Hello jackbe-ga,
Your succinct and seemingly simple question took me on a very
interesting journey in the exploration of the connection between
creativity and the brain. You ask for one comment or explanation but I
find that you’ve chosen such a complex topic that one explanation is
impossible.
Instead, I’ll start with an interview with Oliver Sacks, the popular
physician and author whose books have explored a variety of
neurological disorders. In response to the interviewer’s question as
to whether creativity is purely a neurological phenomenon, Sack
responds that creativity is a product of both external and internal
factors. “ There are, he says, biological factors which dispose one to
creativity and cultural factors that encourage or inhibit it.”
This is a good place to start for exploring your question. I’ve
collected a variety of papers on the subject of the neurology of
creativity. This subject is not simple since it involves not just the
physical aspects of the brain but also the psychological development
of the individual and the cultural and social influences that lead to
each person’s development into adulthood.
Creativity itself is a difficult subject to define. I’ve collected a
spectrum of papers and resources to help you get familiar with varying
perspectives on the subject. In the past, creativity was studied as an
aspect of the mind and the science applied was mostly psychology. The
consideration of the neurological aspects of creativity are a more
recent development as advances are made in the study of the brain.
I hope that the information I’ve collected will help you with your
research into the neurology of creativity. If I’ve misunderstood your
question, please ask for clarification on this very complex subject.
This was a very interesting project and I want to make sure that you
get all the information you need.
Good luck with your project.
czh
======================================
CREATIVITY IN THE BRAIN – OLIVER SACKS
======================================
http://www.citybeat.com/2001-04-05/art.shtml
Mind Reader: Oliver Sacks never fails to reveal the humanity of his
subjects
Since Sacks will be speaking on "Creativity in the Brain," I ask him
about the root of creativity. Is it, I wonder, a purely neurological
phenomenon, or does he as a neurologist allow for those traditions
which attribute creativity to divine inspiration.
"Well, as an old Jewish atheist, I'm no believer in the divine," Sacks
says. "Although having said that, I really think of Mozart as divine."
Not surprisingly, Sacks attributes both internal and external factors
to creativity: There are, he says, biological factors which dispose
one to creativity and cultural factors that encourage or inhibit it.
===========================
CREATIVITY AND NEUROBIOLOGY
===========================
http://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/4029a9ddcb767f8485256a07005798b5?OpenDocument
MIND AND BODY: COGNITIVE NEUROBIOLOGY OF CREATIVITY Creativity in any
domain is predicated upon the conjunction of motivation, affect, and
cognition. The curricular innovations of the Threshold Honors Program
in Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provides
abundant examples of creative research proposals energized by the
perceived relevance to personal and institutional goals.
These examples will be presented along with a review of new
information from cognitive neurobiology and an attempt to consolidate
ideas about the cerebral interplay of cognition, affect, and
motivation in learning and creativity. We have often heard that
learning is growth. In the continual assimilation and accommodation of
experiential particulars into cerebral generalities, this metaphor can
now be seen to be literally true. Under the stewardship of the
autonomic nervous system and its unique capacity to energize specific
neural structures to more effectively deal with stimuli possessing
varying degrees of real or perceived relevance, affective and
motivational processes are put in the service of arousal and attention
in order to be precisely selective about which stimuli effectively
contribute to the development of concepts.
***** This paper by a University of Tennessee professor is just one of
the resources he offers in The Creativity Project
http://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/5c515960ea3398d785256437004cb893/0354735617755c3b85256437004d777c?OpenDocument
------------------------------
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jbogen/text/creat6.htm
Split-Brains: Interhemispheric Exchange in Creativity
Explanations of creativity in terms of brain function are rare. One
brain-based theory was advanced by the authors in 1969 and expanded by
others.
The theory arose from observations of humans who had the SPLIT-BRAIN
operation. This surgery successfully treated their epilepsy and made
it possible for them to join in laboratory experiments, which led to a
Nobel Prize for Roger W. Sperry, with whom the authors collaborated
for more than 30 years.
This article first offers some observations on creativity, emphasizing
its development through several stages. Then a brief description of
split brain behavior is presented. Third, two implications of the
split-brain research are considered: (a) each cerebral hemisphere can
function to a significant extent independently and (b) the two
hemispheres function differently. The article concludes with the
authors' views on both creativity and a lack of creativity,
--------------------------
http://www.datadiwan.de/SciMedNet/templeton/library/bibliography/creativity.htm
CREATIVITY by Geoffrey Leytham
Other theoretical approaches have concentrated on possible biological
and neurological roots of creativity. So far, the most detailed of
these is that proposed by Eysenck (1995), who traces the causal path
of the creative process from genetic determinants (DNA), through
hippocampal formation, cognitive inhibition, psychoticism and various
special cognitive abilities. Such theories are mainly of interest to
other specialists and do little to help those seeking to be more
creative in their own lives. It is also unlikely that they will cast
much light on the more transpersonal kinds of creativity mentioned
above.
***** Interesting bibliography may give you additional avenues to
continue your research.
----------------------------
http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/jun03/jun03_frontotemporal.html
SUDDEN EMERGENCE OF VISUAL CREATIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH FRONTOTEMPORAL
DEMENTIA
HONOLULU—
Cognitive psychologists have long recognized the importance of the
right parietal lobe in shaping our internal representation of the
world at large. When this region of the brain is harmed, whether due
to injury from a stroke or by degenerative decay, individuals can lose
the ability to perform such simple cognitive functions as drawing and
copying.
Now a more recently observed phenomenon has behavioral and cognitive
neurologists marveling at the visual creativity of patients whose
progressive cognitive decline should, based on these earlier findings,
render them artistically impotent.
Call it the “parietal paradox”: Patients with a variant of
frontotemporal dementia—in which selective involvement of the left
anterior temporal lobe has been detected—suddenly exhibit an ability
to create startling works of art when no previous talent or even
interest had been documented. In other cases, experienced artists go
on to produce paintings that are as striking as anything found in
their entire body of work. Often, patients with the temporal lobe
variant do their creating while in the grip of another subtype of
frontotemporal dementia—semantic dementia—where individuals lose the
ability to use words and symbols and the concepts they represent.
----------------------------
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/4/978
Neurology, Vol 51, Issue 4 978-982, Copyright © 1998 by American
Academy of Neurology
Emergence of artistic talent in frontotemporal dementia
OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical, neuropsychological, and imaging
features of five patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) who
acquired new artistic skills in the setting of dementia.
-----------------------------
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol7-spring2000/creativity.htm
Creativity and Psychopathology
I will therefore also examine a relatively new line of inquiry into
the intriguing notion of a causal relationship between mental illness,
or abnormality, and creativity. Thanks to recent advances in
neuroimaging technology that have allowed more precise diagnoses of
mental illnesses in living individuals, neurologists have discovered a
small population of remarkable individuals who seem to open the door
to a whole new arena of investigations into the physiological
correlation between visual artistry and damaged brains.
In direct contrast to individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease, who seem
to overwhelmingly undergo dramatic deterioration in all previously
held artistic ability (Cummings & Zarit, 1987), Miller, the pioneer on
this subject, has published several articles about the actual
appearance of artistic talent in previously uncreative or unartistic
people. As I will discuss in my review of his investigations, all five
of these individuals were found through SPECT brain imaging scans to
have a newly identified form of dementia called frontotemporal
dementia, FTD. After briefly discussing the difficulty of defining and
confining creativity as stemming from a certain part or function of
the brain, I will present Miller’s findings and conclude by addressing
the possible philosophical and ethical issues raised by this topic.
------------------------------
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web3/Applegate.html
Toward a Neurobiology of Creativity? : Making Connections Between Art,
Manic-Depressive Illness, and Frontotemporal Dementia
Interestingly enough, recent studies by Dr. Bruce Miller, MD, a
neurologist from the University of California, San Francisco,
involving patients who suffer from frontotemporal dementia, approach
the issue of creativity and the brain from a more functionalist
perspective. As a result of FTD, a condition proven by SPECT (single
photon emission computed tomography) images of the patient's brains,
Miller noticed that his patients seemed to spontaneously develop
artistic talents and creative interests they had never possessed
before (5).
Combining Jamison's research along with Miller's new foray into
studying creativity via brain imaging, I feel it is possible to begin
to work toward constructing a tentative neurobiological explanation of
creativity. In this final paper, I will first present a review of
Jamison's book on manic-depressive illness and the artistic
temperament, discussing her method, her evidence, and her conclusions.
Next, I will introduce Miller's research, and attempt to show how his
functionalist approach tackles some of the unanswered questions that
Jamison's research leaves up for grabs. It is my belief that a
synthesis of these two approaches to the question of how neurobiology
relates to creativity yields a productive way of examining the issue.
--------------------------
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web1/mhoban.html
Searching for the Location of Creativity
This paper was written by a student in a course at Bryn Mawr College,
and reflects that student's research and thoughts at the time the
paper was written. Like other things on Serendip, the paper is not
intended to be "authoritative" but is instead provided to encourage
others to themselves learn about and think through subjects of
interest, and, by providing relevant web links, to serve as a "window"
to help them do so. Web links were active as of the time the paper was
posted but are not updated.
=========================
CREATIVITY AND PSYCHOLOGY
=========================
http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/~tonyv/MIND/antonio.html
The Contribution of Psychiatry to the Study of Creativity:
Implications for AI research.
An old saw has it that very little divides a genius from a madman, and
if one is to judge from the recorded eccentricities of those society
has chosen to label as geniuses, one can readily see why. A good
theory of the creative mind then, or indeed, any aspect of mind, will
not only explain the mechanics of what one would consider 'healthy
cognition', but also the apparent breakdown of these mechanics. This
paper considers the rich contribution the field of psychiatry can make
to the study of human creativity, and focuses on some particular
aspects of psychoanalytic theory that are amenable to algorithmic
expression.
***** This is a long paper by two Italian medical doctors that
includes an extensive bibliography
----------------------------
http://www.fhponline.org/pubs/a_glimpse.html
A Glimpse of How Mind Produces Art
One premise put forth early in the symposium shaped all subsequent
discussion: Creativity is not a function of the brain; it is a
function of the mind, and the mind is a creation of society.
"Children come into the world mindless, but not brainless," said
Elliot Eisner, professor of education and art at Stanford University.
"Socialization, acculturation and education bring the mind into being.
The mind is a cultural achievement."
Creativity in context
If creativity is a product of the mind, psychologists agree,
searching for creativity in the brain is as futile as looking for the
soul in the body. Creativity exists only in the context of society,
which defines and rewards creative activity, said Dr. Howard Gardner,
professor of education at Harvard University and co-director of
Project Zero, an academic think tank devoted to the study of
creativity.
"If we're ever able to scan the brain of an artist at work, we're less
likely to find anatomical differences than processing differences,"
said Gardner.
The parallel brain
Research demonstrates that the brain processes information in a
parallel, not a linear fashion. Until recently, many psychologists
assumed that sensory data passed from one region of the brain to
another. An image on the retina, for example, would pass in a linear
fashion through regions that distinguish color, form, depth and so on,
with the perception becoming more sophisticated as it progressed.
-----------------------------
http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/1997/vol1/preti_a&miotto_p.html
Creativity, Evolution and Mental Illnesses
Mental representations, or memes, transform the space in which they
evolve. Their survival is dependent on the survival of the individuals
and the groups hosting them. Creativity - the production of new and
useful ideas - is closely linked to the social dynamics of the
individuals expressing creative ideas: without social confrontation
new memes cannot become diffuse.
Creative individuals tend to be emotionally unstable, and many are
affected by mental disorders. Studies on the link between creativity
and mental illnesses show that it is exactly the characteristics of
the mental disorder which also confer some advantage on afflicted
individuals. These advantages extend to the groups to which the
creative, mentally ill individuals belong. The group comprising the
most creative personalities will therefore acquire an adaptive
advantage which maintains the integrity of the group as a whole, in
spite of the vulnerability of the individual.
-------------------------------
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/293/5527/51
Artistic Creativity and the Brain
Behavior is determined by the brain, and the brain varies from person
to person. Despite this variability, common neurobiological processes
occur. These processes are discussed by Zeki in this essay on one form
of variability--artistic expression. By revealing the neural basis of
artistic expression, we can discover what processes lie behind other
forms of variability, like moral behavior and religious belief.
Department of Cognitive Neurology, University College London, London
-----------------------------
http://www.sc.doe.gov/sc-5/benchmark/Ch%2015%20Creativity%2006.10.02.pdf
15. Creativity
Creativity is generally defined as useful novelty – not novelty for
its own sake, but novelty that can be applied and add value to an
organization’s products and services (Oldham and Cummings 1996).
Creativity includes the generation of ideas, alternatives, and
possibilities (Smith 1998). Creativity research has a long history in
psychology, focusing on individual differences in personality,
cognitive abilities, and problem-solving styles.
However, recent theoretical and empirical work looks at creativity as
something the brain does naturally. That is, creativity is an adaptive
feature of normal cognitive functioning that evolved to aid problem
solving under conditions of uncertainty. Under such circumstances,
novel approaches and invention are highly advantageous (Simonton 2000;
Findlay and Lumsden 1988).
This perspective asserts that all human beings have the potential for
creativity because we share common neural processes; however, whether
the creativity is expressed or suppressed depends on the
socio-cultural context, personality differences, and specific
personal experiences (such as knowledge and skills).
By defining creativity as useful novelty, psychologists have clearly
placed the emphasis on creativity as an outcome. Others, however, are
beginning to look at creativity as a process that ebbs and flows over
time in response to problems that arise unpredictably (Drazin et al.
1999). In this view, creativity is intricately connected to
sense-making, problem finding, and interpretation of events and
situations.
A number of researchers argue that creative problem solving also
involves two different thinking processes. One is convergent or
analytical thinking and the other is lateral or associative thinking.
Neurological studies show that the brain functions differently under
these two kinds of thinking, with a higher degree of neural
complexity, and thus a greater degree of neural connections, under
divergent thinking tasks than under analytical tasks (Dacey and Lennon
1998). Researchers interpret the results to mean that the brain is
accessing a wide array of memories and fantasies that are the raw
materials for creative ideation.
***** This is a ten page paper with a very extensive bibiliography. It
gives an excellent overview of creativity in organizations.
-------------------------------
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/serendipia/Serendipia-Preti.html
THE GIFT OF SATURN: CREATIVITY AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION: THE DIFFICULT DEFINITION OF CREATIVITY
Life in the metropolis increasingly depends on the ability to provide
new and original solutions to old problems. This capacity to bring
together knowledge and imagination is called "creativity". Creativity
can be defined as many ways as it can be conceived.
As its simplest, creativity could be described as the ability to
create products or ideas which are original and which possess a strong
social usefulness. This definition, however, is not the whole answer.
Frank Barron, one of the most important researchers in this field,
offers a more articulate description of creativity. First creativity
is considered in terms of the characteristics of the creative product
and the social aknowledgement obtains. A criterion of usefulness is
implied in, although not essential to, this definition. Secondly the
creative product can be considered in its own context: the difficulty
of the problem resolved or identified, the elegance of the solution
proposed, the impact of the product itself. Thirdly creativity can be
conceived on the basis of the abilities that favour it, id est as
skill or aptitude.
AN OPEN CONCLUSION
All these studies indicate that mental disorders which imply an
imbalance in the neural circuits which control mood, beyond the
suffering that they cause, can also, in some circumstances, favour the
expression of adaptive potential. Mental illnesses are the result of
underlying neurobiological variances that, as researchers like Tim J
Crow and Daniel R Wilson remind us, continue to be the basis for the
action of mechanisms of selection which help men to adapt to rapidly
changing conditions of life, particularly in the relational sphere.
--------------------------------
http://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/e972592203c877ef8525676b005ded2d/eee43a195b711f7185256afc0070f507?OpenDocument
"Creativity: A Continuing Inventory of Knowledge"
THE COUNCIL OF SCHOLARS of the Library of Congress was established in
1980. Among its responsibilities was to create an "inventory of
knowledge is intended to inform the widest possible audience about
what is known on a topic and about what aspects of the topic require
further research and exploration." Their inaugural meeting was the
occasion for a symposium on creativity.
"Arguing that contemporary America, in its "obsession" with
creativity, has vitiated its meaning by applying it to everything from
preschoolers' finger painting to the financing of home mortgages,
Council members sought to define the term--to rescue it--for use in
the world of ideas and culture."
http://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/e972592203c877ef8525676b005ded2d/eee43a195b711f7185256afc0070f507/$FILE/ATTT8ZZK/Creativity.pdf
Creativity: A Continuing Inventory of Knowledge
***** This is the 24 page paper referred to in the above citation.
===================
HOW THE BRAIN WORKS
===================
http://science.howstuffworks.com/brain.htm
How Your Brain Works
***** This is an excellent, simple overview of the brain. The Lots
More Information! link will guide you to exploring neurobiological
issues.
------------------------------
http://www.csuchico.edu/~pmccaff/syllabi/SPPA362/362unit2.html
General Description of the Central Nervous System
***** Excellent illustrated description of the brain and nervous
system.
==================================
BOOKS, JOURNALS, GENERAL RESOURCES
==================================
http://utk-bioweb.bio.utk.edu/unistudy.nsf/0/030d453d18d6d4728525685c0069da29?OpenDocument
CREATIVITY RESOURCES on the WWW
Prepared by the University Studies Colloquy on Creativity at The
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
-------------------------------
http://www.brainresearch.com/
6. CREATIVENESS -- related hyperlinks:
-------------------------------
http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/creativ/index.htm
On Creativity - an index
Leslie Owen Wilson, Ed.D.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
***** Very extensive collection of links on creativity
---------------------------------
http://www.geocities.com/mjattwood_nz/creativity.html
Creativity and mental illness
***** This is a large collection of links that might be of interest to
you.
-------------------------------
http://www.wspc.com/books/medsci/p295.html
NEUROLOGY OF THE ARTS: Painting, Music, Literature
edited by F Clifford Rose (London Neurological Centre, UK)
This book is the first attempt to provide a basis for the interaction
of the brain and nervous system with painting, music and literature.
The introduction deals with the problems of creativity and which parts
of the brain are involved. Then an overview of art presents the
multiple facets, such as anatomy, and the myths appearing in ancient
descriptions of conditions such as polio and migraine.
-----------------------------
http://oup-usa.org/isbn/0198507151.html
The Origins of Creativity
Edited by KARL H. PFENNINGER, University of Colorado School of
Medicine, and VALERIE R. SHUBIK
This book examines the biology of the brain and creativity not only
through psychology and philosophy but also with the input of art,
science and neurobiology, for the first time bringing the discoveries
of modern neurobiology to bear on the subject of creativity.
---------------------------------
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/scienceline/archives/sept99/sept99.shtm#author
Creativity and the Brain
by Dr. Arnold Schiebel
While there's much we've learned about the brain, a number of
important questions persist. We must still answer the most basic
questions about the brain: how does brain tissue actually "process"
input? How is an experience which comes in as complex trains of
digitized information translated into a "trace" which becomes a
memory? How is this stored? How is it retrieved in order to form part
of the synthesis we call creativity? All of these are mental
operations, while the organ that generates them is a complex mass of
protoplasm. How does the former issue from the latter?
---------------------------------
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol7-spring2000/index.html
The Harvard Brain
---------------------------------
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/
BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neurobio.html
Serendip's Neurobiology Places
**** This is an excellent collection of resources that should help you
continue your explorations in neurobiology and creativity.
---------------------------------
http://www.search-info.com/search/engine/index/Science/Social_Sciences/Psychology/Creativity/
Top: Science: Social Sciences: Psychology: Creativity (95)
Description
***** This is a huge collection of links on the subject of creativity
------------------------------
http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Biology/Neurobiology/
Science > Biology > Neurobiology
-------------------------------
http://solo17.abac.com/whatsnew/books/psych/
Mind/Brain Bookshelves
An index of Mind/Brain topics appears below (i.e., psychology,
psychiatry, & neuroscience). Click on any topic to access a list of
popular books in this field.
===============
SEARCH STRATEGY
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neurobiology creativity
biology creativity
creativity neurological process
creativity sides of the brain neurology
Frontotemporal Dementia creativity |
