What Does Your Brain Have To Do with It? Part 2

.. Back to the Montana of today. After retiring from the Kansas City Chiefs, Joe was a TV analyst. Joe’s NFL career lasted significantly longer than his TV analyst position. Joe simply was not an effective and smooth communicator for TV. Possibly, as a result of CTE damage, the left hemisphere of his brain accounted for his lackluster or inhibited performances as a TV analyst. Or, that side of his brain might have suffered significant impaired brain mutations and chemical changes while in the embryonic stage. Did his right damaged hemisphere then compensate for those deficiencies suffered in his left hemisphere? Thus, it would not matter when Joe took the WAIS as his Performance IQ score would be higher than his Verbal IQ score. Returning to the Wall Street Journal article, there were three hypotheses given explaining creativity and brain functioning. In the first hypothesis, involving the prefrontal cortex, suggests that when this region is damaged, this affects the ability of high-level analysis and planning. Further, individuals then seem to stop censoring or restricting their behavior and seem to let go or express many hidden inhibitions. And when this happens, perhaps a creative drive in the right hemisphere then emerges and results in creative behavior or actions that are not well rehearsed, blocked or even at the conscious level. It’s as if the superego is unable to set or provide limits. It can’t say “no, don’t do or say that because it’s not acceptable to the masses, since it may not be politically correct. The second hypothesis pertains to where the damage occurs. If most of the damage is on the left side of the brain, which is the more analytical calculating side compared to the right side or hemisphere which is better at interpreting visual spatial relationships, than significant behavioral differences occur. So when the dominant left hemisphere is damaged, the visual spatial faculties of the right hemisphere seem to rise to prominence or better expression. The third hypothesis suggests that the left hemisphere controls language. And if there’s failure of language that in and of itself could cause the enhanced creativity of expression for the verbal language left side loss. Evaluation of artists Leonardo da Vinci, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol suggests that they were dyslexic. And many dyslexic children seem very artistic. Might Joe Montana have been dyslexic as well? This could account for his right hemisphere dominance. The authors conclude that perhaps one way to harness creative potential is by releasing inhibitions, not overthinking and engaging in free association. Also, the key to creativity might lie in the ability to suspend conscious thinking and allow the mind to wander. Sigmund Freud termed this Free Association. This was one major cornerstone of his psychoanalytic treatment. To Be Continued