The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius

The objective of this review is to critique and summarize this book for educational purposes: I am taking Introductory Neuroscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology and was assigned to find a book with a topic of interest that pertains to the science of the brain, read it, and summarize my thoughts on it. The topic of creativity is of extreme interest to me and would rather be creative than "book-smart." Overall, the book was easy to read and interesting, although I did find it to be a very surface level introduction into the science of creativity. The Creative Brain begins with an introduction to what creativity is and is measured in terms of originality, utility (how useful the creation is), and its final product. Author Nancy Andreasen colorfully describes many instances of creative thinking at work, from the moment a person obtained a stone and realized its potential use as a tool, to the creation of beautiful and awe-inspiring masterpieces of artists. What separates these people from others that give them extraordinary creativity that only a handful of individuals possess? According to the author creativity is found and further enriched in terms of nature and nurture. One possible example of "hereditary" creativity is the Huxley family. Thomas Henry Huxley was a notable English biologist. His grandson Julian Huxley was an anthropologist who worked on the theory of evolution. Andrew Huxley was a distinguished physiologist who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on neural impulses and muscle contraction. Aldous Huxley was a novelist who famously wrote Brave New World in 1932. One possible example of nurtures influence on creativity is, as the author describes, the cradle of creativity. The cradle of creativity explains why there exists certain periods of time when creative contributions occur in clusters and then disappear for years after: a nurturing environment, rich in artistic or scientific thinking, are conducive to producing creative outcomes. One such example is the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the U.S. Inventions like the cotton gin, telegraph, telephone, light bulb, assembly line, and airplane all occurred within a relatively short period of time. Ultimately though, creativity is a product of nature AND nurture, genetics AND environment. An example of this was Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti. These two artists were raised in households with no exposure to art but both displayed a unique ability towards art (nature). Eventually, both were taught and reared by artistic masters who helped these young artists cultivate and train their artistic abilities (nurture). The book also discusses the relationship that exists between creative genius and mental illness. Because creative people view the world with an unbiased point of view they are able to make connections that are otherwise non-existent in normal people. But this same unbiased point of view can sometimes be vulnerable

The Creative Brain is an ambitious book that attempts to understand how creativity is supported and enabled by the human brain. While the beginning chapters of this book are quite interesting, by the later ones Dr. Andreason dispenses with the empiracle approach and instead she commences a less-satisfying portion of the book that is all anecdotal. In the past few months I have read a lot of material on the brain, from the writings of Roger Sperry (Noble prize 1981), to "Inside The Brain" (mostly about brain damage) and "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins. (Best one in my opinion). In the interest of full disclosure, I worked on the psychiatric unit on 2JPE where Dr. Andreason conducted her studies of unmedicated schizophrenics. She is indeed talented but I felt sad for her after I finished this brief book. There really is not yet enough evidence to support her thesis. For that reason, I found the latter two thirds of this book to be disappointing. She did attempt some interesting studies of the writers at the Iowa Writer's Workshop but those studies--apparently, from this book--did not really gell into firm conclusions. Surely, she found some linkages between creative people and the incidence of mental illness but I do not find them conclusive. Being a writer and painter myself, I was hoping for some empiracle and definitive evidence here but I did not find it.

A very engaging book that looks at the components of creativity and the characteristics of a creative person. It becomes clear that creativity is not always appreciated until sometime after the idea itself. Mendel and Copernicus were never classed as creative until after their death. The artist van Gogh was not considered creative until others deemed him to be so. To me, one of the most fascinating chapters is the link between creative genius and socially labelled 'madness'. There appears to be a link between eccentricity, psychiatric disorders and moments of brilliance. Does the brain need some 'disorganisation' before it reorganises the data in a different and unique way to create a genius idea? This and many aspects of creativty are discussed. Whether you are a student of intelligence and thinking, or whether you are curious as to why you or others think differently, then you will throughly enjoy this book by a very clever author who got a PhD in Renaissance English literature before becoming a psychiatrist. That blend of background alone should alert you to a fascinating read. You will learn that intelligence does not make you creative. As a bonus, she even gives you a chapter on how to think creatively yourself. I'd love to have a long lunch with Dr Andreasen.

'The Creating Brain' book is about creativity, the person and the process involved. Nancy also talks about how creative people have a certain personality which could affect their mental behavior. The book starts with how most creative ideas sprang into te select minds while in 'bed, bath or bus'- Kekule,Archimedes,Poincare int he order fo their situation. The chapter on five creative persons gives a first account of the creative person at their act. A very interesting chapter of the book is the one in which Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo are studied to see how nature (Genes. The concept of 'Hereditary Genius' and Francis Galton's contribution of Scatter Plots and Unique finger prints theory , his misused theory of eugenics was interesting to know) and nurture(the need for a mentor) are both part in bringing about a persons creativity to light. The last chapter deals with how to build a better brain with exercises like learning something new everyday since its associating different domains which has been seen as a bed for creativity, active reading with a list of books for children of different ages.

Schizophrenia can riddle the mind with colliding thoughts, compounding what is already a puzzling environment; that is, the existence of neuron cluster-based thought sources that give rise to a sense of existence of a self. It is little wonder that multiple clusters contemplating myriad phenomena needing management in order to maintain cerebral stasis would inadvertently create crosscurrents of messages that would be detectable to the more sensitive mind. This sensitive mind, that can only indefensibly accept its existence as it is, would of course experience the cacophony that produce symptoms expressed as Schizophrenia. Those beings that have a controlled mind input, e.g., Andreasen, and reason with which to focus the restrained trains of connected, or single-source, thoughts, can cope with the nearly infinite multi-dimensional combinations of considerations generated by genes, proteins, neurotransmitters, and the indefatigable tides of sodium and potassium that are creating the waves that pump the pulses that refreshes memory and the sense of our higher level continuous consciousness. These are the fortunates, for they enjoy minds that can impose structure on the chaos of particles or strings of energy that build a foundation for space, time, and the unique but intermittent and regularly rearranging arrangement of neurons which, through the most fragile of filaments of flesh, lay down a thin layer of seemingly consistent experiences that constitute a conventional decades-long human life. Those of us with alternative and concurrent sources of thoughts envy the minds whose thinking looks like a string of railroad cars following a never swerving track across an isolated Siberia, kept free of distraction by an interminable white noise as the snow stretching for days and miles in all directions away from their steadily progressing train of concentration. Our minds, though, are busy railroad switching stations of thoughts spaghettied throughout a bustling metropolis of constant and conflicting demands, each important if not critical. The effect is to labor under a dull overcast sky hovering above a ground grey with indecision and free of mile markers, compasses, and clocks. Our minds observe with wonder the winners of advanced degrees and avalanches of dollars, those who seem internally guided by arrows all aimed in the same direction. Ours are arrows of shifting alliances among the neuronal clusters, buffeted by the external winds of peers, fashions, and recognition of the eternal nothingness that preceded our sense of self and that will rush in after us, as the universe that nursed our infinitesimal existence dissipates into a perpetual cloud of motionless iron dust. Doctor, or is it doctors Andreasen is gazing into the worlds within our heads from which all awareness flows. This citadel is well protected and may only let her, in her lifetime, see shadows and traces, intuit inklings and hints upon which she can speculate and share. Should ou