Freestyle rapping – the art of spontaneously improvising lyrics in real time - doesn't just inspire awe in fans. It apparently does wonders for the brains of those who make up lyrics on the spot.
After using functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of rappers when they are freestyling, researchers at the U.S.-based National Institute of Health concluded that the process is similar to that of other spontaneous creative acts, including jazz improvisation.
The team, led by Dr. Siyuan Liu, scanned the brains of 12 freestyle rap artists who had at least five years of rapping experience while they performed two tasks using an identical 8-bar musical track. For the first task, they improvised rhyming lyrics and rhythmic patterns guided only by the beat. In the second task, they performed a well-rehearsed set of lyrics.
When the rappers freestyled, the researchers observed increases in brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region responsible for motivation of thought and action.
Vocal improvisation also increased brain activity in the perisylvian system (involved in language production) and in the amygdala (an area of the brain linked to emotion), suggesting that improvisation engages a brain network that links motivation, language, mood, and action.
The findings were published online in the Nov. 15 issue of Scientific Reports.
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