MJ and Creativity
MJ can indeed make you more creative and unlock your creative potential, but it’s not that simple. The connection between MJ and creativity has been proven by culture and time. They’ve gone hand in hand for a long time, as confirmed by many artists. The variety and beauty of smoking devices is a testament to this.
However, people rarely talk about why MJ affects creativity. Is the link between MJ and creativity real? Here’s what modern science has to say about it.
Research
Studies have shown that the frontal lobes of the brain are responsible for creativity, and consuming MJ increases cerebral blood flow (CBF) in this area, making it more active. According to Jason Tellis in the Berkeley Medical Journal, experiments conducted in 1992 showed that CBF increases after using MJ. These results were confirmed by further studies in 2002.
Alice Flaherty from the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School commented on CBF:
“When comparing people with high and low levels of creativity, those with higher creativity show more frontal lobe activity and greater frontal increase when performing creative tasks.”
Divergent Thinking and Creativity
Divergent thinking is a widely accepted scientific measure of creativity. It’s a type of thinking that explores many possible solutions and usually happens spontaneously and freely. In other words, divergent thinking is like brainstorming when you come up with unconventional ideas.
In everyday life, divergent thinking is used whenever you list multiple ideas for increasing second-quarter revenue or figure out the best way to combine ingredients for a delicious meal.
Low Doses of MJ Help Creativity, High Doses Hinder It
According to a 2014 study, dosage is key when it comes to unlocking creativity with MJ. The experiment showed that at low doses (5.5 mg THC), MJ improved the speed of thinking, the number of responses, and the flexibility or variety of answers. Participants came up with truly original ideas. However, when the dose was increased (22 mg THC), the answers were significantly worse. Even the placebo group performed better.
MJ Helps Less Creative People More
Another study from 2012 divided participants into groups with high and low creativity. They were tested both sober and under the influence of MJ. The report showed a slight increase in creative potential for the high-creativity group, but the low-creativity group’s results improved significantly.
Essentially, this means that if you don’t have much creative experience, MJ might help you start creating. And if you’re already creative, MJ won’t have a big impact on your creativity, but it might help you focus.