Creativity and the Brain

1
Brains and All That
Vincent Walsh _at_vinwalsh Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience University College
London UK vin.walsh_at_gmail.com appliedcognitiveneur
oscience.com
2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
Everyone here is
5
How do we tweak ourselves?
6
So what can we do?

• Leaders
• Revisit basics
• Have a new goal
• Create and foster creativity

7
How?

• Social structures in an institute
• Brain and creativity
• Sleep and biological cycles
• Sex differences in behaviour
• Creating a place for failure

8
How?

• Social structures in an institute
• Brain and creativity
• Sleep and biological cycles
• Sex differences in behaviour
• Creating a place for failure

9
Creativity Where do Ideas come from?
10
What is it? Give me your best example
11
(No Transcript)
12
Where do ideas come from?

• Down time

13
Where do ideas come from?

• Taking your brain off the leash

14
Down Time
15
Creativity and the Brain
The Component Stages of Creativity Preparation
the grind Incubation the down time Illumination
the ahaa moment Verification the cold light of
day
16
Creativity and the Brain
Creativity in the lab Problems that can be
solved with insight or with logic.
17
Creativity and the Brain
What word links ActorFallingDust BrokenClea
rEye
18
Creativity and the Brain
Studying the Prepared Mind
Ready
Bump Egg Step
Solution
Insight?
2secs EEG
19
Creativity and the Brain
EEG recording
20
Creativity and the Brain
21
Creativity and the Brain
Insight Non Insight Time Out Note the
wide network
22
The brain off the leash
23
Creativity and the Brain
Edward Muybridge 1830-1904
24
Creativity and the Brain
25
What does Muybridges story tell us?

• Obsession
• Disinhibition
• Failure?
• Trashing Pixar
• IBM

26
Creativity and the Brain
27
Creativity and the Brain
Jazz musicians Fours Language, but no monitoring
Deactivation of areas involved in semantics
28
Creativity and the Brain
Rap musicians Language but No monitoring
Self generated action
29
Creativity and the Brain
Do you have the courage to be simple ?
30
Creativity the Brain

• The courage to be second best?

31
Creativity and the Brain
The courage to be beautifully wrong!
32
Sex
33
Iowa Gambling Task
Gain/Deck Loss/10 Net gain/10 Rewards/10
34
Tell me
What you know about the game What you feel about
the game Questions repeated every 10 cards
35
(No Transcript)
36
Sometimes
People never get the rule. But their body does
and they make advantageous deck choices
37
Brain Diffs and Sex
38
Whats the difference?

• Women and men respond differently to risk
  (change)

39
Women DO take fewer risks

• Chess Women make fewer aggressive openings (but
  women play out the win)

40
Tennis Women play safer earlier
41
Game shows on TV Women risk less than men
42
Stock market traders women risk less than men
43
Women at Gamblers Anon bet less than men
44
Theres another language for this

• Women might be right
• Elite schools
• Competitions they can win

45

• Social structures in an institute
• Brain and creativity
• Sleep and biological cycles
• Sex differences in behaviour
• Creating a place for failure

46
Can you use this?
47
Thank You Twitter _at_vinwalsh
Vincent Walsh Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience University College London UK
48
Creativity and the Brain
49
Creativity and the Brain
50
Creativity and the Brain
51
Creativity and the Brain
52
Creativity and the Brain
53
Creativity and the Brain
What about the number of brain cells? Using MRI
you can measure cortical Thickness and correlate
this with creativity
54
Creativity and the Brain
55
Creativity and the Brain
56
Creativity and the Brain
57
Creativity and the Brain
This opens up many questions? Are some areas
special for creativity? What does less cortical
thickness mean?
Slide 0
58
Creativity and the Brain
Have a brain. A modest one will do
59
Creativity and the Brain
Be a little crazy (but only a little)
60
Creativity and the Brain
Do less. Sleep a lot.
61
Creativity and the Brain
Be preparedknow your stuff no one is creative
without being an expert
62
Creativity and the Brain
Be courageous