When pianist Gabriela Montero improvised, researchers observed reduced functional connectivity between brain regions involved in the default mode network. The pattern differed from that recorded when she played scales or a memorized piece by Bach. As presented in an article in The Marginalian, this difference provides a starting point for exploring the relationship between musical creation, memory and the sense of self.
The article draws on violinist Natalie Hodges’ book, Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time. Hodges raises a paradox at the heart of improvisation: the music is created spontaneously, yet retains form and coherence. How does this organization emerge without prior composition and practice of the specific piece? And what does “choosing” mean when a musical decision seems to precede conscious thought?
Montero, a pianist from Venezuela, creates improvisations based on musical ideas suggested by the audience. Hodges examines this ability through Montero’s lecture at Radcliffe, titled What Choice Do I Have? To investigate what happens in her brain, scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging under three conditions: playing musical scales, performing a memorized piece by Bach and improvising on an initial musical theme by the same composer.
The default mode network is described as a set of functional connections between brain regions associated with different aspects of the self. In Hodges’ account, these include self-perception, autobiographical memory, the formation of new memories, spatial perception and thoughts about our relationship with others. While Montero played scales and the memorized piece, these regions showed greater connectivity with one another. When she moved into improvisation, their interactions decreased significantly, according to the description of the findings.
Hodges connects this change to the experience of self-awareness temporarily receding during deep concentration. The Marginalian article invokes the idea of moving away from a fixation on the ego, as expressed by philosopher Iris Murdoch, to describe the relief that can accompany complete absorption in an activity. Montero herself describes improvisation as a state in which she gives the music room to flow and loses herself in the present. The connection between these experiences and the brain recordings is presented as an interpretation of her experience.
Despite the network’s reduced connectivity, Montero’s music remained structured and coherent, according to the researchers. As she improvised, she returned to motifs that had emerged earlier and developed them, connecting successive moments of the performance into a unified whole. Hodges sees this as a form of memory that supports creation as it unfolds, without requiring the reproduction of an already familiar work. The researchers describe the process as a form of embodied creativity, highlighting the collaboration of body and mind beyond the performer’s conscious narrative.
To illuminate this process in literary terms, Hodges uses an analogy with the path integral in quantum physics, developed by Richard Feynman in the 1940s. She draws a parallel between the many possible paths of a particle and the musical possibilities contained in a theme, one of which the improviser follows. The image of a “memory of the future” expresses the possibility that an early motif can acquire meaning through its later development. This is an analogy in the reflective part of the text; the findings described concern brain connectivity and the coherence of the music.
The observations presented concern Montero, while the article does not provide numerical results or detailed information about the study’s methodology. Their broader significance, as Hodges explores it, lies in the question of how memory and accumulated musical knowledge can feed something new at the moment of performance. Improvisation thus offers a concrete setting for investigating the relationship between conscious control and spontaneous creation. At the same time, the book connects this exploration with the lived experience of concentration and the temporary fading of a focus on the self.
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