congresses. 2. Creative ability--Physiological aspects--Congresses. I. Santa Fe Institute (Santa Fe, N.M.) sponsoring body. II. National Endowment for the Arts, sponsoring body. III. Title. BF408.T426 2014 153.3’5--dc23 2015023504 202-682-5496 Voice/TTY (a device for individuals who are deaf or hearing-impaired) Individuals who do not use conbentional print materials may contact the Arts Endowment’s Accessibility Office at 202-682-5532 to obtain this publication in an alternate format. This publication is available free of charge in print or PDF format at arts.gov, the website of the National Endowment for the Arts. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface..........................................................................................7 Executive Summary ..............................................................................9 Chapter One: Background and Rationale ..........................................................13 What is Creativity? The Definition Challenge......................................................14 Who Is “Creative?” ............................................................................15 Cognitive Components of Creativity .............................................................16 Working Memory .............................................................................17 Divergent Thinking ............................................................................19 Convergent Thinking ..........................................................................20 The Brain’s “Magic Synthesis”.................................................................20 Achieving Flow ...............................................................................21 Chapter Two: Questions of Quantification.........................................................23 How Is Creativity Measured? Current and Potential Approaches through Cognitive Psychology and Neurobiology .............................................................................23 Cognitive Assessments of Creativity in Individuals ..............................................23 Neurobiological Evaluation and Intervention....................................................23 Whose Creativity Merits Additional Research? ....................................................27 Studying Creativity across Diverse Domains ....................................................29 How Creativity Works in the Brain 3 Chapter Three: New Pathways and Prospects ......................................................31 Charting a Research Roadmap ..................................................................31 Mismatch between Interest and Support .......................................................31 Methodological Pitfalls .......................................................................31 Targeting Two Research Objectives...............................................................32 Attendant Research Questions...............................................................32 Limitations of Current Understanding........................................................32 Proposed Approaches .....................................................................33 Significance of Triangulating Phenomenological, Psychological, and NeuroscientificApproaches ....34 Research Objective 2 .........................................................................34 Attendant Research Questions...............................................................34 Limitations of Current Understanding........................................................34 Proposed Approaches ......................................................................35 In Conclusion . .35 References .....................................................................................37 Appendix: Participant Biographies . 39 4 National Endowment for the Arts “Creativity is essential for the arts, for innovation, and for human flourishing.How Creativity Works in the Brain makes a compelling case for investing in the interdisciplinary research needed to understand, measure and foster creativity.” —Thomas Kalil, Deputy Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy “As far as I know, How Creativity Works in the Brain is the best collection of perspectives about how the brain produces ideas ‘out of the box,’ one of the principal ingredients of creativity.” —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention How Creativity Works in the Brain 5 This Page was intentionally left blank. 6 National Endowment for the Arts PREFACE The Nature of Creativity in the Brain What is the anatomy of an “aha” moment? How It’s conceivable that soon we’ll be able to see what and why did we evolve to have such experiences? an “aha” looks like in real time. Or to peer into the Can we prime ourselves to have them more swarm of neural activity that occurs just before often? Why should we care? These and similar the lightbulb flashes on.