Not thinking about a problem for a while doesn’t just give you a fresh perspective, it also allows your more creative unconscious to get to work as it.

Inside the brain machine : neuroscience changed how I think about creativity

Dr. Newberg’s main area of study was enlightenment: he’d been putting Buddhist monks and other spiritual leaders into the machine to see whether their moments of transcendence had a physiological basis. But right now, he was looking for patterns in the brains of creative people.

Our monthly creative reading recommendation.