A slow mind may nurture more creative ideas

[n2doc]

30 March 2010 by Linda Geddes

AS FAR as the internet or phone networks go, bad connections are bad news. Not so in the brain, where slower connections may make people more creative.

Rex Jung at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and his colleagues had found that creativity correlates with low levels of the chemical N-acetylaspartate, which is found in neurons and seems to promote neural health and metabolism.

But neurons make up the brain's grey matter - the tissue traditionally associated with thinking power, rather than creativity. So Jung is now focusing his creativity studies on white matter, which is largely made of the fatty myelin sheaths that wrap around neurons. Less myelin means the white matter has a lower "integrity" and transmits information more slowly.

Several recent studies have suggested that white matter of high integrity in the cortex, which is associated with higher mental function, means increased intelligence. But when Jung looked at the link between white matter and creativity, he found something quite different.

He used diffusion tensor imaging to study the white matter of 72 volunteers. Unlike MRI, which measures tissue volume, DTI measures the direction in which water diffuses through white matter, an indication of its integrity.

more

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527535.500-a-slow-mind-may-nurture-more-creative-ideas.html

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. bah. How does one explain

Leonardo, of the village Vinci? Not only a brilliant intellect, but a creative genius.
or
Hitler, a painter, a published author, and known to lead many people.
or
Sarah Palin, an author, a practiced student, and a political intellect beyond compare?

[Donnachaidh]

6. there may very well be a difference between *slow* and *dim*

Slow could very well mean just that -- taking time to work out problems, instead of rushing head on, with possible mistakes made.

Dim - well, that's Sarah Palin and everyone like her.

[pinboy3niner]

2. Let's test the theory on Sarah Palin:

WHITE matter: check

Low integrity; check

Slow mind: check and double-check

MY GOD, I THINK WE HAVE A SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH!

[gtar100]

9. In regards to this study, Sarah Palin may not have a slow mind.

Thinking quickly doesn't imply accuracy and slow thinking doesn't imply lack of intelligence.

Maybe the idea of quick thinking vs. slow thinking has more to do with the speed at which one comes to a reasonable assurance of a conclusion. Those who come to the correct conclusion at a faster rate are more doubly blessed. But some may take a bit longer to be assured that their conclusion is most likely correct. That may seem slower but there may be a higher rate of accuracy in coming to the correct conclusion.

And a dim-wit would be someone who thinks slow and doesn't possess enough knowledge to assist in coming to the right conclusions much at all. Sarah Palin may be the opposite in that she thinks fast and jumps to conclusions that as we all know, based upon what comes out of her mouth, are just out and out wrong and vile. She would do well to slow down and apply some critical thinking and introspection. But that would be so out of character for her.

[Warpy]

3. I know many of the successful and creative people I've known

have not been motormouthed. They've been largely shy and reticent.

Perhaps that's how the slow wit expresses itself.

Most of the motormouths I've known have been remarkably conventional thinkers.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. So, we're waiting for something amazing from 43??

.
.
.

:freak:

[n2doc]

7. They said "slow" not Inactive n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. I would not be surprised -

very few of the people who are seemingly most valued - those with the quick wit and ready retort, who are Type A extroverts - are deeply creative people. Most of the most creative people I've ever met are poor conversationalists because they tend to think things out before they speak - of course, when they do speak (if the subject has not moved far past them in the mean time) what they say is substantial.

Look at Palin - she's never at a loss for words, but you NEVER know what is going to be coming out of her mouth. One of the most incurious, anti-intellectual people on the political stage, and she will NEVER be accuse of being creative.

[WheelWalker]

8. In some, thoughts do not proceed linearly but, rather, in a corkscrew path. Corkscrew

thinking is often slower but just as frequently, more creative as it proceeds through alternate neighborhoods.

[pokerfan]

10. Still waters run deep? (nt)

[lazarus]

11. works for me

I think very quickly, but have very limited creativity. My daughter is a bit slower (still bright, just takes a bit to get there) and is crazy creative.