Long before he delved deep into the forest of neuron trees and their dendrite branches, Dr. Heilman, while still a student, made a firsthand discovery about creativity and brain function. “When I used to take tests in college, I would be very anxious,” he told me. “So I came up with a process whereby I would always answer the more obvious questions first. Then, as my anxiety would lessen, I’d start to answer more of the questions that required real thinking.”
