What’s happening in our brain when we create?
We’re learning so much about the neuroscience of creativity, and today I want to share some research that changed the game for me. Not in a distant, academic way — but in an oh, that's what’s happening! kind of way.
What's actually going on up there
A growing body of neuroscience research shows that creativity isn’t a “left brain — right brain” phenomenon — but involves the simultaneous activation of three large neural networks.
The executive control network, responsible for focused attention, critical thinking and analysis.
The default mode network, which comes online when we're idle and daydreaming — and is responsible for our imagination, ideas generation, intuition, and our sense of identity and meaning.
And the salience network, which helps us decide what’s important and manages the switch back and forth between the other two networks.
Usually, the executive control and default mode networks work separately — they’re anti-correlated, meaning that activation in one network corresponds to deactivation in the other.
But creative thinking involves increased communication between these brain networks.
Here’s a fascinating image of the brain in a ‘high’ and ‘low’ creative state (from a paper by Beaty et al, Robust prediction of individual creative ability from brain functional connectivity):
The main thing to notice here is just how different the two pictures look. And to clock that what the “high-creative network” image is showing us is the activation and integration of the three functions above — our executive control, default mode, and salience networks.
Interestingly, there is no relationship between this kind of cognitive integration and general intelligence. It’s associated specifically with creative thinking.
This understanding of creativity — as the cooperation between our critical and imaginative capacities — is powerful.
It gets directly at the misconception that creative and critical thinking exist in opposition to one another. Rather, it shows us that critical thinking is an integral part of creativity, working in tandem with our imagination. And it shows us that building our creative intelligence is about cognitive integration, flexibility and balance — building strong and supple pathways between our critical and imaginative brains.
bringing our brains back into balance
This science was so exciting for me because it provided language and imagery to help explain my own experience of getting back in touch with my creativity.
For most of my 20s, I was a lawyer who felt wholly uncreative.
I was focused almost entirely on developing my critical, analytical brain — which legal training is perhaps especially geared towards. We’re taught how to break things down, how to analyse, how to deconstruct. I remember when I started working at a big commercial firm, the first thing my boss did was send me on a course called ‘Logic for Lawyers’…
It’s fair to say that for more than a decade, my imaginative brain didn’t get much of a look-in.
And that’s not to say that lawyering isn’t imaginative or creative. Advocacy is in large part storytelling, and lawyers are solving complex problems within tight parameters all the time.
But that’s not how my brain made sense of it for a long time. For me, it felt hyper-rational — like I was there primarily as a vehicle for critical thinking.
Layer on top of that the long hours, the chronic stress, the periods of burnout — all conditions that further suppress our default mode network — and you have a brain that was exhaustingly lopsided.
When I started painting, the experience felt like meeting my mind for the first time. My imagination was coming back online and I was reconnecting with my intuition and my sense of self.
What surprised me, too, was that painting also felt deeply intellectual. I felt focused. I was solving problems and using my critical faculties in a way that felt natural and connected.
I often say that starting to paint was the best thing I ever did for my legal practice. It brought my imagination back online, and started to build pathways between my imaginative and critical thinking — which made solving legal problems easier and more fun.
opening up the creative channel
Here's where I’ll take us a little further than the neuroscientists.
When we bring our critical mind and our imagination together, I envisage a kind of Captain Planet scenario — where the combined force of our cognitive powers opens up a creative channel to the universe. The science hasn’t verified this yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
Here’s what I expect the brain scans will eventually show us:
What comes through our creative channel is entirely unique to us — and often a surprise! Some of us will paint. Some of us will cook. Some of us will solve legal problems. Some of us will build bridges. Some of us will start movements. Some of us will conduct experiments. Some of us will bring people together. Some of us will write books. Some of us will teach. Some of us will build businesses. Some of us will craft objects.
There are infinite ways our creativity can manifest.
We can't know in advance what our creativity will deliver. But we can invest in building a balanced and creatively integrated brain — and get curious about what’s coming through the channel as it opens up.
Which part of your creative brain needs attention?
To open our creative channel, we need to bring our creative brains back into balance — allowing our critical and imaginative capacities to cooperate.
If, like me, you've spent years living mostly in your critical brain — balance might look like giving your executive control network some rest, and creating conditions where your default mode network can come back online. Idle time. Daydreaming. Doodling. Making something with your hands.
But maybe that's not your story. Maybe you're a natural dreamer — someone people have always called "creative" — but you find yourself struggling to bring structure and refinement to your work. You might be finding it difficult to finish things. In that case, actively developing your executive control network might be the balance you need: the capacity to focus your attention, to analyse, filter, and refine what your imagination conjures up.
Even within ourselves — there’ll be different needs in different parts of our life. Balance might come naturally in some areas, while others areas feel stuck or lopsided. For example, for me right now — I’m needing to weight play and imagination in my art practice, and refinement and critical thinking in building my business.
Here are some questions you might like to explore this week:
Which parts of your creative brain need attention right now?
Is your imagination getting the space it needs — idle time, exploration, daydreaming?
Are there areas where you need to lean into your critical thinking to find more structure, focus or refinement?
What would it look like to give that part of your brain a little more attention this week?
Hit reply and let me know how you’re working with your creativity this week.
coming up at renaissance lab
Doodle cafe — Tues, 24 march
Our next Doodle Cafe is coming up on Tuesday, 24 March, 5:30 — 6:45pm at Cuckoo Emporium, 57 Customhouse Quay in Pōneke.
Doodle Cafe is playtime for serious professionals. We get together, talk creativity and then we doodle around.
What to expect:
a fun, low stakes, judgement-free zone where we exercise our play / imagination muscles
the warmth of other people’s creative energy
support to work slowly and compassionately with creative blocks or baggage
drinks, snacks, music, good vibes
What to bring:
a notebook
pens/pencils/whatever you’d like to work with
your curiosity
(optional) specific ideas and questions you want to doodle around with - work-related or otherwise
If you’d like to come, just hit reply with a “Sign me up!” and I’ll send you the invite.
8-week creativity deep dive
I’m getting ready to launch the first pilot of my 8-week creativity deep dive — a small-cohort programme for people ready to explore and build their creative intelligence at work.
I’ll be offering early access to subscribers, and a hefty initial launch discount — so let me know if you’re interested and I’ll make sure you’re the first to know.
Have a great week everyone!
Creative power to you.
Kate x
Want to learn more about my leadership coaching practice grounded in creativity, or interested in working together? Get in touch at hello@kateyesberg.com.