Does Cannabis (Marijuana) Use Increase Creativity? | Dr. Andrew Huberman
00:00:00.000 | So let's now return to the question of whether or not
00:00:04.540 | cannabis and its different components increase creativity.
00:00:08.520 | And when you look at the literature on this,
00:00:11.820 | you find studies that very clearly point to a yes,
00:00:15.400 | it increases creativity.
00:00:17.200 | And it's not surprising therefore,
00:00:19.080 | that cannabis can increase dopamine transmission,
00:00:22.520 | that is dopamine levels in certain brain areas,
00:00:24.920 | in particular brain areas involved in thinking and planning.
00:00:28.300 | Okay, so cannabis increases dopamine in these areas,
00:00:30.960 | elevated dopamine increases divergent thinking,
00:00:33.560 | and divergent thinking is associated with creativity.
00:00:35.880 | And there are studies that support the idea
00:00:37.920 | that cannabis can increase creativity.
00:00:41.800 | However, there are at least as many studies
00:00:45.280 | that say that cannabis does not increase creativity,
00:00:48.320 | that cannabis increases consideration of multiple ideas,
00:00:51.640 | perhaps through elevation of dopamine and related systems,
00:00:55.400 | but that ultimately the ideas that converge
00:00:58.120 | from that are not truly creative ideas,
00:00:59.920 | at least they don't meet the criteria
00:01:01.260 | for creative brainstorming and extraction of ideas
00:01:04.480 | that are truly novel.
00:01:05.680 | So it doesn't increase creativity.
00:01:08.060 | So which one is it?
00:01:09.600 | Well, fortunately, there's an entirely distinct set
00:01:12.520 | of literature that has taken all the other literature
00:01:15.000 | into consideration, and here's where we arrive.
00:01:17.880 | So there's a really nice study that explored creativity
00:01:20.700 | in cannabis users.
00:01:22.120 | And we will provide a link to this study.
00:01:24.360 | First author is Emily LaFrance,
00:01:26.120 | and the title of the paper is somewhat amusing
00:01:29.720 | in its own right, which is, it starts with a question.
00:01:32.360 | Inspired by Mary Jane, of course,
00:01:34.120 | Mary Jane being one of the kind of old school versions
00:01:36.560 | of our ways of talking about cannabis or marijuana.
00:01:39.960 | Nowadays, people refer to it mainly as pot,
00:01:42.200 | as other names too, of course.
00:01:43.960 | And the title of the paper is Inspired by Mary Jane,
00:01:46.440 | Mechanisms Underlying Enhanced Creativity in Cannabis Users.
00:01:49.800 | And I really like this study for a couple of reasons.
00:01:52.400 | First of all, they looked at people who did not use cannabis
00:01:57.400 | as well as people who use cannabis.
00:02:00.240 | So they had two different groups,
00:02:01.480 | but they did not evaluate creativity of the cannabis users
00:02:06.320 | while they were under the influence of cannabis.
00:02:08.800 | They looked at the level of creativity
00:02:12.120 | in these cannabis users
00:02:14.120 | when they were not under the influence of cannabis
00:02:16.960 | and asked whether or not their ability to be creative
00:02:19.840 | was enhanced by cannabis.
00:02:21.260 | Now, we're going to compare this to studies
00:02:23.400 | in which people come into the laboratory
00:02:25.480 | and actually use cannabis,
00:02:26.600 | and then they evaluate creativity under that context.
00:02:30.120 | But this study has some unique takeaways
00:02:32.240 | that I think are really interesting.
00:02:33.440 | First of all, they did, yes,
00:02:35.980 | see evidence for enhanced creativity.
00:02:38.440 | And when I say enhanced creativity,
00:02:39.940 | I mean, within the context of this divergent thinking thing
00:02:43.320 | that I talked about a moment ago.
00:02:44.980 | And when I say enhanced,
00:02:47.160 | I mean significantly greater than in non-users,
00:02:49.600 | so people that don't use cannabis.
00:02:51.520 | So right now I can imagine
00:02:52.640 | that all the cannabis users are cheering,
00:02:54.880 | yes, cannabis increases creativity,
00:02:56.760 | makes people more creative than they would be otherwise.
00:02:59.320 | Well, this is interesting.
00:03:01.000 | We have to ask ourselves how that was accomplished.
00:03:04.520 | And it turns out that one of the major ways
00:03:06.200 | in which it was accomplished is that cannabis users,
00:03:09.160 | even if they are not under the influence of cannabis,
00:03:12.600 | are far more open to novel ideas,
00:03:16.240 | and they have a more explorative
00:03:18.240 | and sort of reduced anxiety,
00:03:20.520 | or I should say lower anxiety mode of thinking
00:03:23.000 | when they explore novel ideas,
00:03:24.420 | which is essential for divergent thinking.
00:03:26.380 | So they observe both enhanced divergent
00:03:28.960 | and convergent creative type thinking in cannabis users.
00:03:33.960 | And the source of that, they conclude, is,
00:03:38.360 | and here I'll just quote,
00:03:40.080 | "Cannabis users higher levels of openness to experience
00:03:42.840 | are responsible for their enhanced self-reported creativity
00:03:45.320 | and convergent thinking test performance."
00:03:47.620 | So it's not necessarily that cannabis is increasing
00:03:51.360 | the capacity of the brain areas
00:03:53.680 | that are associated with creativity,
00:03:55.500 | but rather cannabis appears to be increasing an openness,
00:04:00.500 | and probably doing that in part through lowering anxiety
00:04:04.040 | in particular people.
00:04:05.160 | And that openness is leading to inclusion of more ideas
00:04:10.180 | during the divergent thinking process, right?
00:04:12.720 | They're willing to consider throwing up more things
00:04:14.880 | on the wall to see if they stick, so to speak.
00:04:17.480 | So in their conclusions,
00:04:18.940 | they have a really nice statement.
00:04:19.900 | Again, I'll just read from the paper
00:04:21.740 | because they said it better than I ever could.
00:04:23.900 | Quote, "While mainstream media has propagated the idea
00:04:26.560 | that cannabis expands the mind and enhances creativity,
00:04:30.020 | our results show the link between cannabis and creativity
00:04:32.540 | is largely a spurious correlation."
00:04:35.220 | Meaning that it's not the case
00:04:37.620 | that cannabis increases creativity,
00:04:40.820 | but, and I inserted the but in this quote,
00:04:47.000 | "But driven by differences in personality
00:04:50.140 | that are related to cannabis use.
00:04:52.180 | For example, openness to experience
00:04:54.100 | that are related to both cannabis use
00:04:55.820 | and augmented creativity."
00:04:58.340 | This is a real chicken egg argument.
00:05:00.260 | What do I mean by that?
00:05:01.400 | What I mean is this paper finds
00:05:04.140 | that people who are more open to experience
00:05:07.620 | are more likely to use cannabis,
00:05:09.940 | and people who use cannabis
00:05:11.500 | are going to be more open to new experiences.
00:05:15.020 | And that combination of features, openness to experience,
00:05:18.560 | and what that openness to new experiences brings
00:05:22.000 | enhances the convergent and divergent thinking
00:05:25.240 | that is characteristic of the creative process.
00:05:28.320 | So in short, cannabis increases creativity,
00:05:31.600 | but through changes in personality
00:05:34.000 | that tap into the creative process,
00:05:36.300 | rather than directly impacting the neural circuits
00:05:39.880 | that, for instance, turn on creativity.
00:05:42.640 | And I have to say, this study is really important
00:05:45.660 | because by exploring cannabis users
00:05:49.940 | not well under the influence of cannabis,
00:05:52.460 | they were able to tap into this very important,
00:05:55.540 | what I believe to be fact.
00:05:57.640 | Because if you think about a study
00:05:59.100 | in which you would have one group using cannabis
00:06:02.020 | and another group not using cannabis,
00:06:03.660 | and then you give them some tasks
00:06:04.740 | that taps into creativity,
00:06:06.460 | you will see effects and very likely you'll see effects
00:06:08.940 | where cannabis might even increase divergent,
00:06:10.860 | convergent thinking and creativity.
00:06:12.600 | Those results have actually been published
00:06:13.880 | many times before.
00:06:15.360 | But given the varied effects of cannabis and THC
00:06:18.200 | that we talked about earlier
00:06:19.100 | through all that complex signaling stuff,
00:06:21.200 | you can imagine that there will also be other studies.
00:06:23.480 | And in fact, there are,
00:06:24.840 | where divergent and convergent thinking and creativity
00:06:28.280 | is not assisted by cannabis
00:06:30.780 | and might even be reduced by ingesting cannabis.
00:06:33.520 | However, if one considers that divergent thinking
00:06:36.360 | is absolutely crucial to the creativity process,
00:06:40.240 | and the range of things that one will explore
00:06:43.240 | will be enhanced by openness
00:06:45.860 | and by reduced levels of anxiety.
00:06:48.400 | So a willingness to explore different options,
00:06:50.320 | some of which might seem completely crazy,
00:06:52.740 | and cannabis increases the personality types
00:06:55.840 | and reduces the anxiety that create that sense of openness.
00:06:59.640 | Well, then it makes perfect sense
00:07:00.920 | why cannabis would increase creativity
00:07:04.160 | in certain individuals, but not directly.
00:07:06.880 | And this study, the one I just referred to,
00:07:09.520 | which I should say was published
00:07:10.760 | in the journal "Consciousness and Cognition,"
00:07:12.520 | and again, we'll provide a link to it,
00:07:14.620 | did a wonderful job of teasing out
00:07:17.480 | this impact of cannabis on personality,
00:07:20.480 | which then impacts creativity.
00:07:22.840 | So if somebody asks you, or if you're wondering,
00:07:25.000 | or if you feel like cannabis increases creativity,
00:07:28.160 | in some sense, the answer is yes,
00:07:29.660 | but the answer is yes because of the ways
00:07:31.840 | that it shapes openness to new ideas.
00:07:34.680 | And can, I should say can, because not in everybody,
00:07:37.560 | but can in some individuals reduce anxiety.
00:07:40.760 | What this means is that if you are somebody
00:07:43.560 | who experiences anxiety or increased levels of focus
00:07:48.560 | from cannabis, regardless of the strain,
00:07:52.480 | and here I have to imagine people
00:07:53.520 | are exploring different strains
00:07:54.880 | if they're exploring them at all,
00:07:57.080 | exploring different modes of delivery,
00:07:58.440 | smoking or ingestible, et cetera.
00:08:00.280 | If you're somebody who experiences anxiety,
00:08:03.200 | it's very likely that you won't have
00:08:05.840 | the increased openness to experience
00:08:09.600 | and divergent ideas that will facilitate creativity.
00:08:12.420 | However, if you are somebody who achieves
00:08:14.480 | heightened levels of relaxation
00:08:16.280 | and reduced levels of anxiety from cannabis,
00:08:19.160 | regardless of which strain we happen to be talking about,
00:08:21.960 | well then, yes, it will position you
00:08:24.640 | to be in a heightened state of creativity,
00:08:27.280 | at least as defined by convergent and divergent thinking.
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