Popular notions tell us that left-brain thinkers are analytical and logical, while right-brain thinkers are creative and artistic. But it would seem that this popular belief is wrong, as, according to new study, creativity is mostly driven by the left brain.
In a new study in the journal NeuroImage, researchers at Drexel University conducted EEG scans while 32 guitarists to improvise jazz to six leads (songs). They found the guitarists’ brain activity to be almost entirely left-brain.
A caveat: Inexperienced improvisers displayed right-brain activity and, not surprisingly, lower-quality music. (Professional jazz musicians judged the music.) This is a key insight, because it indicates that right-brain creativity is more about how the brain handles novel artistic situations—i.e., I’m totally winging this creative thing.
In other words, the shift of creative activity from the right brain to the left happens with experience. To put it simply, those who have much experience can be creative while being unconscious about it, and this phenomenon is handled mostly by the left brain.
Novices are more able to respond to instructions from a coach, because their right-brain creativity is under more conscious control from the frontal lobe. Left-brain creativity, meanwhile, produces higher-quality music in a somewhat unconscious, autopilot process that musicians have difficulty altering. The researchers hope to trace this shift in the learning process, to help creatives avoid locking in bad habits.
(Image Credit: Latulippe2000/ Pixabay)
Comments (0)