Common and distinct brain networks underlying verbal and visual creativity

Use or Consequences: Probing the Cognitive Difference Between Two Measures of Divergent Thinking

Recent studies have highlighted both similarities and differences between the cognitive processing that underpins memory retrieval and that which underpins creative thinking. To date, studies have focused more heavily on the Alternative Uses task, but fewer studies have investigated the processing underpinning other idea generation tasks. This study examines both Alternative Uses and Consequences idea generation with a methods pulled from cognitive psychology, and a novel method for evaluating the creativity of such responses. Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk using a custom interface allowing for requisite experimental control. Results showed that both Alternative Uses and Consequences generation are well approximated by an exponential cumulative response time model, consistent with studies of memory retrieval. Participants were also slower to generate their first consequence compared with first responses to Alternative Uses, but inter-response time was negatively related to pairwise similarity on both tasks. Finally, the serial order effect is exhibited for both tasks, with Consequences earning more creative evaluations than Uses. The results have implications for burgeoning neuroscience research on creative thinking, and suggestions are made for future areas of inquiry. In addition, the experimental apparatus described provides an equitable way for researchers to obtain good quality cognitive data for divergent thinking tasks.

Investigating the Role of the Primary Motor Cortex in Musical Creativity: A Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Study

Neuroscientific research has revealed interconnected brain networks implicated in musical creativity, such as the executive control network, the default mode network, and premotor cortices. The present study employed brain stimulation to evaluate the role of the primary motor cortex (M1) in creative and technically fluent jazz piano improvisations. We implemented transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to alter the neural activation patterns of the left hemispheric M1 whilst pianists performed improvisations with their right hand. Two groups of expert jazz pianists (n = 8 per group) performed five improvisations in each of two blocks. In Block 1, they improvised in the absence of brain stimulation. In Block 2, one group received inhibitory tDCS and the second group received excitatory tDCS while performing five new improvisations. Three independent expert-musicians judged the 160 performances on creativity and technical fluency using a 10-point Likert scale. As the M1 is involved in the acquisition and consolidation of motor skills and the control of hand orientation and velocity, we predicted that excitatory tDCS would increase the quality of improvisations relative to inhibitory tDCS. Indeed, improvisations under conditions of excitatory tDCS were rated as significantly more creative than those under conditions of inhibitory tDCS. A music analysis indicated that excitatory tDCS elicited improvisations with greater pitch range and number/variety of notes. Ratings of technical fluency did not differ significantly between tDCS groups. We discuss plausible mechanisms by which the M1 region contributes to musical creativity.

Exploring the Associations Between Intrinsic Brain Connectivity and Creative Ability Using Functional Connectivity Strength and Connectome Analysis

The present study aimed to explore the association between resting-state functional connectivity and creativity ability. Toward this end, the figural Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) scores were collected from 180 participants. Based on the figural TTCT measures, we collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data for participants with two different levels of creativity ability (a high-creativity group [HG, n = 22] and a low-creativity group [LG, n = 20]). For the aspect of group difference, this study combined voxel-wise functional connectivity strength (FCS) and seed-based functional connectivity to identify brain regions with group-change functional connectivity. Furthermore, the connectome properties of the identified regions and their associations with creativity were investigated using the permutation test, discriminative analysis, and brain-behavior correlation analysis. The results indicated that there were 4 regions with group differences in FCS, and these regions were linked to 30 other regions, demonstrating different functional connectivity between the groups. Together, these regions form a creativity-related network, and we observed higher network efficiency in the HG compared with the LG. The regions involved in the creativity network were widely distributed across the modality-specific/supramodality cerebral cortex, subcortex, and cerebellum. Notably, properties of regions in the supramodality networks (i.e., the default mode network and attention network) carried creativity-level discriminative information and were significantly correlated with the creativity performance. Together, these findings demonstrate a link between intrinsic brain connectivity and creative ability, which should provide new insights into the neural basis of creativity.

Network Neuroscience of Creative Cognition: Mapping Cognitive Mechanisms and Individual Differences in the Creative Brain

Network neuroscience research is providing increasing specificity on the contribution of large-scale brain networks to creative cognition. Here, we summarize recent experimental work examining cognitive mechanisms of network interactions and correlational studies assessing network dynamics associated with individual creative abilities. Our review identifies three cognitive processes related to network interactions during creative performance: goal-directed memory retrieval, prepotent-response inhibition, and internally-focused attention. Correlational work using prediction modeling indicates that functional connectivity between networks-particularly the executive control and default networks-can reliably predict an individual's creative thinking ability. We discuss potential directions for future network neuroscience, including assessing creative performance in specific domains and using brain stimulation to test causal hypotheses regarding network interactions and cognitive mechanisms of creative thought.

Driving the brain towards creativity and intelligence: A network control theory analysis

High-level cognitive constructs, such as creativity and intelligence, entail complex and multiple processes, including cognitive control processes. Recent neurocognitive research on these constructs highlight the importance of dynamic interaction across neural network systems and the role of cognitive control processes in guiding such a dynamic interaction. How can we quantitatively examine the extent and ways in which cognitive control contributes to creativity and intelligence? To address this question, we apply a computational network control theory (NCT) approach to structural brain imaging data acquired via diffusion tensor imaging in a large sample of participants, to examine how NCT relates to individual differences in distinct measures of creative ability and intelligence. Recent application of this theory at the neural level is built on a model of brain dynamics, which mathematically models patterns of inter-region activity propagated along the structure of an underlying network. The strength of this approach is its ability to characterize the potential role of each brain region in regulating whole-brain network function based on its anatomical fingerprint and a simplified model of node dynamics. We find that intelligence is related to the ability to "drive" the brain system into easy to reach neural states by the right inferior parietal lobe and lower integration abilities in the left retrosplenial cortex. We also find that creativity is related to the ability to "drive" the brain system into difficult to reach states by the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (inferior frontal junction) and higher integration abilities in sensorimotor areas. Furthermore, we found that different facets of creativity-fluency, flexibility, and originality-relate to generally similar but not identical network controllability processes. We relate our findings to general theories on intelligence and creativity.

The association between visual creativity and cortical thickness in healthy adults

Creativity is necessary to human survival, human prosperity, civilization and well-being. Visual creativity is an important part of creativity and is the ability to create products of novel and useful visual forms, playing important role in many fields such as art, painting and sculpture. There have been several neuroimaging studies exploring the neural basis of visual creativity. However, to date, little is known about the relationship between cortical structure and visual creativity as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Here, we investigated the association between cortical thickness and visual creativity in a large sample of 310 healthy adults. We used multiple regression to analyze the correlation between cortical thickness and visual creativity, adjusting for gender, age and general intelligence. The results showed that visual creativity was significantly negatively correlated with cortical thickness in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and the left insula. These observations have implications for understanding that a thinner prefrontal cortex (PFC) (e.g. IFG, MFG), SMA and insula correspond to higher visual creative performance, presumably due to their role in executive attention, cognitive control, motor planning and dynamic switching.

Neural and genetic determinants of creativity

Creative thinking plays a vital role in almost all aspects of human life. However, little is known about the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying creative thinking. Based on a cross-validation based predictive framework, we searched from the whole-brain connectome (34,716 functional connectivities) and whole genome data (309,996 SNPs) in two datasets (all collected by Southwest University, Chongqing) consisting of altogether 236 subjects, for a better understanding of the brain and genetic underpinning of creativity. Using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking score, we found that high figural creativity is mainly related to high functional connectivity between the executive control, attention, and memory retrieval networks (strong top-down effects); and to low functional connectivity between the default mode network, the ventral attention network, and the subcortical and primary sensory networks (weak bottom-up processing) in the first dataset (consisting of 138 subjects). High creativity also correlates significantly with mutations of genes coding for both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. Combining the brain connectome and the genomic data we can predict individuals' creativity scores with an accuracy of 78.4%, which is significantly better than prediction using single modality data (gene or functional connectivity), indicating the importance of combining multi-modality data. Our neuroimaging prediction model built upon the first dataset was cross-validated by a completely new dataset of 98 subjects (r = 0.267, p = 0.0078) with an accuracy of 64.6%. In addition, the creativity-related functional connectivity network we identified in the first dataset was still significantly correlated with the creativity score in the new dataset (p<10^-3). In summary, our research demonstrates that strong top-down control versus weak bottom-up processes underlie creativity, which is modulated by competition between the glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter systems. Our work provides the first insights into both the neural and the genetic bases of creativity.

One-way traffic: The inferior frontal gyrus controls brain activation in the middle temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule during divergent thinking

Contrary to earlier approaches that focused on the contributions of isolated brain regions to the emergence of creativity, there is now growing consensus that creative thought emerges from the interaction of multiple brain regions, often embedded within larger brain networks. Specifically, recent evidence from studies of divergent thinking suggests that kernel ideas emerge in posterior brain regions residing within the semantic system and/or the default mode network (DMN), and that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions within the executive control network (ECN) constrain those ideas for generating outputs that meet task demands. However, despite knowing that regions within these networks exhibit interaction, to date the direction of the relationship has not been tested directly. By applying Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) to fMRI data collected during a divergent thinking task, we tested the hypothesis that the PFC exerts unidirectional control over the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), vs. the hypothesis that these two sets of regions exert bidirectional control over each other (in the form of feedback loops). The data were consistent with the former model by demonstrating that the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) exerts unidirectional control over MTG and IPL, although the evidence was somewhat stronger in the case of the MTG than the IPL. Our findings highlight potential causal pathways that could underlie the neural bases of divergent thinking.

Brain networks of the imaginative mind: Dynamic functional connectivity of default and cognitive control networks relates to openness to experience

Imagination and creative cognition are often associated with the brain's default network (DN). Recent evidence has also linked cognitive control systems to performance on tasks involving imagination and creativity, with a growing number of studies reporting functional interactions between cognitive control and DN regions. We sought to extend the emerging literature on brain dynamics supporting imagination by examining individual differences in large-scale network connectivity in relation to Openness to Experience, a personality trait typified by imagination and creativity. To this end, we obtained personality and resting-state fMRI data from two large samples of participants recruited from the United States and China, and we examined contributions of Openness to temporal shifts in default and cognitive control network interactions using multivariate structural equation modeling and dynamic functional network connectivity analysis. In Study 1, we found that Openness was related to the proportion of scan time (i.e., "dwell time") that participants spent in a brain state characterized by positive correlations among the default, executive, salience, and dorsal attention networks. Study 2 replicated and extended the effect of Openness on dwell time in a correlated brain state comparable to the state found in Study 1, and further demonstrated the robustness of this effect in latent variable models including fluid intelligence and other major personality factors. The findings suggest that Openness to Experience is associated with increased functional connectivity between default and cognitive control systems, a connectivity profile that may account for the enhanced imaginative and creative abilities of people high in Openness to Experience.

Longitudinal recovery of local neuronal activity and consciousness level in acquired brain injury

Decreased brain activity in the default mode network, particularly in the precuneus (PCU), has been consistently shown in acquired brain injury (ABI) patients. However, it is unclear whether resting-state brain activity recovers longitudinally in ABI patients and whether functional activity restoration is associated with improvements in consciousness level. Here, resting-state fMRI data were acquired from 23 ABI patients and 30 age- and gender-matched controls with two longitudinal observations for each participant. The fMRI data were analyzed using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) to measure the fluctuation strength of local spontaneous activity, and seed-based functional connectivity was used to measure functional relationship with the seed region in the whole brain. The level of consciousness was assessed using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) on both scanning days of the patients. Interaction effect between the two groups and two scans in ALFF was observed in the PCU, which was driven by restored ALFF in the ABI, while a stable ALFF in the control group. Moreover, restoration of ALFF in the PCU correlated with improvements in both the CRS-R and GCS. Specifically, recovery of ALFF in the PCU primarily reflected the signals of the slow-4 frequency band (0.027-0.073 Hz). Based on the functional connectivity maps of the PCU, we observed a nonsignificant interaction effect or correlation with consciousness level. These findings suggest local activity in the PCU but possibly not its functional connectivity, is related to the longitudinal changes in behavioral responsiveness in ABI. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3579-3591, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Neural correlates of serial order effect in verbal divergent thinking

During the course of divergent thinking (DT), the number of generated ideas decreases while the originality of ideas increases. This phenomenon is labeled as serial order effect in DT. The present study investigated whether different executive processes (i.e., updating, shifting, and inhibition) specifically contribute to the serial order effect in DT. Participants' executive functions were measured by corresponding experimental tasks outside of the EEG lab. They were required to generate original uses of conventional objects (alternative uses task) during EEG recording. The behavioral results revealed that the originality of ideas was higher in later stage of DT (i.e., Epoch 2) than in its earlier stage (i.e., Epoch 1) for higher-shifting individuals, but showed no difference between two epochs for lower-shifting individuals. The EEG results revealed that lower-inhibition individuals showed stronger upper alpha (10-13Hz) synchronization in left frontal areas during Epoch 1 compared to during Epoch 2. For higher-inhibition individuals, no changes in upper alpha activity from Epoch 1 to Epoch 2 were found. These findings indicated that shifting and inhibition contributed to create a serial order effect in DT, perhaps because individuals suppress interference from obvious ideas and switch to new idea categories during DT, thus more original ideas appear as time passes by.