I'm sure you're glad to have your nasal stents removed!
I've read a lot of Asimov's stuff, but hadn't heard of his involvement in this.

His description of a cerebration sounds a bit like a brain-storming session, which is a common part of many organizational planning efforts.

I need a certain isolation to block out distractions and let my creative juices start to flow. Then, I want to get the results to a certain degree of completion before subjecting them to scrutiny.

Of course, it helps to have someone like John Campbell to feed you story ideas!