A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World

Forgetting ourselves in flow: an active inference account of flow states and how we experience ourselves within them

Flow has been described as a state of optimal performance, experienced universally across a broad range of domains: from art to athletics, gaming to writing. However, its phenomenal characteristics can, at first glance, be puzzling. Firstly, individuals in flow supposedly report a loss of self-awareness, even though they perform in a manner which seems to evince their agency and skill. Secondly, flow states are felt to be effortless, despite the prerequisite complexity of the tasks that engender them. In this paper, we unpick these features of flow, as well as others, through the active inference framework, which posits that action and perception are forms of active Bayesian inference directed at sustained self-organisation; i.e., the minimisation of variational free energy. We propose that the phenomenology of flow is rooted in the deployment of high precision weight over (i) the expected sensory consequences of action and (ii) beliefs about how action will sequentially unfold. This computational mechanism thus draws the embodied cognitive system to minimise the ensuing (i.e., expected) free energy through the exploitation of the pragmatic affordances at hand. Furthermore, given the challenging dynamics the flow-inducing situation presents, attention must be wholly focussed on the unfolding task whilst counterfactual planning is restricted, leading to the attested loss of the sense of self-as-object. This involves the inhibition of both the sense of self as a temporally extended object and higher-order, meta-cognitive forms of self-conceptualisation. Nevertheless, we stress that self-awareness is not entirely lost in flow. Rather, it is pre-reflective and bodily. Our approach to bodily-action-centred phenomenology can be applied to similar facets of seemingly agentive experience beyond canonical flow states, providing insights into the mechanisms of so-called selfless experiences, embodied expertise and wellbeing.

Creative flow as optimized processing: Evidence from brain oscillations during jazz improvisations by expert and non-expert musicians

Using a creative production task, jazz improvisation, we tested alternative hypotheses about the flow experience: (A) that it is a state of domain-specific processing optimized by experience and characterized by minimal interference from task-negative default-mode network (DMN) activity versus (B) that it recruits domain-general task-positive DMN activity supervised by the fronto-parietal control network (FPCN) to support ideation. We recorded jazz guitarists' electroencephalograms (EEGs) while they improvised to provided chord sequences. Their flow-states were measured with the Core Flow State Scale. Flow-related neural sources were reconstructed using SPM12. Over all musicians, high-flow (relative to low-flow) improvisations were associated with transient hypofrontality. High-experience musicians' high-flow improvisations showed reduced activity in posterior DMN nodes. Low-experience musicians showed no flow-related DMN or FPCN modulation. High-experience musicians also showed modality-specific left-hemisphere flow-related activity while low-experience musicians showed modality-specific right-hemisphere flow-related deactivations. These results are consistent with the idea that creative flow represents optimized domain-specific processing enabled by extensive practice paired with reduced cognitive control.

The effect of music tempo on movement flow

There has been much controversy over the effects of music tempo on movement flow. In this study, a single-factor repeated-measurement design was used to explore the effect of music tempo (fast, slow, and no music control) on movement flow by measuring both subjective experiences and objective electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics during brisk walking. In the experiment, 20 college students walked briskly on a treadmill using EEG equipment. Each participant walked for 10 min on three different days. Their brain waves were recorded during brisk walking on a treadmill. After each walk, the participants completed a form of short flow state scale-2 (S FSS-2), which covered nine major aspects of flow. The results showed that music tempo had a significant effect on subjective experiences and objective physiological characteristics; that is, a higher subjective flow level for fast-tempo music in brisk walking and a significant enhancement of mean power values in the subconscious brain waves of the delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands for fast tempo music were observed. A fast tempo facilitated the movement flow. The findings of this study can be instructive for the use of music in exercises to improve sports training outcomes.

First few seconds for flow: A comprehensive proposal of the neurobiology and neurodynamics of state onset

Flow is a cognitive state that manifests when there is complete attentional absorption while performing a task. Flow occurs when certain internal as well as external conditions are present, including intense concentration, a sense of control, feedback, and a balance between the challenge of the task and the relevant skillset. Phenomenologically, flow is accompanied by a loss of self-consciousness, seamless integration of action and awareness, and acute changes in time perception. Research has begun to uncover some of the neurophysiological correlates of flow, as well as some of the state's neuromodulatory processes. We comprehensively review this work and consider the neurodynamics of the onset of the state, considering large-scale brain networks, as well as dopaminergic, noradrenergic, and endocannabinoid systems. To accomplish this, we outline an evidence-based hypothetical situation, and consider the flow state in a broader context including other profound alterations in consciousness, such as the psychedelic state and the state of traumatic stress that can induce PTSD. We present a broad theoretical framework which may motivate future testable hypotheses.

Siddha Self-Inquiry for Flow, Bliss, and Uvagai: Mindfulness for Intuitive Lifestyle in Complex Cardiac Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mental health disorders contribute to significant healthcare expenses. Lifestyle approaches that empower and enable patients to participate in their recovery are needed with the increasing complexity of cardiac patients. Traditional Tamil medical practice of Siddha self-inquiry meditation targets holistic health through intuitive lifestyle transformation. We describe 4 complex cardiac patients who explored Siddha based Hunger Gratitude Experience (HUGE) mindful eating and reported elevated levels of optimism and deeper experience of life as outlined by the 5000-year-old secular Siddha medical tradition. We cannot exclude the role of suggestion and placebo effect in descriptive series. However, the simultaneous improvement in physical health and emotional wellbeing along with demonstrated resilience against unforeseen adversities suggests this is Uvagai, the true essence of Siddha higher consciousness. Uvagai is extreme happiness and may be accessible universally with little formal training and targets positive psychology to improve wellbeing. While flow and bliss states are transient transcendental experiences, Uvagai may be more profound and therapeutic in CVD despite age and comorbidities. Seeking Uvagai can potentially overcome health disparities, including rural, minority, and underprivileged populations for better health. HUGE allows CVD patients to safely engage in Uvagai, experience higher consciousness and intuitively sustain lifestyle transformation.

Advancing the Study of “Goals of Best Practice”: Toward Achieving Optimal Best – Educational Implications to Developments in Flow Research and Positive Optimal Psychology

The paradigm of positive psychology is significant in introducing positive psychological concepts such as “flourishing,” “optimal best,” and “a state of flow.” In terms of research development of positive psychology, the researchers of this article have made extensive theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions by advancing the study of optimal best. One aspect of this research, notably, consists of advancement of the psychological process of optimization. Optimization, in brief, provides a theoretical account into the “optimization” of a person’s state of functioning. Non-academically, a Buddhist nun’s seeking to successfully achieve an optimal state of enlightenment or, academically, a first-year student’s seeking to achieve an A grade in Psych 101 would require some form of optimization. Recent research development has, interestingly, considered a related concept known as “goals of best practice” (GsBP), which may co-exist with the process of optimization and/or assist to account for the optimization of learning experiences. This conceptual analysis article, by utilizing the paradigm of philosophical psychology, advances the study of optimal best practice by focusing on three major aspects: (i) to consider conceptually and philosophically how and/or the extent to which GsBP could, in fact, relate to the nature of flow, flourishing, and optimal best; (ii) to consider a methodological account, which could help to measure and assess the concept GsBP; and (iii) to consider the potential practicality of GsBP in educational contexts, which may assist to facilitate and motivate the achievement of optimal best. These three aspects, we firmly believe, are of significance as they provide grounding for implementation and continuing research development into the area of best practice.