We've spent our whole lives being told that a wandering mind is a problem... but what if it's actually one of the most powerful things your brain can do?

In this episode, we're diving into the neuroscience of creativity: what it actually is, why your best ideas almost never happen when you're trying hardest to force them, and what occurs in your brain during a genuine creative breakthrough. From the default mode network and alpha waves to dopamine, divergent thinking, and why the "right brain" myth has been officially debunked — we're making the case that creativity isn't a gift reserved for artists and inventors. It's something your brain is designed to produce, and something we may have been accidentally shutting down all along.>> ⁠⁠⁠Support the Brain Blown on Patreon⁠⁠⁠>> Have questions, stories, or topics you want us to cover? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠.>> Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠www.brainblownpodcast.com⁠

RESOURCES

• What Happens in a Creative Brain? — AJ Keller, CEO at Neurosity
• Defining Creativity: Beyond the Cliché — Science News Today
• The Neuroscience of Creativity — Andreas Fink & Mathias Benedek
• Toward a Neurocognitive Framework of Creative Cognition: The Role of Memory, Attention, and Cognitive Control — Mathias Benedek & Andreas Fink
• The Link Between Creativity, Cognition and Creative Drives and Underlying Neural Mechanisms — Khalil, Goode & Karim
• Creativity and the Brain: An Editorial Introduction to the Special Issue on the Neuroscience of Creativity — Saggar, Volle, Uddin, Chrysikou & Green
• Network Neuroscience of Creative Cognition: Mapping Cognitive Mechanisms and Individual Differences in the Creative Brain — Beaty, Seli & Schacter
• Neural, Genetic, and Cognitive Signatures of Creativity — Liu, Zhuang, Zeitlen, Chen, Wang, Feng, Beaty & Qiu