Scientists discover part of brain which allows humans
to imagine and think creatively
- - Researchers say imagination comes from neural network across brain
- - Team measured brain activity of 15 participants as they thought of images
- - The researchers say the work could help produce artificial imagination
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Scientists in the US claim to have discovered how humans are able to use their imagination to create art, invent tools and think scientifically
Scientists claim to have discovered how and where human imagination comes from.
Researchers in the US say the ability to create art, invent tools and think scientifically comes from a neural network which spreads across a large area of the brain.
The team, from Dartmouth College, describe the network as 'the brain's "mental workspace"' where a person is able to manipulate images, ideas or theories which allows them to come up with new ideas.
The researchers have published their report, 'Network structure and dynamics of the mental workspace' in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research could also lead scientists to reproduce a similar creative process in artificial intelligence.
Lead author Alex Schlegel, a graduate at the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, said: 'Our findings move us closer to understanding how the organisation of our brains sets us apart from other species and provides such a rich internal playground for us to think freely and creatively.
'Understanding these differences will give us insight into where human creativity comes from and possibly allow us to recreate those same creative processes in machines.'
Scientists have long imagined the human brain needed a widespread neural network in order to be able to think imaginatively.
But techniques which study brain activity in isolation have found it difficult to discover evidence for such a space.
The Dartmouth researchers however asked 15 participants to imagine abstract visual shapes, such as a bumblebee with the head of a bull, or to mentally take them apart into their different components.
Scientists have long imagined the human brain needed a widespread neural network in order to be able to think imaginatively (file picture)
Using MRI scans, the team then measured the brain activity in each of the participants taking part in the experiment.
The researchers discovered a 'cortical and subcortical network over a large part of the brain' which allowed the participants to make the imagery manipulations.
The team has said the network 'closely resembles' the 'mental workspace' previously imagined.
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