University of Sydney researchers have found that subtle electrical stimulation to your brain can help with creative problem solving. The idea may even turn into a real-life “thinking cap” that can help you with important mental tasks like work projects, taxes, and really hard Sudoku puzzles.
In a study published in PloS ONE, researchers used electrodes to send small, painless electrical signals to the brain. By changing up how they delivered the signals, the scientists excited the right side of the brain—in charge of insight and novel thinking—while slowing down the left side of the brain, the part that handles rational thinking and logic.
During the treatment, 60 percent of the subjects could solve a tough brainteaser. But when researchers delivered sham treatment (fake stimulation), only 20 percent of the people could solve it.
How does it work? Part of your logical left brain’s job is to inhibit original ideas—which is helpful when you need to deal with familiar situations, but it stifles creativity. By stimulating the insightful side of your brain and turning off the logical side, the procedure can promote creativity and help you avoid censoring your own ideas, says co-author Richard Chi, a Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney.
The electrodes may someday be developed into a thinking cap for everyday use, though that’s just speculation at this point, the researchers say.
In a study published in PloS ONE, researchers used electrodes to send small, painless electrical signals to the brain. By changing up how they delivered the signals, the scientists excited the right side of the brain—in charge of insight and novel thinking—while slowing down the left side of the brain, the part that handles rational thinking and logic.
During the treatment, 60 percent of the subjects could solve a tough brainteaser. But when researchers delivered sham treatment (fake stimulation), only 20 percent of the people could solve it.
How does it work? Part of your logical left brain’s job is to inhibit original ideas—which is helpful when you need to deal with familiar situations, but it stifles creativity. By stimulating the insightful side of your brain and turning off the logical side, the procedure can promote creativity and help you avoid censoring your own ideas, says co-author Richard Chi, a Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney.
The electrodes may someday be developed into a thinking cap for everyday use, though that’s just speculation at this point, the researchers say.
