When people encounter the word “Flow”, the first thing pops up in our mind may be the movement in a current or stream. But “Flow” is also a positively valenced psychological state characterised by high levels of intrinsic reward during goal-directed behaviour. Established under CityU’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), the Brain research cluster focuses on the study of human brain using neuroscience and advanced information technologies. On 15 May 2023, an online seminar, namely “Flexible, Modular, and Energetically Efficient: A Dynamic Brain-Network Account of Flow Experiences” was held to investigate how flow facilitates well-being as one of the extension works of linking positive media psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Photo 1: Dr Richard Huskey uses naturalistic tasks to study motivated behaviour. The speaker of the seminar was Dr Richard HUSKEY, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and the Cognitive Science Programme at the University of California Davis. Dr Huskey has been studying flow for the last 10 years. His research lab investigates what is happening in our brains when people experience flow. His research goal is to better understand how the experience happens and to make it easier for people to feel flow and its benefits. In the seminar, Dr Huskey shared the synchronisation theory of flow during media use. He conducted a series of experiments based on four core hypotheses. The results show that flow is associated with a flexible, modular, and energetically efficient brain network topology. Together, these results lay a foundation for future research linking specific events observed during naturalistic tasks with neural dynamics associated with flow onset and maintenance, thereby giving researchers a better understanding of flow’s neural properties.
Photo 2: Studies show that the flow experience is associated with activity in brain structures implicated in feeling reward and pursuing our goals. Dr Huskey also shared one recent collaboration project with JUMP, a US AR company to launch the first ever simulation game which included a real wingsuit and a virtual reality helmet. The simulator is a blend of suspension and wind systems that enable people to experience the extreme thrill of jumping off cliffs and skyscrapers without the danger. The project will study if JUMP elicits flow, and if so, how that experience helps people find greater well-being in their everyday lives.
Interested to discover more wonders of the human brain, CLASS Brain research cluster will bring another online seminar in June 2023, titled “The Neural Basis of Language Production as We Speak”, please click here for registration.
