Feeling stumped? Taking a break and going for a walk or heading to the health club may be just what you need to get your creative juices flowing.
In a 2014 study, Stanford University researchers tested college students’ creative thinking abilities when walking and sitting. They found their creative output was 60 percent greater while on the move, whether they walked outdoors or indoors.
“We’ve always known that people who exercise are more creative, but we didn’t know how or why,” says John Ratey, MD, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.
Now, scientists understand that movement and brain evolution are closely linked, he explains. “As we evolved, we had to make our movements more precise and planful, and that changed our brain architecture.”
Our brains have roughly 86 billion neurons — nerve cells that send and receive messages between the brain and body — and nothing activates these cells and improves their connections more than exercise, says Ratey.
In turn, improved connections enhance the essential components of creativity: learning, memory, and thinking. “When you move, you’re using the same cells that you think with, and if you’re activating them, they’re more likely to get better,” Ratey says.
Movement also creates more brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a substance Ratey describes as brain fertilizer. “[BDNF] helps our brain cells grow and get better at making connections, which leads to an environment that’s more receptive to new ideas.”
Any exercise activates your brain, but those that challenge your balance and coordination — like walking on uneven terrain, dancing, and playing sports — are best, Ratey says. “Your brain responds by firing a lot of nerve cells. The more your brain cells are being used, the better they get.”
Learn More
For ideas on how to jump-start your creativity, go to
“How to Jump-Start Your Creativity.”
Moving for Mental Health
Exercise is a powerful tool for improving mental health: It can reduce stress, relieve depression and anxiety, and be a salve for loneliness, to name a few of its benefits. Delve into the many ways movement can serve as medicine for the mind at “7 Ways Movement Benefits Mental Health,” from which this article was excerpted.
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