What Happens Inside the Brain When You Are in the Creative Flow?

Neuroscientists have attempted to uncover the "chemistry of happiness" by scanning the brains of jazz musicians as they improvised.

In the field of positive psychology, there is a concept called "flow," which describes the state of being completely immersed in a creative task. You've likely experienced such moments when you are deeply engaged in something you love, and time seems to fly by unnoticed. This state isn't limited to high-level tasks—activities like cleaning the house or pulling weeds can also induce a sense of creative flow.

When a person is in flow, they don't evaluate themselves, engage in introspection, or feel any effort in what they are doing. Scientists have confirmed the existence of the flow state by studying what happens inside the human brain during these moments.

Research has long shown that dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with motivation and pleasure, plays an important role in this process. People in a state of creative flow exhibit higher levels of dopamine.

Although the concept of flow was first identified in the 1970s, recent advances have given scientists a deeper understanding of its nature. A group of neuroscientists led by John Kounios conducted an intriguing experiment. They recruited 32 jazz musicians and asked them to participate in jam sessions while hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) that recorded the electrical activity of their brains.

The study included both experienced musicians and beginners. The results revealed that the more experienced musicians were more likely to experience a flow state than the beginners. This and similar experiments led scientists to believe that flow is linked to how well a task matches one's abilities.

However, there is still much to learn about brain activity during flow states. Scientists continue to debate how different parts of the brain interact to produce this state.

More recent experiments suggest that the flow process may also involve the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system in the brain. This system helps balance task engagement and decision-making, further contributing to the experience of flow. Fascinating, right?