Jul 2, 2008 5:59 pm US/Eastern
Local Doctors Study The Brain And Creativity
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
What happens to the brain when a musician improvises?
Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn reports a pair of Johns Hopkins doctors set out to answer that question and came up with some surprising results.
The researchers designed a special keyboard so they could observe musicians inside an MRI machine and record their brain activity.
When musicians play spontaneously, they often appear to slip into an altered state of mind. Some call it the zone, the point at which they're the most creative.
"A lot of people attribute creativity to something magical," said Dr. Charles Limb.
Dr. Limb, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Johns Hopkins, and a colleague wanted to know more. Specifically, what happens in the brain when artists improvise.
To find out, he had six musicians play the keyboard inside a functioning MRI machine. During spontaneous play, researchers noted heightened activity in the part of the brain associated with self-expression.
"The part that went down was the area that's a self-monitor. Usually it causes you to inhibit yourself and it went down to promote the flow of novel ideas," he said.
Limb would like to see if the same holds true for other spontaneous artists, like rap musicians.
In the meantime, his findings could help those of us who are a little less talented. Dr. Limb and his research partner plan to conduct a similar study on non-artists to see how their brains respond during improvisation.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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