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In short, creativity takes place when curiosity, external questioning, self-reflection (internal questioning) or a specific need or opportunity arises. Creativity requires us to interrogate our existing knowledge, ideas, concepts and concept frameworks and attempt to create new links between them. This process also requires us to find additional knowledge, ideas, concepts or concept frameworks to find the creative solutions to the needs or opportunities that we have identified. As this is all happening, the amygdala is looking for possible successful combinations of brainwaves.
In this theory, neurons are tied to our muscular action and external senses. We know astrocytes monitor neurons for this information. Similarly, they can induce neurons to fire. Therefore, astrocytes modulate neuron behavior. This could mean that calcium waves in astrocytes are our thinking mind. Neuronal activity without astrocyte processing is a simple reflex; anything more complicated might require astrocyte processing. The fact that humans have the most abundant and largest astrocytes of any animal, and we are capable of creativity and imagination also lends credence to this speculation.72 Andrew Koob
The Ingredients for Creativity
There are many theories about how the imagination underpins creativity and how that can be encouraged, and while there is no recipe for creativity, there are some practices we can apply that may increase the potential for creativity.
1. The more concepts, ideas and knowledge that are known, understood and practised through different contexts, the more potential exists for us to be creative as there is an increase in the raw material (knowledge, ideas and concepts), that we have available to combine in different ways.
2. The willingness to take risks and end up in ‘dead ends’ is an essential element underpinning creativity. Persistence and assessing risk requires a good understanding of what would or could be a good outcome. By looking more deeply at what may appear initially to be an unlikely outcome, can sometimes yield highly creative results.
3. Personality also plays its part in creativity. Being confident, focused, open, agreeable, extrovert and optimistic are all character traits that assist us in being creative, though none of these are necessarily critical to creativity. The capacity to distinguish between when to collaborate, and when to work independently, is also very helpful.
4. Creativity can take time, but creativity can also respond well to time limitations. Small amounts of fear, uncertainty and angst can generate hormones in the synaptic region that increases the brain’s sensitivity to those interacting brainwaves.
5. Having a mind and a personality that is curious and desiring to understand our world is our greatest encourager - of self. We are curious by nature and we must fight to retain that sense of awe and wonder. As educators, we should encourage curiosity by developing the learner’s capacity to learn how they can amplify their creative potential.
6. Having time to allow the mind to wander and daydream also increases the potential for creative outcomes. This prospect may seem counterintuitive to being focused and on- task, but in fact, part of being focused requires that we spend time allowing ideas to connect in different and possibly unplanned combinations, and we need to daydream to achieve this capability. Allowing learners to daydream, therefore, is critical.
72 Koob, A. (2009). The Root of Thought: What Do Glial Cells Do? Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-root-of-thought-what/