| | | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | **Limbic Brain** | **Prefrontal Cortex** | | Reactive, fast, instinctual | Reflective, slow, deliberate | | Focuses on immediate survival | Focuses on long-term goals | | Processes emotions and memory | Regulates emotions and impulses | | Automatic and subconscious | Conscious and intentional | The limbic system has no words but controls our [[Gut instinct]], which is more powerful than our rational brain. The limbic brain is our [[Gut instinct]]. But do we knowingly use it? Listening to [[Start with Why]] by Sinek, he seems to be saying the ‘why’ is an instinct, something authentic. And that this authenticity connects to people - because they associate with the ‘reason’, the why. If creativity is just making connections than we can start to see how simple creativity really is. As Brian Eno says, art is everything we don't have to do.. This is why it’s true, Business people, an entrepreneur, anyone making any kind of connection, is being creative 💡 ‘Our neurons are all contained in a big box: Our brain. And the connections between our neurons are nothing else than links between them. Think of your note-taking app as your brain. Think of your every note as a neuron. Use links to connect your notes.’ Matt Giaro - How to control our brain To be more creative we need to take control of our attention but also relax, according to David Rock’s fascinating talk on “Your Brain at Work.” In it, Rock relates cognitive neuroscience research to real-world issues such as how to be more creative, and how to manage [[Teams]] and people. In this 2-part series, I’ve summarised the key points and drawn some conclusions on the implications of his research on the (creative) design process and collaboration, in case you don’t have 55 minutes to  listen  to his talk on YouTube (but it’s worth it). ![[brainimage.jpg]] **Part 1: The link between attention and creativity** **Attention is a limited resource** For the brain to function it needs energy (in the form of glucose) and it can only store and process a certain amount of glucose at any one time. When we direct attention to a certain area of the brain, or when a certain area demands our attention, glucose is sent there to keep it active. When glucose is directed to a particular part of the brain, the overall store of glucose depletes as does our ability to use other parts of the brain, as they don’t have as much energy. Even after that glucose-greedy part of the brain is no longer activated, there is a lag before the glucose store is built up again and can be directed to other parts of the brain. **The struggle for creative  resources**  When it comes to creativity, one area of the brain, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is key. The PFC is the area that lets us imagine, make decisions (by getting info from various parts of the brain, holding it on stage, and comparing it to other bits) and be creative (by getting information from various areas of the brain and combining them in new ways to create a novel thing). However, another part of the brain, the limbic system, trumps all other parts when it’s aroused. The limbic system is constantly looking out for threats and  rewards  and controls our emotional responses to situations. The way the limbic system works is that BAD things (threats) get a lot more attention than GOOD things (rewards). The more the limbic system is aroused (by good or bad things), the less resource there is for the PFC, and the less ability we have to imagine, make decision, and generate creative solutions. In other words, when the limbic system is aroused, we are at the mercy of our emotions. **Social threats are scarier than physical ones** When we think of threats, we typically think of threats to our physical bodies, someone chasing us with a knife, the screeching of  tyres  on pavement, a spider in our wardrobe. However, research shows that social threats generate an equally strong but even longer-lasting threat response in the limbic system than threats of physical violence. The key social needs that can be threatened are status (one’s standing in the community they live in, whether they are better or worse compared to peers), certainty (one’s ability to predict how people will react, how events will unfold), autonomy (ability to have choices, make decisions), relatedness (perception of others as a friend or foe, in-group or out-group), and fairness. An example of a status threat is when your manager says, “let me tell you what other people have been saying about you.” The limbic system fires up preparing for the threat that we will be compared (less favourably) with our coworkers. An interesting thing to note when you’re structuring collaboration sessions, is that people will not collaborate well (be thoughtful and creative) with people they perceive to be in the out-group. - Part 2:  Control & relaxation** In [Part 1](https://www.pddinnovation.com/part-2-want-creative-understanding-brain-works-can-help/) I discussed how the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the limbic system’s competition  for resources actually decreases our capacity for creativity. Part 2 provides an overview a few simple techniques to control attention, the importance of a quiet brain for creativity, and some top tips for getting the most from your brain. **Controlling attention** There are ways we can control our attention by shifting from the limbic system to the PFC. When we feel threatened by something, we can regain some control by labelling the threat- defining our experience in a few words. For example, you notice you are agitated during a meeting, you acknowledge the agitation, and ascribe your state to having too much coffee. Thus, your label would be, “agitated from too much coffee”. If you can say the label aloud it has an even stronger effect (more parts of the brain are recruited), but even thinking it still has a positive effect and lets you gain more control over your emotional state by shifting away from the limbic system to the PFC. The second  method  for mastering emotional regulation is to reframe the situation and find something positive in it. For example, if you are stuck in traffic, rather than getting frustrated, you can reframe the situation as an opportunity to do something productive (read an article, call a friend).  A highly effective way of reframing is to see humour in the situation, or even just laugh. By reframing the situation we defuse the threat response, releasing the emotional stranglehold of the limbic system and allowing the PFC to perform. **A relaxed brain is a creative brain** Finally, as important as the PFC is in creativity and solving insight problems, directing conscious attention to it is not the best way to use it, as it is a very limited resource. Firstly, conscious thought is a serial process that requires effort. Imagine adding 2+2 or 10+5 or even 20+30. Compare that to 253+ 738. In the first case, we’re using subconscious processes which are automatic. In the second, we have to marshal resources to  complete  the computation. Anything that requires effort is perceived as a threat. And, when we’re threatened, we’re not very good at being creative. Secondly, the PFC can’t hold very much at any one time. If you think about the amount of  information  as a volume that can be measured, the PFC can hold about 1 cubic foot (at full capacity), compared to the rest of the brain which can hold the equivalent volume of the Milky Way. - Thirdly, research has also shown that most insight problems are not solved with the PFC-in 60% of problems, people cannot explain (rationally) how they solved them. The trick is to dampen down the rational, conscious thought process, and let the brainy “go into idle”, or “focus on being unfocused” and let anything come into consciousness. A relaxed, quiet brain, is able to make connections between previously unrelated things, thus improving the chances of solving insight problems. Interestingly, research has also demonstrated that you open your field of view when you’re happy and close it down when you’re anxious. Happy people make more connections in their brain between previously unrelated concepts, and consequently are significantly better at solving insight problems. **Top tips** **1.** Be aware of your emotional state. If you’re feeling threatened, re-label, reframe, or laugh! **2.** To enable collaboration among people from different groups, ensure they feel part of the same in-group **3.** Relax and let the brain make connections, don’t force a solution **4.** Be happy, be creative - TT bike riders been shown to use their lambic brain - # Limbic Capitalism - [](https://damagemag.com/2021/06/02/what-is-limbic-capitalism/) [[The Age of Addiction]] `Concepts:` [[Science]] `Knowledge Base:` [[Digital index]]