Writers unblocked? Happy music boosts imaginative thinking, say researchers
by Ian Sample Science editor from on (#31CHX)
Uplifting music can help people think more flexibly and avoid getting stuck in a creative rut, say psychologists
Jack London hunted it down with a club. Graham Greene found it on benzedrine. For Mary Godwin it struck one wet summer night after making up ghost stories with Lord Byron and her husband-to-be, Percy Shelley.
Artists have relied on muses, nature, drink and drugs to fuel their creativity, but according to new research there may be another way to boost imaginative thinking: a blast of happy music. According to psychologists, uplifting music can help people think more flexibly and avoid getting stuck in a creative rut.