0:00:04.931,0:00:06.760 Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here. 0:00:06.785,0:00:09.258 So I am a surgeon who studies creativity, 0:00:09.282,0:00:12.110 and I have never had a patient tell me, 0:00:12.134,0:00:14.976 "I really want you[br]to be creative during surgery," 0:00:15.000,0:00:17.401 and so I guess[br]there's a little bit of irony to it. 0:00:17.443,0:00:20.743 I will say though that,[br]after having done surgery a lot, 0:00:20.767,0:00:22.977 it's similar to playing[br]a musical instrument. 0:00:23.001,0:00:25.831 And for me, this deep[br]and enduring fascination with sound 0:00:25.855,0:00:27.597 is what led me to both be a surgeon 0:00:27.621,0:00:30.155 and to study the science[br]of sound, particularly music. 0:00:30.179,0:00:32.228 I'm going to talk[br]over the next few minutes 0:00:32.252,0:00:33.543 about my career 0:00:33.567,0:00:35.851 in terms of how I'm able to study music 0:00:35.875,0:00:37.909 and try to grapple[br]with all these questions 0:00:37.933,0:00:40.276 of how the brain is able to be creative. 0:00:41.300,0:00:43.930 I've done most of this work[br]at Johns Hopkins University, 0:00:43.954,0:00:46.939 and at the National Institute[br]of Health where I was previously. 0:00:46.963,0:00:50.470 I'll go over some science experiments[br]and cover three musical experiments. 0:00:50.494,0:00:52.550 I will start off by playing[br]a video for you. 0:00:52.574,0:00:55.677 This video is of Keith Jarrett,[br]who's a well-known jazz improviser 0:00:55.701,0:00:58.744 and probably the most[br]well-known, iconic example 0:00:58.769,0:01:01.761 of someone who takes improvisation[br]to a higher level. 0:01:01.786,0:01:04.925 And he'll improvise entire concerts[br]off the top of his head, 0:01:04.949,0:01:07.354 and he'll never play it[br]exactly the same way again, 0:01:07.378,0:01:09.762 so as a form of intense creativity, 0:01:09.787,0:01:11.405 I think this is a great example. 0:01:11.429,0:01:13.776 And so why don't we go[br]and click the video. 0:01:13.800,0:01:17.800 (Music) 0:02:16.095,0:02:18.096 (Music ends) 0:02:19.920,0:02:22.259 It's really a remarkable[br]thing that happens there. 0:02:23.683,0:02:26.110 I've always as a listener, as a fan, 0:02:26.135,0:02:27.852 I listen to that, and I'm astounded. 0:02:27.876,0:02:29.612 I think -- how can this possibly be? 0:02:29.636,0:02:31.927 How can the brain generate[br]that much information, 0:02:31.951,0:02:33.536 that much music, spontaneously? 0:02:33.560,0:02:36.176 And so I set out[br]with this concept, scientifically, 0:02:36.200,0:02:40.551 that artistic creativity,[br]it's magical, but it's not magic, 0:02:40.575,0:02:42.582 meaning that it's a product of the brain. 0:02:42.606,0:02:45.040 There's not too many brain-dead[br]people creating art. 0:02:45.064,0:02:48.695 With this notion that artistic creativity[br]is in fact a neurologic product, 0:02:48.719,0:02:51.176 I took this thesis that we could study it 0:02:51.200,0:02:54.314 just like we study any other[br]complex neurologic process, 0:02:54.338,0:02:56.393 and there are subquestions[br]that I put there. 0:02:56.417,0:02:59.699 Is it possible to study[br]creativity scientifically? 0:02:59.727,0:03:01.764 And I think that's a good question. 0:03:01.788,0:03:04.474 And I'll tell you that most[br]scientific studies of music, 0:03:05.298,0:03:06.816 they're very dense, 0:03:06.840,0:03:08.235 and when you go through them, 0:03:08.259,0:03:10.329 it's very hard to recognize[br]the music in it. 0:03:10.353,0:03:12.572 In fact, they seem to be[br]unmusical entirely 0:03:12.596,0:03:14.390 and to miss the point of the music. 0:03:15.214,0:03:16.770 This brings the second question: 0:03:16.794,0:03:18.676 Why should scientists study creativity? 0:03:18.700,0:03:20.779 Maybe we're not the right people to do it. 0:03:20.803,0:03:21.802 (Laughter) 0:03:21.826,0:03:25.278 Well it may be, but I will say that,[br]from a scientific perspective, 0:03:25.302,0:03:27.320 we talked a lot about innovation today, 0:03:27.344,0:03:28.676 the science of innovation, 0:03:28.700,0:03:31.653 how much we understand[br]about how the brain is able to innovate 0:03:31.677,0:03:32.921 is in its infancy, 0:03:32.945,0:03:36.412 and truly, we know very little[br]about how we are able to be creative. 0:03:36.436,0:03:37.960 I think that we're going to see, 0:03:37.984,0:03:39.676 over the next 10, 20, 30 years, 0:03:39.700,0:03:41.871 a real science of creativity[br]that's burgeoning 0:03:41.895,0:03:43.096 and is going to flourish, 0:03:43.120,0:03:45.552 Because we now have new methods[br]that can enable us 0:03:45.576,0:03:48.100 to take this process[br]like complex jazz improvisation, 0:03:48.124,0:03:49.498 and study it rigorously. 0:03:49.522,0:03:50.912 So it gets down to the brain. 0:03:50.913,0:03:52.687 All of us have this remarkable brain, 0:03:52.711,0:03:55.166 which is poorly understood,[br]to say the least. 0:03:55.190,0:03:59.388 I think that neuroscientists[br]have more questions than answers, 0:03:59.412,0:04:01.614 and I'm not going[br]to give you answers today, 0:04:01.638,0:04:02.999 just ask a lot of questions. 0:04:03.023,0:04:04.530 And that's what I do in my lab. 0:04:04.554,0:04:07.868 I ask questions about what is the brain[br]doing to enable us to do this. 0:04:07.892,0:04:10.669 This is the main method that I use.[br]This is functional MRI. 0:04:10.693,0:04:13.416 If you've been in an MRI scanner,[br]it's very much the same, 0:04:13.440,0:04:17.355 but this one is outfitted in a special way[br]to not just take pictures of your brain, 0:04:17.379,0:04:20.305 but to also take pictures[br]of active areas of the brain. 0:04:20.329,0:04:22.235 The way that's done is by the following: 0:04:22.259,0:04:24.069 There's something called BOLD imaging, 0:04:24.093,0:04:26.492 which is Blood Oxygen[br]Level Dependent imaging. 0:04:26.881,0:04:30.665 When you're in an fMRI scanner,[br]you're in a big magnet 0:04:30.690,0:04:33.911 that's aligning your molecules[br]in certain areas. 0:04:33.987,0:04:37.706 When an area of the brain is active,[br]meaning a neural area is active, 0:04:37.730,0:04:39.968 it gets blood flow shunted to that area. 0:04:39.992,0:04:44.342 That blood flow causes an increase[br]in local blood to that area 0:04:44.366,0:04:47.349 with a deoxyhemoglobin[br]change in concentration. 0:04:47.373,0:04:49.528 Deoxyhemoglobin can be detected by MRI, 0:04:49.552,0:04:51.402 whereas oxyhemoglobin can't. 0:04:51.426,0:04:53.380 So through this method of inference -- 0:04:53.404,0:04:55.946 and we're measuring blood flow,[br]not neural activity -- 0:04:55.970,0:04:58.706 we say that an area of the brain[br]that's getting more blood 0:04:58.730,0:05:02.272 was active during a particular task,[br]and that's the crux of how fMRI works. 0:05:02.296,0:05:06.875 And it's been used since the '90s[br]to study really complex processes. 0:05:07.225,0:05:11.124 I'm going to review a study that I did,[br]which was jazz in an fMRI scanner. 0:05:11.149,0:05:13.652 It was done with a colleague,[br]Alan Braun, at the NIH. 0:05:13.676,0:05:16.076 This is a short video[br]of how we did this project. 0:05:16.800,0:05:19.581 (Video) Charles Limb: This is a plastic[br]MIDI piano keyboard 0:05:19.605,0:05:21.386 that we use for the jazz experiments. 0:05:21.410,0:05:23.962 And it's a 35-key keyboard 0:05:23.987,0:05:26.447 designed to fit both inside the scanner, 0:05:26.471,0:05:27.807 be magnetically safe, 0:05:27.831,0:05:31.673 have minimal interference[br]that would contribute to any artifact, 0:05:31.697,0:05:34.617 and have this cushion[br]so that it can rest on the players' legs 0:05:34.641,0:05:37.596 while they're lying down in the scanner,[br]playing on their back. 0:05:37.620,0:05:40.649 It works like this --[br]this doesn't actually produce any sound. 0:05:40.673,0:05:43.116 It sends out what's called[br]a MIDI signal -- 0:05:43.140,0:05:45.189 or a Musical Instrument[br]Digital Interface -- 0:05:45.213,0:05:47.874 through these wires into the box[br]and then the computer, 0:05:47.898,0:05:50.833 which then trigger[br]high-quality piano samples like this. 0:05:50.857,0:05:52.863 (Music) 0:05:52.886,0:05:55.086 Now I'm going to demo it for you. 0:05:55.987,0:05:58.190 I'm using two mirrors to see my fingers. 0:05:58.215,0:06:01.969 (Music) 0:06:20.766,0:06:22.033 This is improvized. 0:06:36.732,0:06:38.707 (Music ends) 0:06:38.732,0:06:40.376 OK, so it works. 0:06:40.400,0:06:42.376 And so through this piano keyboard, 0:06:42.400,0:06:45.143 we have the means to take[br]a musical process and study it. 0:06:45.167,0:06:48.094 So what do you do now that you have[br]this cool piano keyboard? 0:06:48.118,0:06:50.563 You can't just say,[br]"It's great we have a keyboard." 0:06:50.587,0:06:52.911 We have to come up[br]with a scientific experiment. 0:06:52.935,0:06:55.058 The experiment[br]really rests on the following: 0:06:55.329,0:06:58.973 What happens in the brain during something[br]that's memorized and over-learned, 0:06:58.997,0:07:01.152 and what happens in the brain[br]during something 0:07:01.176,0:07:03.450 that is spontaneously[br]generated, or improvised, 0:07:03.474,0:07:05.288 in a way that's matched motorically 0:07:05.312,0:07:08.157 and in terms of lower-level[br]sensory motor features? 0:07:08.181,0:07:10.776 I have here what we call the paradigms. 0:07:10.800,0:07:14.296 There's a scale paradigm, which is playing[br]a scale up and down, memorized, 0:07:14.320,0:07:16.054 then there's improvising on a scale, 0:07:16.078,0:07:18.115 quarter notes, metronome, right hand -- 0:07:18.139,0:07:19.710 scientifically very safe, 0:07:19.734,0:07:21.607 but musically really boring. 0:07:22.031,0:07:25.002 Then there's the bottom one,[br]which is called the jazz paradigm. 0:07:25.026,0:07:27.430 So we brought professional[br]jazz players to the NIH, 0:07:27.454,0:07:30.407 and we had them memorize[br]this piece of music on the lower-left, 0:07:30.431,0:07:32.249 which is what you heard me playing -- 0:07:32.273,0:07:34.766 and we had them improvise[br]to the same chord changes. 0:07:34.790,0:07:36.998 And if you can hit[br]that lower-right sound icon, 0:07:37.022,0:07:39.850 that's an example[br]of what was recorded in the scanner. 0:07:39.874,0:07:43.604 (Music) 0:08:04.604,0:08:06.605 (Music ends) 0:08:06.629,0:08:09.045 In the end, it's not the most[br]natural environment, 0:08:09.069,0:08:10.975 but they're able to play real music. 0:08:10.999,0:08:12.970 And I've listened to that solo 200 times, 0:08:12.994,0:08:14.171 and I still like it. 0:08:14.195,0:08:16.582 And the musicians[br]were comfortable in the end. 0:08:16.606,0:08:18.430 We first measured the number of notes. 0:08:18.454,0:08:21.111 Were they playing more notes[br]when they were improvising? 0:08:21.135,0:08:22.725 That was not what was going on. 0:08:22.749,0:08:24.734 And then we looked at the brain activity. 0:08:24.758,0:08:26.566 I will try to condense this for you. 0:08:26.590,0:08:30.070 These are contrast maps that are showing[br]subtractions between what changes 0:08:30.094,0:08:33.190 when you're improvising[br]vs. when you're doing something memorized. 0:08:33.214,0:08:35.999 In red is an area that's active[br]in the prefrontal cortex, 0:08:36.023,0:08:37.482 the frontal lobe of the brain, 0:08:37.506,0:08:39.684 and in blue is this area[br]that was deactivated. 0:08:39.708,0:08:42.585 So we had this focal area[br]called the medial prefrontal cortex 0:08:42.609,0:08:43.996 that went way up in activity. 0:08:44.020,0:08:47.250 We had this broad patch of area[br]called the lateral prefrontal cortex 0:08:47.274,0:08:48.799 that went way down in activity, 0:08:48.823,0:08:50.311 I'll summarize that for you. 0:08:50.335,0:08:52.443 These are multifunctional[br]areas of the brain, 0:08:52.467,0:08:54.622 these are not the jazz areas of the brain. 0:08:54.646,0:08:56.574 They do a whole host of things 0:08:56.598,0:08:58.457 that have to do with self-reflection, 0:08:58.481,0:09:00.841 introspection, working memory etc. 0:09:00.865,0:09:03.352 Really, consciousness is seated[br]in the frontal lobe. 0:09:03.376,0:09:05.410 But we have this combination 0:09:05.434,0:09:08.883 of an area that's thought to be involved[br]in self-monitoring, turning off, 0:09:08.907,0:09:11.370 and this area that's thought[br]to be autobiographical, 0:09:11.394,0:09:12.929 or self-expressive, turning on. 0:09:12.953,0:09:15.024 We think, at least in this preliminary -- 0:09:15.048,0:09:17.801 it's one study; it's probably wrong,[br]but it's one study -- 0:09:17.825,0:09:18.864 (Laughter) 0:09:18.888,0:09:21.619 we think that at least[br]a reasonable hypothesis 0:09:21.643,0:09:22.804 is that, to be creative, 0:09:22.828,0:09:25.704 you should have this weird dissociation[br]in your frontal lobe. 0:09:25.728,0:09:28.252 One area turns on,[br]and a big area shuts off, 0:09:28.276,0:09:31.214 so that you're not inhibited,[br]you're willing to make mistakes, 0:09:31.238,0:09:33.406 so that you're not constantly[br]shutting down 0:09:33.430,0:09:35.355 all of these new generative impulses. 0:09:35.379,0:09:39.923 Now a lot of people know that music[br]is not always a solo activity -- 0:09:39.948,0:09:41.668 sometimes it's done communicatively. 0:09:42.092,0:09:43.276 The next question was: 0:09:43.300,0:09:45.872 What happens when musicians[br]are trading back and forth, 0:09:45.896,0:09:47.509 something called "trading fours," 0:09:47.533,0:09:50.356 which is something they do[br]normally in a jazz experiment. 0:09:50.380,0:09:51.793 So this is a 12-bar blues, 0:09:51.817,0:09:53.926 and I've broken it[br]down into four-bar groups, 0:09:53.950,0:09:55.762 so you would know how you would trade. 0:09:55.786,0:09:58.271 We brought a musician[br]into the scanner, same way, 0:09:58.296,0:09:59.708 had them memorize this melody 0:09:59.732,0:10:02.298 then had another musician[br]out in the control room 0:10:02.322,0:10:04.291 trading back and forth interactively. 0:10:07.838,0:10:09.925 This is another video[br]I'll show you of this. 0:10:09.957,0:10:11.005 (Music) 0:10:11.015,0:10:12.593 So this is a musician, Mike Pope, 0:10:12.618,0:10:15.649 one of the world's best bassists[br]and a fantastic piano player. 0:10:15.673,0:10:21.369 (Music) 0:10:21.409,0:10:23.722 He's now playing the piece[br]that we just saw 0:10:24.446,0:10:26.176 a little better than I wrote it. 0:10:26.200,0:10:27.966 (Video) CL: Mike, come on in. 0:10:27.990,0:10:29.760 Mike Pope: May the force be with you. 0:10:29.784,0:10:31.550 Nurse: Nothing in your pockets, Mike? 0:10:31.574,0:10:33.117 MP: No. Nothing's in my pockets. 0:10:42.377,0:10:45.155 CL: You have to have the right[br]attitude to agree to do it. 0:10:45.179,0:10:46.435 (Laughter) 0:10:46.459,0:10:48.274 It's kind of fun, actually. 0:10:48.298,0:10:49.897 (Music) 0:10:49.921,0:10:51.620 Now we're playing back and forth. 0:10:51.644,0:10:53.856 He's in there.[br]You can see his legs up there. 0:10:53.880,0:10:55.222 (Music) 0:10:55.246,0:10:58.436 And then I'm in the control room here,[br]playing back and forth. 0:10:58.460,0:11:05.460 (Music) 0:11:07.930,0:11:09.080 (Music ends) 0:11:09.800,0:11:13.144 (Video) Mike Pope:[br]This is a pretty good representation 0:11:13.168,0:11:14.952 of what it's like. 0:11:14.976,0:11:16.976 And it's good that it's not too quick. 0:11:17.000,0:11:19.579 The fact that we do it over and over again 0:11:19.603,0:11:22.873 lets you acclimate to your surroundings. 0:11:23.833,0:11:26.491 So the hardest thing for me[br]was the kinesthetic thing, 0:11:26.515,0:11:29.776 looking at my hands through two mirrors, 0:11:29.800,0:11:31.776 laying on my back, 0:11:31.800,0:11:34.478 and not able to move at all[br]except for my hand. 0:11:34.502,0:11:36.374 That was challenging. 0:11:36.398,0:11:37.548 But again -- 0:11:38.752,0:11:41.538 there were moments, for sure -- 0:11:41.562,0:11:42.563 (Laughter) 0:11:42.587,0:11:46.950 there were moments of real, honest-to-God[br]musical interplay, for sure. 0:11:48.286,0:11:50.288 CL: At this point,[br]I'll take a few moments. 0:11:50.312,0:11:52.193 So what you're seeing here -- 0:11:52.217,0:11:54.294 and I'm doing a cardinal sin in science, 0:11:54.318,0:11:56.128 which is to show you preliminary data. 0:11:56.152,0:11:57.905 This is one subject's data. 0:11:57.929,0:11:59.676 This is, in fact, Mike Pope's data. 0:11:59.700,0:12:01.176 So what am I showing you here? 0:12:01.200,0:12:05.311 When he was trading fours with me,[br]improvising vs. memorized, 0:12:05.735,0:12:08.484 his language areas lit up,[br]his Broca's area, 0:12:08.508,0:12:10.732 in the inferior frontal gyrus on the left. 0:12:11.494,0:12:13.403 He had it also homologous on the right. 0:12:13.427,0:12:16.586 This is an area thought to be[br]involved in expressive communication. 0:12:16.610,0:12:18.738 This whole notion[br]that music is a language -- 0:12:18.762,0:12:21.061 maybe there's a neurologic[br]basis to it after all, 0:12:21.085,0:12:24.439 and we can see it when two musicians[br]are having a musical conversation. 0:12:24.463,0:12:26.735 So we've done this on eight subjects now, 0:12:26.760,0:12:28.689 and we're getting all the data together, 0:12:28.713,0:12:31.538 hopefully we'll have something[br]to say about it meaningfully. 0:12:31.562,0:12:34.805 Now when I think about improvisation[br]and the language, what's next? 0:12:34.829,0:12:37.076 Rap, of course, rap -- freestyle. 0:12:37.700,0:12:40.447 I've always been fascinated by freestyle. 0:12:40.471,0:12:41.984 And let's play this video. 0:12:42.008,0:12:44.846 (Video) Mos Def: Brown skin I be,[br]standing five-ten I be 0:12:44.870,0:12:46.892 Rockin' it when I be, in your vicinity 0:12:46.916,0:12:48.887 Whole-style synergy, recognize symmetry 0:12:48.960,0:12:51.294 Go and try to injure me,[br]broke 'em down chemically 0:12:51.318,0:12:53.747 Ain't the number 10 MC,[br]talk about how been I be 0:12:53.771,0:12:56.169 Styled it like Kennedy,[br]late like a 10 to three 0:12:56.193,0:12:59.610 When I say when I be,[br]girls say bend that key cut 0:12:59.635,0:13:01.453 CL: So there's a lot of analogy 0:13:01.477,0:13:03.933 between what takes place[br]in freestyle rap and jazz. 0:13:03.957,0:13:06.874 There are a lot of correlates[br]between the two forms of music, 0:13:06.898,0:13:09.345 I think, in different time periods,[br]in lot of ways, 0:13:09.369,0:13:12.200 rap serves the same social function[br]that jazz used to serve. 0:13:12.224,0:13:14.117 So how do you study rap scientifically? 0:13:14.141,0:13:17.276 And my colleagues think I'm crazy,[br]but I think it's very viable. 0:13:17.300,0:13:18.527 This is what you do: 0:13:18.551,0:13:21.298 You have a freestyle artist come[br]and memorize a rap 0:13:21.322,0:13:22.543 that you write for them, 0:13:22.567,0:13:25.999 that they've never heard before,[br]and then you have them freestyle. 0:13:26.023,0:13:28.441 So I told my lab members[br]that I would rap for TED, 0:13:28.465,0:13:30.107 and they said, "No, you won't." 0:13:30.131,0:13:31.334 And then I thought -- 0:13:31.358,0:13:32.674 (Laughter) 0:13:32.698,0:13:38.424 (Applause) 0:13:38.448,0:13:39.728 But here's the thing. 0:13:39.752,0:13:42.653 With this big screen,[br]you can all rap with me. OK? 0:13:42.677,0:13:44.521 So what we had them do 0:13:44.545,0:13:47.141 was memorize this lower-left[br]sound icon, please. 0:13:47.165,0:13:50.058 This is the control condition.[br]This is what they memorized. 0:13:50.082,0:13:52.115 Computer: Memory, thump. 0:13:52.139,0:13:54.276 CL: Thump of the beat in a known repeat 0:13:54.300,0:13:57.006 Rhythm and rhyme, they make me complete 0:13:57.031,0:13:59.096 The climb is sublime when I'm on the mic 0:13:59.120,0:14:01.676 Spittin' rhymes that hit you[br]like a lightning strike 0:14:01.700,0:14:02.864 Computer: Search. 0:14:02.888,0:14:05.232 CL: I search for the truth[br]in this eternal quest 0:14:05.256,0:14:07.986 My passion's not fashion,[br]you can see how I'm dressed 0:14:08.010,0:14:09.976 Psychopathic words in my head appear 0:14:10.000,0:14:12.238 Whisper these lyrics only I can hear 0:14:12.262,0:14:13.434 Computer: Art. 0:14:13.458,0:14:16.088 CL: The art of discovering[br]and that which is hovering 0:14:16.112,0:14:17.976 Inside the mind of those unconfined 0:14:18.000,0:14:20.976 All of these words keep[br]pouring out like rain 0:14:21.000,0:14:23.735 I need a mad scientist to check my brain 0:14:23.759,0:14:25.066 Computer: Stop. 0:14:25.090,0:14:32.090 (Applause) 0:14:34.270,0:14:36.444 I guarantee you[br]that will never happen again. 0:14:36.468,0:14:38.409 (Laughter) 0:14:38.433,0:14:40.621 So now, what's great[br]about these free-stylers, 0:14:40.645,0:14:42.507 they will get cued different words. 0:14:42.531,0:14:43.975 They don't know what's coming, 0:14:43.999,0:14:45.915 but they'll hear something off the cuff. 0:14:45.939,0:14:47.348 Go hit that right sound icon, 0:14:47.372,0:14:50.092 there will be cued three square words:[br]like, not and head. 0:14:50.116,0:14:52.270 He doesn't know what's coming.[br]Computer: Like. 0:14:52.294,0:14:54.064 Freestyler: I'm like some kind of 0:14:54.088,0:14:56.317 extraterrestrial, celestial scene 0:14:56.341,0:14:59.178 Back in the days, I used to sit[br]in pyramids and meditate 0:14:59.202,0:15:01.375 With two microphones -- Computer: Head 0:15:01.399,0:15:02.733 hovering over my head 0:15:02.757,0:15:04.120 See if I could still listen, 0:15:04.144,0:15:05.431 spittin' off the sound 0:15:05.455,0:15:06.640 See what you grinning 0:15:06.664,0:15:09.089 I teach the children[br]in the back of the classroom 0:15:09.113,0:15:11.510 About the message of apocalyptical 0:15:11.534,0:15:12.694 Computer: Not. 0:15:12.718,0:15:15.346 Not really though,[br]'cause I've got to keep it simple 0:15:15.370,0:15:16.976 instrumental 0:15:17.000,0:15:19.976 Detrimental playing Super Mario 0:15:20.000,0:15:23.153 boxes [unclear] hip hop 0:15:23.177,0:15:24.597 Computer: Stop. 0:15:24.621,0:15:26.932 CL: It's an incredible[br]thing that's taking place. 0:15:26.956,0:15:29.182 It's doing something[br]neurologically remarkable. 0:15:29.206,0:15:31.522 Whether or not you like[br]the music is irrelevant. 0:15:31.546,0:15:33.947 Creatively speaking,[br]it's just a phenomenal thing. 0:15:33.971,0:15:36.487 This is a short video[br]of how we do this in a scanner. 0:15:36.511,0:15:38.026 [fMRI of Hip-Hop Rap] 0:15:38.050,0:15:39.186 (Laughter) 0:15:39.210,0:15:40.984 (Video) CL: We're here with Emmanuel. 0:15:41.008,0:15:43.314 CL: That was recorded[br]in the scanner, by the way. 0:15:43.338,0:15:45.447 (Video) CL: That's Emmanuel[br]in the scanner. 0:15:46.000,0:15:48.000 He's just memorized a rhyme for us. 0:15:49.042,0:15:51.725 [Control Condition Memorized Verses] 0:15:52.249,0:15:54.476 Emmanuel: Top of the beat with no repeat 0:15:54.500,0:15:57.476 Rhythm and rhyme make me complete 0:15:57.500,0:16:00.476 Climb is sublime when I'm on the mic 0:16:00.500,0:16:03.274 Spittin' rhymes that'll hit you[br]like a lightning strike 0:16:03.298,0:16:04.456 Computer: Search. 0:16:04.480,0:16:06.740 I search for the truth[br]in this eternal quest 0:16:06.764,0:16:09.340 I'm passing on fashion;[br]you can see how I'm dressed 0:16:09.364,0:16:12.427 CL: I'm going to stop that there;[br]so what do we see in his brain? 0:16:12.451,0:16:14.109 This is four rappers' brains. 0:16:14.133,0:16:16.169 And we do see language areas lighting up, 0:16:16.193,0:16:17.476 but then, eyes closed -- 0:16:17.500,0:16:20.813 when you are freestyling vs. memorizing, 0:16:20.837,0:16:22.991 you've got major visual areas lighting up. 0:16:23.015,0:16:26.704 You've got major cerebellar activity,[br]which is involved in motor coordination. 0:16:26.728,0:16:30.084 You have heightened brain activity[br]when you're doing a comparable task, 0:16:30.108,0:16:33.066 when that one task is creative[br]and the other task is memorized. 0:16:33.090,0:16:35.874 It's very preliminary,[br]but I think it's kind of cool. 0:16:35.898,0:16:38.206 To conclude, we've got[br]a lot of questions to ask, 0:16:38.230,0:16:41.135 and like I said, we'll ask questions[br]here, not answer them. 0:16:41.159,0:16:44.610 But we want to get at the root[br]of what is creative genius neurologically, 0:16:44.634,0:16:47.191 and I think, with these methods,[br]we're getting close. 0:16:47.215,0:16:49.518 And I think, hopefully[br]in the next 10, 20 years, 0:16:49.542,0:16:51.439 you'll see real, meaningful studies 0:16:51.463,0:16:54.476 that say science has to catch up to art, 0:16:54.500,0:16:56.888 and maybe we're starting now to get there. 0:16:56.912,0:16:58.910 Thank you for your time. 0:16:58.934,0:17:02.942 (Applause)