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C
ist. He grew up in a musical family and showed early signs of
talent. He idolized John Coltrane and, as a student at Har-
vard University, directed a jazz band. Although he ultimately
went to medical school, he chose his specialty (otolaryngolo-
gy) in part because of his musical interest. As a hearing specialist and sur-
FAST FACTS
MUSICAL CREATIVITY geon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he performs cochlear implants in pa-
Surgeon and saxophone tients to restore hearing and enable the deaf to appreciate music. His
player Charles J. Limb studies sensibility and passion as an artist continue to inform his research. At
the creative process by taking
pictures of the brains of jazz
least half of his research efforts during the past 10 years have focused on
musicians while they are regions of the brain activated during moments of deep creativity. As he
making music. puts it, he wants to understand what went on in Coltrane’s head when he
Limb’s studies show that performed brilliant improv on his sax night after night.
creativity is a whole-brain
activity that is deeply related
Limb and National Institutes of Health Why should scientists study creativity?
to our sense of self.
neurologist Allen R. Braun have developed While I think creativity is amazing, I don’t
Understanding how creativity a method for studying the brains of highly put it on a pedestal. I view at it as a very
affects reward mechanisms
in the brain could help teachers
skilled jazz musicians while they are creat- normal biological process that some peo-
encourage children to be ing music. Subjects play on a nonmagnetic ple are able to take to extremely profound
more creative. keyboard as they lie in a functional mag- levels but that fundamentally is a basic re-
netic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine quirement of human civilization and how
that takes pictures of their brain. Then the we advance. It infiltrates every aspect of
scientists compare neural activity during human life. I don’t know that there’s an
improvisation with what happens when attribute that is more responsible for how
playing a memorized piece. Limb can also we’ve evolved as a species than creativity.
interact with the musician in the scanner From a scientific perspective: if it’s a bi-
by playing on an external keyboard— or, as ological behavior, if humans are creative
musicians put it, exchanging riffs. beings, we really ought to study it like you
Limb’s work is fueled in part by a deter- study any other complex biological behav-
mination to understand the implications ior. Furthermore, because it does seem to
for transforming education and for en- be important, not just for the arts but for
couraging everyone to live purposely cre- life, it’s probably something we should un-
ative lives. Interview excerpts follow. derstand better.
36 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
sent all creative behavior. Writing a nov- sults. That’s a natural task for a musi- were all into the idea. The experience is
el is a creative act, but it’s hard to do that cian. So the timescale is natural for a sci- foreign for the first minute or two, and
in an fMRI scanner, and something that entific experiment. then it becomes surprisingly comfort-
38 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN