How does impulse relate to creativity? Limb and Braun found that before the pianists began to improvise, their brain showed a “deactivation” of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. However, when they were playing the memorized tune, this region remained active. In other words, while they were improvising, their brain was damping down their inhibitions normally mediated by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. They were able to create new music in part because they were uninhibited and not self-conscious about being creative.
