The Neurochemistry of Flow States, with Steven Kotler
Steven Kotler explains the neurochemical changes during flow states that strengthen motivation, creativity and learning. "The brain produces a giant cascade of neurochemistry. You get norepinephrin...
========== Besides neuroanatomical changes in flow there
are neurochemical changes, right. The brain produces a giant cascade of neurochemistry.
You get norepinephrine, dopamine, anandamide, serotonin and endorphins. All five of these
are performance enhancing neurochemicals, right. So they make you faster, stronger,
quicker and they do the same thing with your brain. In the front end of a flow state you
take in more information, you process it more deeply meaning you process it using more parts
of your brain and you process it more quickly. There’s some debate about this but it does
appear that you process it more quickly. This is norepinephrine and dopamine. So when people
enter a flow state they talk about feeling like they’re senses are incredibly height...