The After-Glow of Flow: Neural Correlates of Flow in Musicians

Abstract

Flow is a state of optimal or peak experience, commonly associated with expert and creative performance. Musicians often experience flow during playing, yet the neural mechanisms underlying this elusive state have remained underexplored due to challenges posed by substantial artefacts in the neural data. Here, we bypassed these issues by focusing on the resting-state immediately following a flow experience. Musicians performed pieces expected to reliably induce a flow state, and, as a control, non-flow-inducing musical pieces. Following the flow state, we observed higher spectral power in the upper alpha (10-12 Hz) and beta (15-30 Hz) bands, primarily in the frontal brain regions. Connectivity analysis, using the phase slope index, showed a right frontal cluster influencing activities in the left temporal and parietal areas at the theta (5 Hz) band, particularly pronounced in musicians reporting high dispositional flow. Theta band connectivity within the frontoparietal control network facilitates cognitive control and goal-directed attention, potentially crucial for achieving the flow state. These results reveal large-scale oscillatory correlates associated with the immediate post-flow state in musicians. Importantly, this framework holds promise for exploring the neural basis of flow-related states in a laboratory setting while preserving ecological and content validity.