FROM Jane Austen to Albert Einstein, Zaha Hadid to Ai Weiwei, it is easy to name people who have advanced the thinking of humankind 鈥� but it is much harder to explain why people like this think so much more creatively than the rest of us. Are their brains just made that way, or can anyone learn to do it? The mystery of creativity has long baffled scientists. Now, researchers are finally making some progress in drawing back the curtain. Better yet, their insights could help us all to exercise a little more original thinking.
Some of the most come from the 鈥渄ual process theory鈥� of creativity, which distinguishes between idea generation and idea evaluation. Idea generation involves delving deep into our existing knowledge for the seeds of inspiration 鈥� perhaps by drawing an analogy from a completely different domain. Free association is key at this stage, as one thought leads to another, more original insight. In the second phase, idea evaluation, we must apply a more critical eye to choose ideas that will best suit our goals. A novelist must decide whether a bizarre, supernatural plot twist will titillate or alienate readers; an engineer must consider whether their fish-inspired plane will be practical and efficient. Any large project requires numerous iterations of these two stages in the long and winding journey from conception to completion.
Brain scans of people engaging in creative problem-solving suggest that idea generation and evaluation rely on distinct neural networks. Generation involves the default network, which is typically active when the mind is at rest and wandering from thought to thought. In this freewheeling state, it is able to plumb your memories for inspiration 鈥� which may explain why solutions to problems often come when we are in the shower or walking in the park. Idea evaluation, by contrast, seems to rely on the executive network, which is active while we focus on specific goals. A third region 鈥� the salience network 鈥� may act as a bridge between the two. Its job is to identify the most important or interesting things around us. In a brainstorming session, it might home in on particularly exciting insights before the finer attention of the executive network evaluates them.
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Why are some people more creative than others?
Your creative capacity seems to depend on the efficiency of the communication between these different networks. A team led by at Pennsylvania State University invited 163 people to lie in a brain scanner while performing the 鈥渁lternative uses task鈥� 鈥� a standard test of creativity that involves thinking about novel ways to use a common object, such as a brick. People with the most creative answers tended to show . According to a study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, more creative brains also tend to have . This might contribute to less conventional ways of processing information, generating more original ideas. 鈥淭hat matches with what we see in creative people鈥檚 lives: they forge their own path,鈥� says , who led the study.
These findings hint at how you might boost your creativity. Beaty is currently investigating whether training in creative thinking and problem-solving can strengthen connectivity between the default, salience and executive networks. Training programmes might involve, for example, guided practice in idea generation and selection. A meta-study published in 2023 found that . The researchers analysed 332 studies, dividing them into 12 categories, of which creativity training was among the most effective and psychoactive drugs had the least impact. The other top ways to encourage creative thinking were practising mindfulness and engaging in cultures that are different from your own, and Beaty recommends trying these. 鈥淭hey help you to draw from different experiences and put things together in new and interesting ways,鈥� he says.
