Does Exercise Enhance Creativity? | Big Think
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- Does Exercise Enhance Creativity?
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Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki is hard at work in her lab experimenting with a new hypothesis: Can you stimulate creativity through exercise? She thinks so, and she's got a wide array of research backing her up.
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WENDY SUZUKI:
Dr. Wendy A. Suzuki is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. She received her undergraduate degree in Physiology and Human Anatomy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987, studying with Prof. Marion C. Diamond, a leader in the field of brain plasticity. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from U.C. San Diego in 1993 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health before accepting her faculty position at New York University in 1998. Dr. Suzuki is author of the book Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Wendy Suzuki: One of the most fascinating things about creativity is that the most recent studies are showing that it’s not just one side of the brain or the other side of the brain that everybody will tell you. It really is the most creative people are using both sides of the brain together. So this is an important concept that the brain is subdivided into two major hemispheres. We have two of each structure. Almost all the structures of our brain are paired. So the idea is well one side of the brain is for certain things and the other side of the brain is important for other things. And the one thing we can say for sure is yes, language is on the left side of the brain. But for creativity it actually makes more sense to me that with a function so broad as that, you would benefit from having the most cross talk possible between all parts of your brain. In fact that’s exactly what the neuroscience is showing. So then once we start to understand - we’re starting to understand a little bit about the brain circuits involved in creativity, that involves a lot the prefrontal cortex as you might expect. Then the question is, well, how do I up my creativity? That’s what everybody is interested in.
Well there is exciting new evidence that one of the functions of the hippocampus, an area that we know is important for long-term memory is that it’s not only important for long-term memory, but it’s critical for the function of imagination. So people have been testing people with other people, patients with damage to the hippocampi for long periods of time. No surprise they had memory impairments. They were amnesic. But one day an experimenter back in 2007 tested amnesic patients on tasks of imagination. And she asked them can you imagine a situation that you’ve never experienced before. In this case it was imagine a tropical beach. And she compared the responses to people age matched and education matched people without hippocampal damage.
What she found was these hippocampal patients, these amnesic patients who had normal language abilities, were unable to imagine a future scenario. They could say things like well, there’s blue ocean; there might be sand. But they couldn’t elaborate at all. Whereas control patients, or control subjects were able to talk all about, you know, what the beach looked like, the buildings on the beach, the boats going past them. And this led other researchers to image the brains of subjects, normal subjects as they were remembering things. And when they remembered things the hippocampus lit up. But then they asked well imagine something new. And in that situation the hippocampus lit up again. So there’s multiple modes of evidence suggesting the hippocampus is not only involved in memory but is also important for imagination. A key component of creativity. We know that exercise stimulates what we can neurogenesis or the birth of brand-new brain cells in the hippocampus. But because of those brand new brain cells in my hippocampus I’m also enhancing my imagination. So the hypothesis that I’m working on in my lab is: Can exercise actually enhance creativity?
Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki is hard at work in her lab experimenting with a new hypothesis: Can you stimulate creativity through exercise? She thinks so, and she's got a wide array of research backing her up.
From personal experience I would agree that the most creative people are also logical / rational thinkers
***** very creative, mister.
Vader Darth I would think that people who suffer from schizophrenia have very vivid and creative imagination, yet little rational thinking.
As real genius and not a pretentious narcissistic UA-cam genius I may or may not agree.
I thought she was gonna answer the question, not end with it
gigglydookie BigThink does that a lot when titling their videos, which happens long after the interview. Blame BigThink, not the interviewee.
When a title is a question the answer is always no or we don't know. Try it.
+gigglydookie
So it seems the answer is that there is enough evidence to show exercise helps with neurogenesis in the hippocampus. There is enough evidence to show that the memories the hippocampus produces have a big part in the process of imagination. Imagination is obviously very important for many forms of creativity. So in turn it is highly likely the effect of this neurogenesis from exercise also has a contribution to make in the creative processes of the brain and the evidence for that is being gathered.
Really to suggest all shes done is to end with the question is ignoring all of the information she provided before that point and that there is very strong evidence in favour of her research. So I would say she has given a pretty good answer. What she says at the end isnt just bringing us back to the beginning. She is just making at statement about what her research is on. It is more to show her intent to gather further evidence on the subject.
*****
That comparison you gave doesnt really make sense. I mean there is evidence that exercise over time helps with neurogenesis. That is not anything like eating 1 handful of rice. :P Also it doesnt matter if its marginal or not if there is still a benefit because its just 1 of many things you can do to help push yourself to be the best you can be.
She's still investigating, there's no solid proof, but she thinks it is the case.
Perhaps the correlation between memory and imagination shows that "memory" as we think we understand it is a myth. "Memory" is just our imagination of things we've already seen.
Benzene correct. just about every memory is reconstructed to some extent.
Benzene I like your profile picture.
And the further away the event , the more imaginative it becomes , as in less accurate
Yeah, this is true to a certain extent.
And I would have to figure your imagination is based upon your past memories and how you process those
+Benzene The Other question that comes to mind is "can some one be truly creative and new or is every new idea a connection between previous observations and memories?"
what these results actually show, in my opinion, is that creativity and imagination is based on memory. While these patients did think of futuristic scenario that has not happened, the buildings and trees that they thought of were all based upon what they have previously seen.
love her enthusiasm
+prankstare You've never met a con man then?
This might explain why I feel like I have the creativity and imagination start drawing, and so I did about a week ago, but during the past 3 months I've been working out pretty hard and it feels like I've gone through some positive mental changes, like my brain is functioning a lot better and clearer.
I've always wanted to draw but never knew what to draw, and I felt like I didn't have the imagination to become an artist, but with the help from a good drawing software, a good drawing tablet and my newly found inspirations I can finally start creating art, and I'm having a lot of fun so far.
Psytex Anonymous 👍 great well done you!
Unbeknownst to her is that she also probably solved a philosophical problem: that there is no such thing as a completely original idea. Every idea is based on past events, and we use our past memory to create new ideas.
This is why when we imagine aliens, they still look like us, with limbs, eyes, head, brain, mouth. Our imagination is limited to our acquired knowledge. This is why fact will always be stranger than fiction.
I found your answer very creative!
I do exercise every day and even though i'm not very smart i feel i compensate with my imagination because i've been able to learn a lot more than i've ever imagined. But this is just a feeling. I know i'm not as smart as i'd like to because i have been lazy at studying (and i'm ashamed to accept this).
As a creative genius I can muster the energy from the entire brain plus live stream energy from my senses into my brain and focus this into a creative beam of energy. I'm very special and amazing.
university of utubes/jewtubes :0 Does it hurt much?
g00glian0 No, but it can leave me very fatigued. I may even suffer a depression as a result. Y'know, not one of them depressions of a middle aged sad person who has a crap life, but that of a cool art genius. The good depression. And the depression darkness is later used as fuel in the creative fire in my mind.
I'm scared
g00glian0 Good. Now take that fear and magnify it with your brain and go and compose a piece of music using a guitar and butchers bones as percussion.
Nah, I'm learning 中文 instead. 再见!
Yes! It's both sides of the brain. I get in the "flow" by running and painting together in order to lower the volume.
Imagination is not about creating 'future scenarios' . It is about redefining the present reality and making it more so; arts, music, fashion etc. Overextending future possibilities will stress the brain leading to anxiety, depression.
From what I remember with the little stuff I know of what she is talking about the brain draws from previous experiences in long term memory to 'build' the image so if you have a damaged long term memory the amount of things you can draw from are limited and therefore you can't properly form the image.... 'n' shit
that memory and imagination are linked to each other is just logical
how should a human who lived his whole life in a dark box imagine anything?
There is an old saying that's something like, "There are no new idea's, just variations on old ones." There does seem to be SOME truth in that. Therefor recalling things may be needed for creating. i.e. the things to very. Anyway... Just thoughts on this.
A great book about where creativity comes from and what it is, is Imagine by John Lehrer
I think creativity has a lot to do with blending many memories together which is pretty much what the hippocampus does anyway
I don't know, but I do know that if I'm stuck for an idea, I go for a walk, and that usually helps. It might be the exercise, or it might just be the change in surroundings.
Surely the only reason exercising lights up the hippocampus is because you're teaching/reminding yourself of how to do the exercise? You're still using your memory when doing basic functions like walking ect- That action was learnt and is in our long term memory, so surely it's obvious why using those memories would trigger the hippocampus? It's got nothing to do with creativity.
uhhh.. so what kind of exercise? brain exercise? as in, to practice being creative or to actively try to remember things regularly? or physical exercise? like jogging and stuff?
awsome. keep us posted
Are we talking about mental exercises, or physical exercise of the body?
I align with her theories. Like, what if George RR Martin lifts?
I tend to agree with this video. I'm significantly more creative when I'm exercising regularly than when I'm not.
PLACET MIHI AUXILIUM..! Why am i always overthinking and i cant stop it, and am having a problem in my inner imaginative world that i cant get out of it and it make me not connected to things like social normal primative things like being social,douting gods existence,and am not interested in anything more than findind truth of everything,....the point is how can i control all of the truth i know so as to cope with that reality,please help me with that if you can.
Is creativity correlated to levels of intelligence? I can imagine that intelligent AIs will also exhibit an inevitable boost of creativity that far surpasses our own. So an increase in intellect is an increase in creativity. Right?
Studies show that people who have high IQ (from 120 and above) did worse in creativity test than those who have normal IQ. However, this is not true when it comes to very unusual creativity, they found that these individuals have high IQ. So basically someone who is intelligent might be not that good at creative tasks, but if a person show a unusual imagination, that could mean he's very smart.
Any type of exercise? It didn't specify if it was mental or physic exercise though...
But isn't it true that the brain cannot tell the difference between a real memory/thought and an imagined one....And why is it science still cannot answer where a memory is stored?
iirc, Immortal Technique, a rapper, claims when he's getting in the zone to rap, starves himself, and exercises. could this help? obv not starving yourself, but he does maintain a huge underground reputation and is easily in my top 3 best rap artists of this century. he came out in early 2000's and still maintains a strong rep, sooo maybe there's something to this?
Most people draw fantasy from experiences or visuals in their memory that would lead to same result.
Riding a suzuki would qualify as axercise?
Creativity is a by-product of a collection of influences , i animated a book on creativity , it's the art of stealing ideas and mixing them up to come up with something new .
What type of exercise is she talking about? I would love tonstart training!
I think creativity has a lot to do with blending many memories together and that's a function of the hippocampus anyway
What kind of exercise? Physical one or keep forcing one's imagination?
*****, not "or" but "and". Research has shown that physical exercise (like runnin) enhances brain function, stimulates changes in the hippocampus. It has also been demonstrated that using memory (remembering and recalling lots of info) leads to growth in the relevant brain areas (including the hippocampus).
The question should thus be about both types of exercise.
Didn't they already prove this like... ten years ago?... Does this lady have an internet?
Not saying I disagree with what shes saying. Just wanted to note that some of the least creative people I have ever met have been athletes. Maybe it only has a reaction to people with a damaged brain.
That's strange because a lot of sports require creativity.
Shawn Butler, the studies are usually conducted on "normal" people or on elderly people. The results are indicative of a slight but noticeable boost in cognitive functions in groups of people who exercise.
However if you go to the gym you may likely find shredded dudes who may be just normally intelligent. The benefits of exercise - good mood, speedy perceptions, or more fluent speech - won't make a genius from a "normal" guy. The effect is measurable, but it's not like the effects of NZT from the movie "Limitless".
N Yodeler that is only because athletes main focus is their sport, the main time they spend in a day is thinking about how they can get better in that certain sport. But if you work out maybe for an hour in the morning then put your main focus on a piece of paper threw out the day it could show different effects.
exercise is good, keep exercising
The whole "2 halves/hemispheres" thing is a myth.
ExistentialOcto Uhh, no, that is an anatomical fact. And when it comes to sensing and moving your body, the left hemisphere controls and feels your right side and vice versa. Now what comes to certain other functions and how they are distributed between those 2 hemispheres, is partially up to debate, but the fMRI is the #1 tool to find out about these things, not armchair discussion. I would also remind of the Corpus Callosum, the white matter (axons and their supply mechanisms) structure linking these two hemispheres so that they can work in harmony. Look up some cases of patients with split Corpus Callosums and you'll find out very interesting things about how the 2 hemispheres work together. (By examining what happens when they don't.)
Anston Music What I meant was that one half of your brain doesn't control creativity and so on
ExistentialOcto Oh yeah, I guess you should have worded it a bit differently, like:
"The whole 'left hemisphere is analytical/rational and right side is open minded/creative' thing is a myth."
ExistentialOcto you are correct. The brain works as a whole not in parts. Of course some parts are more alive during certain activities, but the "left-right" thing its totally a myth.
somehow she reminds me of Michio Kaku
First of all nothing new, ability to create things with the mind, imagination can and should be trained. It's been circulating the personal Development world for ages, I myself noticed that I can visualise more detailed and more powerful things with time.
However using it for curing diseases and improving memory sounds amazing.
Second of all you won't get many answers here unless you buy a book.
"Can exercise enhace creativity?" That's a question, not a hypothesis. She needs to get the hypothetico-deductive method right.
Halfway through, I realized I was leaning away from the screen. Strange. It felt like someone was getting up in my face.
Probably just me.
Hippo campus located at bee ewe u. :)
I'm using both sides of my Brain guys.... :D.. YAY
Big think
I think my hippocampus is atrophied.
Hunger enhances creativity
She didn't actually answer the question... But with it without her views, yes, yes it does.
Dress Mann BigThink does that a lot when titling their videos, which happens long after the interview. Blame BigThink, not the interviewee.
Dress Mann are you going off of experience or have you done research?
That jacket color doesn't complement her cheekbones.
excrise and good eating its gonna go deep
um
before I even watch this video, yes yes it does.
Mir El Yeah, I doubt there would be a whole video dedicated to explaining why exercise doesn't enhance creativity :)
Im gonna have to say, no, no it doesnt. I used to work out 4 days out of the week. Didnt make me any more creative than I already was. Maybe the release of endorphins makes you FEEL more creative, but it doesnt mean you actually are more creative. Like I said up top, athletes arent historically creative people.
Mir El It's a hypothesis she's working on, there isn't an answer yet. I think when you compare exercise to stagnation, exercise will enhance every bodily function relatively, but not necessarily significantly.
Doesn't seem to apply to Stephen Hawking. He is one of the most creative people the world has ever seen, but he couldn't exercise even if he wanted to.
Stupid title
Hippopotamus campus
the "right-left" hemsphere it is proven to be a myth. Make a research before you post something so silly
Why athletes aren't creative ?!!!!
Albert Einstein never run in his life and he was smoker , he had changed the world !!!
why is there a woman on here
I dont undertand your grammar lol but whats gucci *****
myth
I think creativity has a lot to do with blending many memories together and that's a function of the hippocampus anyway
Big think