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Multimodal music – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

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Multimodal music – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

How Musical Improvisation Rewires Brain Activity

A study discussed by Karen Barrett of the Institute for Health & Aging at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) highlights how musical improvisation engages distinct brain networks compared to playing memorized music. Building on seminal neuroimaging work by Charles Limb, research demonstrates that when professional jazz musicians improvise, they deactivate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, effectively dampening conscious self-criticism, and activate the medial prefrontal cortex to express personal artistic voice.Subsequent fMRI research in children reveals that even without musical training, young improvisers display widespread sensory hub deactivation and distinct engagement of reward structures. These findings suggest that raw generative creativity and the “beginner’s mind” are fundamental, innate features of human brain function rather than skills acquired purely through formal expertise. ….[READ]

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