Brain research: That’s why you often have the best ideas in the shower

Life sometimes places high demands on our creativity. Whether the conflict with the girlfriend, to solve which we would prefer to commission a competent team of experienced diplomats, couple therapists and mind readers. A logistical challenge in our schedule that would be no problem to master with a magic potion, but without it appears as an invincible boss. A novel that has been on our to-do list for years but has yet to find a start. Or a professional project that might offer us the long-awaited opportunity to finally do something different and more exciting than the usual mishmash.

In such situations, good, creative ideas are worth a lot and it would be nice if they came to us at the push of a button at the decisive moment. But most of the time they don’t. On the contrary: it often seems that nothing clever comes to mind when we are thinking hard and trying hard to find a solution. But if we then let go of the problem and do something completely different – for example, go for a walk, cook, meet other people, take a nap or take a shower – we suddenly have a flash of inspiration out of the blue. And probably nothing on hand for us to take notes. What is our brain thinking about? So why does it spit out the brightest ideas when we least expect them and not when we wish for them? The neurobiologist Professor Doctor Martin Korte explained it to us.

Two different ways our brain works

According to the brain researcher, the phenomenon described involves two different networks in which our brain can work: the attention or concentration network on the one hand and the daydream network on the other. “When our attention network is active, our frontal lobe is particularly active,” says Martin Korte. Like a flashlight, it shines into our brain and searches for relevant information that we can use to solve a problem. The frontal lobe focuses on the large, well-developed and much-used data pathways in our brain, since this is where the probability of finding an answer is greatest – that’s why they are so well developed after all. But this is exactly where the catch lies: because the most likely solutions are not always the most ingenious or creative ones.

“In principle, the most creative solutions are the most improbable ones that still work,” says the brain researcher. “When we talk about creativity and creative ideas, we usually mean finding original approaches and solutions to a problem. It’s not about right or wrong, it’s about imagination. It’s about adding elements to a new, maybe surprising ways to connect and find a solution that we hadn’t considered before.” In turn, our chances of succeeding are generally better if our brain fires up the daydream network – which it particularly likes to do while we’re in the shower, for example.

In this state, also called the basic state or background activity of the brain, our frontal lobe is significantly less active than in the attention mode. On the other hand, moderate activity can be observed in all the more brain areas – especially in those areas that are not responsible for interacting with the outside world, but rather regulate internal affairs, for example that we can feel our condition and respond to it. While when we are concentrating, the so-called gamma waves race through our brain at speeds of up to 40 hertz, in daydream mode the much slower alpha waves are on the move at just eight to twelve hertz. And what is possibly the most important difference in this context: “In this basic state, the activity in our brain is not focused, but diffuse,” says Martin Korte. As a result, information can be networked with each other almost at random in our data storage, i.e. associations can arise that we would never have put together in a concentrated state. And whoosh: suddenly we have the opening for our novel or the most brilliant peace offering of all time for our friend.

Is total relaxation a secret master plan?

But before we stand in the shower for hours every day and wait there for the great enlightenment: This is strongly discouraged. Because that would probably bring us more new problems than brilliant ideas (e.g. unaffordable water bills, shriveled skin and if we have long hair, often clogged pipes). “In order to come up with good ideas, we first have to identify a problem precisely, sort out which questions are relevant to the solution and, for example, research how other people have already solved this problem,” says Martin Korte. For better or for worse, we first have to switch to the strenuous gamma wave, which means we have to concentrate and use our frontal lobes.

We need attention mode to even start the search for ideas – and to be able to recognize an idea in daydream mode. “If there is a connection in the basic state of our brain that appears to us as a solution, we experience a eureka moment and our brain switches from relaxation to concentration,” says the professor. In order to develop creative ideas and do something with them, a meaningful interaction of the two networks of our brain is necessary, a balanced alternation of relaxation and attention phases.

And there’s a second thing to consider before we make daydreaming our permanent state of choice: In order for our relaxed brain to tie information together in original, creative ways, it needs to have a certain pool of information to draw from. For example, Murakami had to have read Plato, studied painting and classical music, and had a background in history, among other things, before he could write “The Assassination of the Commendatore”. Or to use another metaphor: Even the most ingenious cook cannot serve us a star menu if the fridge is completely empty. “In order to be creative in an area, several requirements must be met, one of which is that we have a certain expertise in this area,” says Martin Korte. This, in turn, occurs in the rarest of cases in continuous daydream mode.

So let’s be clear: If we would like to develop creative ideas, ideally we are willing and able to concentrate and make an effort as well as let go and relax from time to time. In addition, the greater our expertise in an area, the greater the likelihood that we will experience a flash of inspiration and land a coup. If these requirements are met, it might not be a bad idea to get a non-slip shower pad. After all, we certainly don’t want to fall at the crucial eureka moment.

Professor Doctor Martin Korte is a neurobiologist and head of the department “Cellular Neurobiology” at the Technical University of Braunschweig. His research focuses include the cellular basis of learning and memory and the interaction between the immune system and the brain in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In his books “Hirngeflüster”, “We are memory” and “Jung im Kopf” he prepares findings from brain research that are relevant to everyday life and for a wide audience. TV viewers may know Martin Korte from the RTL quiz show with Günther Jauch “Bin ich smarter than…”, for which he developed the questions.

For our “thought out” column, the neurobiologist will from now on regularly address phenomena that puzzle us in our everyday life and make us wonder about ourselves. Would you like an explanation of such a phenomenon? Then you are very welcome to send our author your suggested topic by email ([email protected]).