neurosciencestuff:
Team decodes the mental key that opens a world of creativity
To perform a song, a dance or write computer code, people call upon the basic elements of their craft and then order and recombine them in creative ways.
In a new study, University of Oregon scientists have captured details, in real time, about how the brain builds such complex sequences from a small set of basic elements.
Doctoral student Atsushi Kikumoto and Ulrich Mayr, a professor in the Department of Psychology, detailed their National Science Foundation-supported work in a paper published online Nov. 14 in the journal eLife.
In the study, electrical activity and oscillation patterns were measured by electroencephalogram, with electrodes on the scalps of 88 student participants as they performed complex, sequential patterns.