Brain Scans Reveal Kids' Neural Activity During Piano Improvisation

A new fMRI study led by Karen Barrett, assistant professor at UCSF's Institute for Health & Aging, scanned the brains of children as they improvised on a piano. The research, published in Scientific Reports, compared neural activity during improvisation versus playing a memorized scale. Unlike expert jazz musicians who activate the medial prefrontal cortex (associated with artistic voice) during improv, children showed widespread deactivation in sensory hubs—areas linked to adult creativity networks. The most surprising finding was that improvisation engaged reward structures more strongly than scale playing, a pattern less pronounced in professionals. Barrett suggests this indicates an innate capacity for creativity that doesn't require training. The study builds on Charles Limb's 2008 work with jazz pianists, which found improvisation deactivates the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (self-judgment) and activates the medial prefrontal cortex. Barrett's findings imply that children's brains are in an early stage of developing a creativity network, and that simply engaging in creative acts like music, coloring, or painting is rewarding for the brain regardless of skill level.