Let’s start with a quick & dirty rundown of brain waves.

Your brain has all these neurons, right? Billions of them. They communicate with each other by using electricity (This is happening inside of you right now. If that freaks you out, push away from the bong.) When one mass of neurons communicates with another mass, the synchronized electric pulse creates a brain wave, which can be picked up on an EEG.

There are five different kinds of waves, but I’m only going to talk about one of them here, because it has been associated with creativity: alpha waves. Alpha waves roll when your brain is idling (think: daydreaming, or “wakeful rest”).

“The amount of alpha waves increases when the brain relaxes from intentional, goal-oriented tasks,” says Professor Øyvind Ellingsen from NTNU in Science Daily. “This is a sign of deep relaxation, — but it does not mean that the mind is void.”

Neuroimaging studies by Malia F. Mason and co-workers at Dartmouth College NH suggest that the normal resting state of the brain is a silent current of thoughts, images and memories that is not induced by sensory input or intentional reasoning, but emerges spontaneously “from within.”

“This default activity of the brain is often underestimated,” says Ellingsen. “It probably represents a kind of mental processing that connects various experiences and emotional residues, puts them into perspective and lays them to rest.”

“Brain Waves and Meditation,” SCIENCE DAILY

What’s the connection between alpha waves and creativity?

Highly creative thinkers—people who consistently make novel associations, connections, and re-combinations—exhibit more alpha activity. Andreas Fink, professor of biological psychology at the University of Graz, found that when a task required more creativity and when a subject’s thinking got more original, the brain showed more alpha activity.

Which brings me to my big question: Can you boost your alpha activity, thus amplifying your creative ability?

Fink had the same question, so he undertook a study in creativity training. He split a group into two halves. Half the group got training in divergent thinking, which consisted of exercises in word association and writing challenges that encouraged people to make connections. The other half received no training. In the end, the researchers “actually saw and measured increases in the alpha activity of the trained group. Here, for the first time, was hard evidence that creativity training could alter brain function.” (The Secret of the Highly Creative Thinker, Dorte Nielsen) 

Creativity training isn’t the only way to affect this change; mindfulness meditation is another way to boost alpha waves.

Studies show that alpha waves are more abundant during meditation than during simple relaxation. Why? Back to Ellingsen: “Spontaneous wandering of the mind is something you become more aware of and familiar with when you meditate.”

Now let’s get to the third way. The scary way. The reason you probably clicked on this post in the first place. You can amplify your creativity by juicing your brain with electricity.

A new study by the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine recently identified the first evidence that a low dose of electric current of 10-hertz can enhance the alpha brain wave activity and boosts creativity by 7.4% in healthy adults.

Alpha Brain Waves Boost Creativity and Reduce Depression, Psychology Today

The author of the study, Flavio Frohlich, acknowledges that some people might be tempted to try this on their own to amplify their own creativity (what could go wrong?), so he offers a note of caution:

“We don’t know if there are long-term safety concerns. We did a well-controlled, one-time study and found an acute effect. Also, I have strong ethical concerns about cognitive enhancement for healthy adults, just as sports fans might have concerns about athletic enhancement through the use of performance-enhancing drugs.”

Alpha Brain Waves Boost Creativity and Reduce Depression, Psychology Today

I don’t know, Flavio. Your analogy doesn’t really hold up for me. Creativity ain’t exactly sports. Is there competition? Sure, I guess. #capitalism But that competition is rarely as simple and direct as it is in, say, a football game. Often a creative person is competing against a problem or time, not against other creative people.

To show you what I mean—and to grapple with some ethical concerns—here’s a thought experiment. Let’s say there’s a viral outbreak in Uganda. Airborne ebola, a real nightmare scenario. It’s spreading rapidly and it looks like it’s about to become a global pandemic. The World Health Organization puts together a crack team of scientists to work on a vaccine. They make rapid progress, but then they get stuck.

How would you feel about juicing those scientists?

I wouldn’t even hesitate. Would you?

Another thought experiment: What about “personal use” for art?

How would you feel if you found out your favorite painter was regularly running current through her brain?

How would you feel if you were a novelist and you found out that a fellow novelist, who just inked a big contract for a three-book deal, was juicing her brain? Would Frohlich’s sports metaphor apply then?

On a personal level, I’ll admit that I’m tempted to try this kind of brainhacking—but I’ll never do it, for the same reason I won’t drink or take any drugs while I’m writing. Because what if it really works?

Then I would either have to continue to use it (knowing that it’s probably damaging me, and also feeling ashamed that I’m not good enough without a crutch) or I would have to stop (knowing exactly where my potential is, and feeling the shortfall in every writing session for the rest of my life).

No thanks. I’ll stick to meditation.