Improvisation and Dreaming: Comparing These Intriguing States of Mind and Brain

In this program, we compare dreaming and improvisation focusing on creative synergies, experiential similarities, and the underlying neurophysiology. These states of mind are mutually illuminating. That is, learning about one provides insights into the other. A key insight here is that we can deepen our understanding of improvisation by exploring other states of mind that have overlapping experiential qualities or brain states. In his book Dreams of Awakening, Charlie Morley writes that “…there are many different ways to tell the difference between [different states of experience], but the easiest way to get to grips with these differences is to spend as much time as we can in these states.” I propose that this is the case for improvisation, as well. By paying more attention to our dreaming experiences, we may deepen our knowledge of the experience of improvisation.

References: The Case of the Three-Sided Dream: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-case-of-the-three-sided-dream/umc.cmc.2no74bniyii0qtz63oc0wrmih

Bashwiner, D. (2018). The neuroscience of musical creativity. The Cambridge Handbook of the neuroscience of creativity, 51, 495-516.

Link to Albert Ayler’s New Grass liner notes: https://lavelleporter.com/2010/08/22/message-from-albert-ayler/

I Called Him Morgan documentary: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/i-called-him-morgan/umc.cmc.4cip1f47gqxk6qigg0mb1hiny

Arrows to Infinity documentary: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/charles-lloyd-arrows-into-infinity/umc.cmc.3ldicyne96kj1hrewd9w3dmvj

Kansas City PBS documentary Bird: Not Out Of Nowhere | Charlie Parker's Kansas City Legacy: https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx9Z02xiRacQxWEtx5eSmeucx-t6lB5kYZ

Zadra, A., & Stickgold, R. (2021). When brains dream: Understanding the science and mystery of our dreaming minds. WW Norton & Company.

Oliver Sach’s article about the jazz drummer with Tourette’s Syndrome: https://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/12034

Hank Green of the SciShow Psych: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwOhfmygHyM

Braun, A. R., Balkin, T. J., Wesenten, N. J., Carson, R. E., Varga, M., Baldwin, P., ... & Herscovitch, P. (1997). Regional cerebral blood flow throughout the sleep-wake cycle. An H2 (15) O PET study. Brain: a journal of neurology, 120(7), 1173-1197.

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Limb, C. J., & Braun, A. R. (2008). Neural substrates of spontaneous musical performance: An fMRI study of jazz improvisation. PLoS one, 3(2), e1679.

Liu, S., Chow, H. M., Xu, Y., Erkkinen, M. G., Swett, K. E., Eagle, M. W., ... & Braun, A. R. (2012). Neural correlates of lyrical improvisation: an fMRI study of freestyle rap. Scientific reports, 2(1), 834.

Rosen, D. S., Oh, Y., Erickson, B., Zhang, F. Z., Kim, Y. E., & Kounios, J. (2020). Dual-process contributions to creativity in jazz improvisations: An SPM-EEG study. NeuroImage, 213, 116632.

Walker, M. P., & van Der Helm, E. (2009). Overnight therapy? The role of sleep in emotional brain processing. Psychological bulletin, 135(5), 731.

Trehub, S. E., Ghazban, N., & Corbeil, M. (2015). Musical affect regulation in infancy. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1337(1), 186-192.

Shenfield, T., Trehub, S. E., & Nakata, T. (2003). Maternal singing modulates infant arousal. Psychology of music, 31(4), 365-375.

Terry, P. C., Karageorghis, C. I., Curran, M. L., Martin, O. V., & Parsons-Smith, R. L. (2020). Effects of music in exercise and sport: A meta-analytic review. Psychological bulletin, 146(2), 91.

Seppälä, E., Bradley, C., & Goldstein, M. R. (2020). Research: Why breathing is so effective at reducing stress. Harvard Business Review. Diakses dari https://hbr. org/2020/09/research-why-breathing-is-so-effective-at-reducing-stress. https://hbr.org/2020/09/research-why-breathing-is-so-effective-at-reducing-stress