Novelty Makes Brains Creative

Discoveries by neuroscientists studying the brain say that novel experiences are key in increasing brain power and creativity. When the brain experiences, or imagines a familiar situation, it already has a shortcut to understanding – it’s got that categorized in a neat little mental box. Novelty, new experiences and stretches of the imagination keep the mind limber, and more creative.

Fast Company reports:

Most corporate off-sites, for example, are ineffective idea generators, because they’re scheduled rather than organic; the brain has time to predict the future, which means the potential novelty will be diminished. Transplanting the same mix of people to a different location, even an exotic one, then dropping them into a conference room much like the one back home doesn’t create an environment that leads to new insights. No, new insights come from new people and new environments — any circumstance in which the brain has a hard time predicting what will happen next.

Fortunately, the networks that govern both perception and imagination can be reprogrammed. By deploying your attention differently, the frontal cortex, which contains rules for decision making, can reconfigure neural networks so that you can see things that you didn’t see before. You need a novel stimulus — either a new piece of information or an unfamiliar environment — to jolt attentional systems awake. The more radical the change, the greater the likelihood of fresh insights.

Fast Company: “Neuroscience Sheds New Light on Creativity”