Updating the dynamic framework of thought: Creativity and psychedelics.
Manesh Girn, Caitlin Mills, Leor Roseman, Robin Carhart-Harris, Kalina Christoff
Neuroimage March 8, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116726 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Psychedelics Substances Creativity Innovation Novel ideas Divergent thinking Ingenuity Cognitive enhancement Cognitive flexibility Thought processes Brain function Psychological functions Neural functions |
| Citations | 139 |
| Key points | Proposes that creative generation is best regarded as a product of multiple, varying mental states and that the psychedelic state has high potential for facilitating creative generation. |
Abstract
Contemporary investigations regard creativity as a dynamic form of cognition that involves movement between the dissociable stages of creative generation and creative evaluation. Our recently proposed Dynamic Framework of Thought (Christoff et al., 2016) offered a conceptualization of these stages in terms of an interplay between sources of constraint and variability on thought. This initial conceptualization, however, has yet to be fully explicated and given targeted discussion. Here, we refine this framework's account of creativity by highlighting the dynamic nature of creative thought, both within and between the stages of creative generation and evaluation. In particular, we emphasize that creative generation in particular is best regarded as a product of multiple, varying mental states, rather than being a singular mental state in and of itself. We also propose that the psychedelic state is a mental state with high potential for facilitating creative generation and update the Dynamic Framework of Thought to incorporate this state. This paper seeks to highlight the dynamic nature of the neurocognitive processes underlying creative thinking and to draw attention to the potential utility of psychedelic substances as experimental tools in the neuroscience of creativity.