We all have ideas. But … have we wondered where they came from?
One of the fundamental objectives of many scientific studies is to discover a mystery of the brain: how do ideas arise?
If we consult in the dictionary of the Royal Academy the meaning of the word idea, we will find some meanings like these: First and most obvious of the acts of the understanding, which is limited to the simple knowledge of something, image or representation that of the object perceived remains in The mind, pure knowledge, rational, due to the natural conditions of our understanding, concept, opinion or judgment formed of someone or something, ingenuity to arrange, invent and trace a thing.
In any case, what is certain is that we all have ideas. “I have an idea!”. How many times have we uttered that phrase? For us it is normal, but … have we ever wondered where the ideas come from?
In search of an idea
At present, many researchers are interested in finding new data on one of the great mysteries of the brain: the origin of ideas. One of the things that at the moment seems clear is that it is precisely the right hemisphere that is in charge of directing the creative processes, whereas in the left hemisphere the thinking based on the laws of the logic predominates.
It is not necessary to think that the left hemisphere is useless when it comes to the creation of ideas.For an idea to succeed, it needs the correct functioning and assembly of the two halves of the brain.
Night ideas
Robert Stickgold, a prestigious neurologist from Boston, says that while we sleep, our brain relates things that were overlooked during the waking state. This is the reason why at times, we come up with many ideas at night.
Proof of this is that Stevenson conceived his great work Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hide during the night; Like Mary Shelley, who wrote her work Frankenstein after having dreamed of history.
Studies show that dreams make us more creative. During REM sleep, regions of the brain in charge of images, feelings and imagination remain active; Unlike what happens with the areas from which rational decisions are controlled, which are inactive.
A study conducted at the University of Liege in Belgium revealed a really interesting fact. A riddle was proposed to a group of subjects. During the night, we studied the brain activity of the study participants and surprisingly, they observed how they resumed in their dreams the activity developed during the day to solve the puzzle. The result was no less surprising: the next day, 60 percent of the participants found the solution to the puzzle.
The birth of an idea
How an idea is born, a thought, is one of the mysteries that have not yet been discovered absolutely.It seems that thoughts arise when neurons connect to other nerve cells that do not belong to the same network. The German team Wolf Singer demonstrated this hypothesis, which attracted the interest of other researchers.
Singer studies how groups of neurons are activated in the cerebral cortex of mammals.
According to it says, the neurons are fired in groups and pass the signals to successive cellular layers; So that in milliseconds a wave of global association is generated. It concludes that the intrinsic electrical properties of neurons and the events that result from their respective connections produce global resonant states of the brain, originating consciousness.