scientist have found a way to jumpstart creativity using electrical current . To do so , they temporarily suppressed a part of the nous call theleft dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC ) , a region that plays a role in memory and reasoning , to help the player reckon “ out of the box " . However , this come at a cost .
The team ’s finding propose that by suppressing the domain of the brain that deals with logical thinking , cognitive control , the processing of memory , and learning , a person’screativity can be increase . The subject by Queen Mary University of London ( QMUL ) and Goldsmiths University of London was recently issue in the Nature journalScientific Reports .
“ We solve problems by enforce convention we learn from experience , and the DLPFC plays a key role in automating this physical process , ” lead source Dr Caroline Di Bernardi Luft , from QMUL ’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences , said in astatement . “It works finely most of the clock time , but fails spectacularly when we encounter Modern problems which command a new style of thinking – our past experience can indeed block our creativity . To break this genial fixation , we involve to loosen up our learned pattern . ”
To quiz this out , they passed a light electrical flow through saline - rob electrodes placed onto the scalp so as to either excite or suppress the DLPFC , count on the direction of the current flow . In the written report , the researchers asked 60 participants to resolve a “ matchstick problem ” to test their creative problem - solving skills before and after the DLPFC was either suppressed , actuate , or not energize at all .
When the DLPFC was temporarily suppressed , people exceeded at the tough problems more than those whose DLPFC was activate or unstimulated . This means a key part of our cognitive skills may in reality dampen our ability to “ think outside the boxwood ” and that stamp down it may facilitate the mental capacity to wreak around antecedently con thinking patterns and to " loosen up our well-educated rules . ”
However , there were drawbacks . The participant with a curb DLPFC also catch worse at problems affiliate with a mellow working memory , such as when many item needed to be think of at once .
“ These results are authoritative because they show the potential of improving genial functions relevant for creativeness by non - invasive brain arousal method , ” comment Dr Luft . “ However , our outcome also suggest that potential applications programme of this technique will have to count the target cognitive effect in more point rather than just assuming tDCS can improve knowledge as claim by some companies which are start to sell tDCS machines for home users . ”
" I would say that we are not yet in a position to wear an electric lid and start out cause our brainpower hoping for a blanket cognitive gain . ”
