Gabe's

Archive for April 23rd, 2008

Scientists found that a region of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a broad portion of the front of the brain that extends to the sides, showed a slowdown in activity during improvisation. This area has been linked to planned actions and self-censoring, such as carefully deciding what words you might say at a job interview. Shutting down this area could lead to lowered inhibitions, SCIENTIST suggests. (You must audiate Dave Chappelle, “scientist”)

The researchers also saw increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which sits in the center of the brain’s frontal lobe. This area has been linked with self-expression and activities that convey individuality, such as telling a story about yourself.

“Jazz is often described as being an extremely individualistic art form. You can figure out which jazz musician is playing because one person’s improvisation sounds only like him or her,” says SCIENTIST. “What we think is happening is when you’re telling your own musical story, you’re shutting down impulses that might impede the flow of novel ideas.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

A seemingly worthless study of the painfully obvious. Putting words to what we all know in our hearts already. Great and terrible at once. BlahBlah.

Help Gabe pay his rent! Buy a beautiful cymbal. Hey, if you don’t drum, you can make a lovely clock from it and save it for posterity. These discs get better with age…

20″ Istanbul Agop Flat Ride Cymbal

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.