The Chinese calligraphic handwriting (CCH) is a very ancient expressive art of writing Chinese characters and it has been deemed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. In Chinese tradition, the CCH is both an art and a lifestyle to maintain one's health. The flow experience induced by CCH is considered a potential path to wellbeing. Flow refers to the mental state in which people are completely immersed. Practices of excellent traditional cultural activities such as CCH are an important way to achieve sustained flow experience and prosperity, but the underlying neuropsychological mechanism has long been lacking in research.

A recent study conducted by Dr. LI Rui from Dr. HAN Buxin Group at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the neural interactions supporting flow in CCH. A total of 19 participants without CCH experience were instructed to watch and simultaneously follow calligraphy writing videos for imaginative writing by slightly moving their right hand in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. After completing the task, the participants reported their subjective flow and pleasure levels.

Figure 1. Sketch map shows the neuropsychological path through which CCH brings flow experience and elicits pleasure. Image by Dr. LI Rui.

The results show that, similar to the "focused and effortless" feeling, the brain activity in flow state exhibits a "busy and efficient" pattern. The CCH imitation task activates a wide range of multi-modal regions spanning the visual, motor, attention and affective systems. Compared to the low flow condition (cursive script), the CCH novices in high flow condition (regular script) downregulated the activation amplitude of the dorsal attention system and the connectivity strength of between-network interactions, suggesting a less energy demanding or a more efficient processing pattern in the brain. A causal modeling analysis of brain, flow, and pleasure shows that a more efficient activity in the visuomotor and attention systems brings about stronger flow experience, which in turn elicits stronger feeling of pleasure. In high flow condition, the functional connectivity of the orbitofrontal-caudate affective network is increased, and is associated with higher ratings of pleasure.

This study provides new insights into the neuropsychological mechanism of flow experience and proposes a neuropsychological mechanism for calligraphy activities to promote mental health. The CCH is extensive and profound. The richness and diversity of CCH enables individuals achieve dynamic balance between challenges and skill levels in practice, thus contributing to continuous flow that imbues life with pleasure and leads to long-term prosperity.

In the future, the research team will further explore the value and mechanism of CCH in maintaining individual wellbeing, and better utilize calligraphy as a localized mental health intervention tool to improve the cognitive and emotional health of specific populations.

This study entitled “An efficiently working brain characterizes higher mental flow that elicits pleasure in Chinese calligraphic handwriting” was published online on March 9, 2023 in Cerebral Cortex.

LIU Chen
Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing 100101, China.
E-mail: liuc@psych.ac.cn