創新型頭腦，大有不同

山東 孫 睿

有創造力的人看世界的角度與常人有所不同， 哈佛大學的一項研究提供了一種解釋——他們發現一種特定的連接模式與最具創造性的反應相關。

It's often said that creative people see the world differently from the rest of us and a Harvard study is providing one explanation. Scientists studied brain scans of people after asking them to come up with creative uses for everyday objects. And they found a specific pattern of connectivity that correlated with the most creative responses.

“What this shows is that the creative brain works differently,” said Roger Beaty, the first author of the study. Beaty and colleagues examined brain data from previous studies and found that, by simply measuring the strength of connections in these people's brain networks, they could estimate the originality of these people's ideas.

While the data showed that regions across the brain were involved in creative thought, Beaty said the evidence pointed to three subnetworks. And they were the default mode (默認狀態) network, the salience(突出) network and the executive control network. They appeared to play key roles in creative thought. The default mode network, he said, is involved in memory and mental acting, so the theory is that it plays an important role in processes like mind-wandering, imagination, and natural thinking.The salience network notices important information. When it comes to creativity, it may be responsible for arranging the ideas that come from the default mode network. Lastly, the executive control network works to help people keep their focus on useful ideas while getting rid of those that aren't working.Beaty said, “People who think more flexibly and come up with more creative ideas are better able to use these networks that don't typically work together and bring these systems online.”

Based on the results of that study, Beaty and colleagues developed a predictive model and tested against brain scan data collected for earlier studies on creativity. “We used already-published data.We found that based on how strong the connections are in these networks, we could guess pretty accurately how creative you're going to be on a task,” Beaty said. He added, “It's also not clear whether this can be modified with some kind of training. Creativity is complex, and we're only working on the surface here.”

1. What were the participants asked to do in the study?

A. To tell scientists their different ways of seeing the world.

B. To show their special ways to connect with others.

C. To talk about their most exciting experiences.

D. To think of new uses for ordinary objects.

2. What does the underlined word “estimate” in paragraph 2 mean?

A. Improve. B. Judge. C. Spread. D. Praise.

3. The salience network will influence a person when the person is________ .A. giving up useless ideas B. organizing thoughts

C. making decisions D. brainstorming

4. What can we infer from Beaty's words in the last paragraph?

A. The study is very helpful in determining one's creativity level.

B. We can become more creative with the help of some training.

C. Enough work has been done to better understand creativity.

D. Some people can be born with higher levels of creativity.

Sentence for writing

It's often said that creative people see the world differently from the rest of us and a Harvard study is providing one explanation.

【信息提取】It be said/reported/thought/believed that...意為“據說/據報道/人們認為/人們相信……”。

【句式仿寫】人們相信這棟建筑有700年的歷史。