Mark Beeman

Mark Beeman is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University and director of The Creative Brain Lab. His research focuses on studying the component processes and behaviors that relate to creative problem solving, with particular emphasis on 'high-level cognition' and how the brain thinks when solving complex problems. Beeman seeks to link the brain's wetware to the mind's software, using evidence from both domains to constrain theories and provide novel insights.

Beeman's primary research area is creative cognition, particularly insight problem solving exemplified by 'Aha' or 'Eureka' experiences. His work combines behavioral and neuroimaging approaches to investigate the neural correlates of insight. Key findings include the identification of right hemisphere involvement, particularly the anterior Superior Temporal Gyrus, in insight problem solving. He discovered that insight solutions are associated with sudden bursts of gamma activity in this region, along with alpha wave activity that may represent 'gating' of visual input to facilitate solution processing.

His research spans multiple dimensions of creativity including intuition, problem solving under performance pressure, the relationship between sleep and incubation effects, and how attentional patterns relate to creative cognition. Beeman's work has been published in top journals including NeuroImage, Psychological Science, and Annual Review of Psychology, with his 2014 review paper with John Kounios becoming a seminal work in the field.

Among his notable achievements is the Memory & Cognition Best Paper award in 2016. His lab continues to explore the neural dynamics of creative thought through various ongoing projects examining how different cognitive processes contribute to creative problem solving.

Beeman has established The Creative Brain Lab as an interdisciplinary research hub that brings together cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral science to uncover the mechanisms underlying creative thought, with implications for education, innovation, and understanding human cognition more broadly.