SELF
LIGHTNING STRIKES
Participants in a study dealt with a number of simple puzzles or problems, some which required imagination to figure them out, and some of which could simply be logically worked through. Observing the participants as they worked through the problemsolving task, researchers saw that part of the brain the right temporal lobe - ‘lit up” when the participants used their imagination, but not when they didn’t. Reporting in the April 13th edition of PloS Biology, Mark Jung-Beeman, one the scientists involved, said: ““We believe this is the first research showing that distinct computational and neural mechanisms lead to these breakthrough moments. This was the first real crack at understanding how insight occurs in terms of looking at the brain.” In another study, recently completed, researchers have also found that ‘reality’ and ‘imagination’ actually move differently in the brain too, as the electrical signalling of neurons move from different places and in different directions through the brain, depending on whether we are dealing with something imagined or something real. So, visual information from real events that the eyes see flows upwards from the brain’s occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, but imagined images flow downwards from the parietal to the occipital.
BETTER BRAINS
Using our imagination is not only an entirely different process, but it’s also something that is good for our brain too. Using our imagination requires us to be creative and it unlocks those creative processes that allow us to see life with more potential. The more we use our imagination the more we practice using our brain in a different way and the more we keep those neural connections open and fluid. “Those brain connections are what make you who you are, and forming new neuronal connections supports memory functions and keeps the brain vibrant, strong, and thriving,” explains Jenna Newberry on medium.com. “Your imagination can be a useful tool for strengthening these connections, so that they become long-term memories,” she adds.
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