My first Magazine Creative Minds | Page 9

There are many misconceptions of which parts of your brain governs creative thought, but no one area of your brain is responsible for creativity. Rather, many interacting processes by large-scale brain networks work together to give birth to a great idea. These brain networks do three things: they bend what we see, break what we expect and finally, they blend things with other things. Wha doe researc sugges ? Researchers have found that personality traits such as risk taking and openness to experience contribute to creativity as an individual ability. But creativity can also likely be trained, honed, or taught. In separate studies, professional dancers, artists, and musicians were all compared against novices in their fields. During active or mental improvisational sessions where participants were asked to compose a 5-note tune, mentally compose a drawing, or mentally perform a dance, those who were professionally creative actually thought about the task differently, engaging different areas of their brains than the novices. In 'The Genetics of Creativity', Barbot Tan and Grigorenko wrote, “it is important to see creativity not only as an individual ability but also as a cultural and time-specific phenomenon that is biologically grounded and has a social purpose”. They suggest that the cultural factors like the reception of creative works, influences our biological factors, like how willing we are to take risks, and the two have a dynamic relationship. Still, while some people may have small biological advantages to be more creative, anyone can be creative. You just need to nurture your creativity as your restless brain is full of great ideas just waiting to be realised.