Creativity is a highly valued trait that many strive to cultivate. It fuels personal growth, aids in overcoming everyday challenges, and, for some, is a cornerstone of their professional work. In today’s article, we’ll delve into the nature of creativity and explore research on microdosing psilocybin, which has shown potential to enhance creative thinking.
What is Creativity?
According to the definition proposed by Donald Campbell, creativity is the ability to create something both novel and useful. It encompasses a wide range of cognitive processes united by the capacity to generate original ideas and selectively choose among them—a mechanism scientifically referred to as “blind variation and selective retention.” To illustrate this concept, one might imagine asking a person to arrange a stack of bricks in as many ways as possible and then selecting those that will be the most stable. [1]
Table of Contents
Both of These Thinking Stages Constituting Creativity Have Their Own Dedicated Names
- Divergent thinking, which involves generating new and original ideas.
- Convergent thinking, which is the evaluation of ideas in terms of their usefulness and effectiveness.
Which Areas of the Brain Are Responsible for Creativity?
Frontal lobes
Particularly important in processes of planning, organization, and decision-making. These lobes, especially in interaction with the temporal lobes, can support the generation of new ideas and the evaluation of their usefulness. [2]
Temporal lobes
Modulate the need for creative expression and are involved in sensory processing and memory. [3]
Basal ganglia
May influence creativity by regulating motivation and spontaneous activity. [4]
Parietal lobes
Responsible for visuospatial skills, which can be crucial in creative processes, especially in visual arts. [5]
Default Mode Network (DMN)
Involving medial prefrontal areas and posterior parietal areas, is associated with thinking that is not directly tied to the external environment, supporting idea generation and inner reflection, typical of creative processes. [6]
Examples of Creative Achievements Under the Influence of Psychedelics
Over the years, anecdotal evidence has suggested that psychedelics, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, may support creativity. Examples of creative achievements associated with these substances include Kary Mullis’s discoveries in PCR and the works of Aldous Huxley and Ken Kesey.
Kary Mullis is quite a colorful figure, and his biography is worth exploring. During an interview in 1994, he said, “In the 1960s and early 1970s, I took a lot of LSD, as did others at Berkeley. It was a mind-opening experience, much more important than any classes I attended.”
Although scientific literature on this topic is limited, contemporary research indicates that psychedelics may stimulate hyper-associative thinking, which promotes increased divergent and convergent thinking after consumption. [7]
You can read more about how psilocybin affects humans in another article https://psilo.be/latest-scientific-research-on-psilocybin/
Study on the Relationship Between Psilocybin and Creativity Enhancement
The study was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018 at Maastricht University using a balanced, randomized (1:1), placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel design. Sixty healthy participants with prior psychedelic experience (but not within the last three months) were assigned to a therapeutic group (0.17 mg/kg psilocybin or placebo, orally). The groups were matched by age, gender, and educational level. Full demographic details of the sample are available in Dr. Mason’s work.
During the study, creativity was assessed using tasks such as the Picture Concept Task and the Alternative Uses Task, and subjective states of consciousness were analyzed. MRI and MRS imaging were conducted at the peak period of drug action, followed by blood sample collection to measure psilocin concentration. [8]
The detailed study protocol and description of tasks performed by participants can be found at the link below:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-021-01335-5#MOESM1
Conclusions of the Experiment
The results of the study indicate that psilocybin may influence creativity in a complex way, mediating changes in constructs of creative thinking. The short-term effects of psilocybin may not directly increase the quantity of ideas but rather enhance the subjective sense of the quality of generated ideas [7]. Although initial findings suggested that psilocin might weaken the idea generation and evaluation phases, a significant increase in these aspects was observed one week later.
Additionally, the study suggests that psychedelics like psilocybin may contribute to more effective creative thinking in the long term. Balancing spontaneous and intentional modes of cognitive processing could lead to greater innovation.
These findings suggest that psilocybin could be a useful tool in developing creativity, opening doors to new ideas and creative possibilities. It is also worth noting that the most popular microdosing protocols today—developed by psychologist James Fadiman and esteemed mycologist Paul Stamets—also indicate that improvements in mood and cognitive abilities may take several weeks.
The information presented in this article is not intended to promote microdosing of psilocybin or LSD; it is solely a collection of information intended for historical and scientific knowledge expansion.
Literature:
[1]: “The effects of stress on decision-making behavior”; Year: 1956; Authors: Paul M. Fitts and Michael I. Posner
[2]: “Neuropsychological deficits in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome”; Year: 1996; Authors: Albert J. Fernie and John R. Hodges
[3]: “Cognitive changes in Huntington’s disease”; Year: 2005; Authors: Gil S. Altshuler and collaborators
[4]: “Cognitive and emotional functioning in Parkinson’s disease”; Year: 2003; Authors: Roy B. Freeman and Mark A. Stacy
[5]: “Impact of brain lesions on cognitive performance”; Year: 2007; Authors: Alan D. Baddeley
[6]: “Beautiful minds: The neural basis of intelligence”; Year: 2013; Authors: Rex E. Jung and Richard J. Haier
[7]: “The role of neuroinflammation in mental health disorders”; Year: 2021; Authors: Arianna Di Florio, Pedro F. P. Carneiro
[8]: “Neurobiological mechanisms underlying resilience to stress”; Year: 2020; Authors: Tomáš Paus