Default and Executive Network Coupling Supports Creative Idea Production

Cognitive conflict and restructuring: The neural basis of two core components of insight

Sometimes, the solution to a difficult problem simply pops into mind. Such a moment of sudden comprehension is known as "insight". This fundamental cognitive process is crucial for problem solving, creativity and innovation, yet its true nature remains elusive, despite one century of psychological research. Typically, insight is investigated by using spatial puzzles or verbal riddles. Broadening the traditional approach, we propose to tackle this question by presenting magic tricks to participants and asking them to find out the secret method used by the magician. Combining this approach with cueing in an fMRI experiment, we were able to break down the insight process into two underlying components: cognitive conflict and restructuring. During cognitive conflict, problem solvers identify incongruent information that does not match their current mental representation. In a second step this information is restructured, thereby allowing them to correctly determine how the magic trick was done. We manipulated the occurrence of cognitive conflict by presenting two types of cues that lead participants to either maintain their perceptual belief (congruent cue) or to change their perceptual belief (incongruent cue) for the mechanism behind the magic trick. We found that partially overlapping but distinct networks of brain activity were recruited for cognitive conflict and restructuring. Posterior, predominantly visual brain activity during cognitive conflict reflected processes related to prediction error, attention to the relevant cue-specific sensory domain, and the default brain state. Restructuring on the other hand, showed a highly distributed pattern of brain activity in regions of the default mode, executive control networks, and salience networks. The angular gyrus and middle temporal gyrus were active in both cognitive conflict and restructuring, suggesting that these regions are important throughout the insight problem solving process. We believe this type of approach towards understanding insight will give lead to a better understanding of this complex process and the specific role that different brain regions play in creative thought.

Alterations in resting-state functional connectivity in patients with Crohn's disease in remission

Previous studies have found neural alterations in regions involved in cognitive and affective functions among Crohn's disease (CD) patients. The present work recruited 18 CD patients and 18 age-gender matched healthy controls (HC) and specifically compared differences in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within the executive control network (ECN) which has been implicated in cognitive function and default mode network (DMN), which has been implicated in affective function. Additionally, we examined the correlations between RSFC in ECN and verbal fluency (VF) in both groups as well as RSFC in DMN and anxiety level in the CD group. Results showed significantly increased RSFC between the right middle frontal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule in ECN, as well as increased RSFC between the right precuneus and right posterior cingulate cortex in DMN, among CD patients compared to HC. However, the correlations between ECN/DMN and behavioral scores in each group were not significant, which was possibility due to the limited sample size. These findings suggest that CD patients may experience changes in the connectivity patterns in ECN and DMN. Increased connectivity observed on these networks could be a potential biomarker of a neuropsychiatric manifestation of CD.

Improvement in creativity after transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Creativity has previously been shown to improve after the application of direct and alternating current transcranial stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, previous studies have not tested whether transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) was efficient for this purpose. The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to investigate the effect of tRNS on both verbal convergent and (verbal and visual) divergent thinking during left DLPFC tRNS stimulation. Thirty healthy participants were randomly allocated to either a tRNS active group or a sham group. Each session lasted 20 min and the current was set to 1.5 mA (100-500 Hz). Participants' verbal convergent thinking was assessed with the Remote Associates Test (RAT). Verbal and visual divergent thinking were respectively measured by using the Unusual Uses and Picture Completion subtests from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Bootstrapped analysis of variance showed significant differences in the mean change scores between the active tRNS group and the sham group in RAT scores (d = 1.68); unusual uses: fluency (d = 2.29) and originality (d = 1.43); and general creativity (d = 1.45). Visual divergent thinking, in contrast, did not show any significant improvement. Our results suggested that tRNS over the left DLPFC is effective for increasing verbal divergent and convergent thinking.

Verbal Creativity Is Correlated With the Dynamic Reconfiguration of Brain Networks in the Resting State

Creativity is the foundation of human culture. All inventions and innovations in history rely upon us to break with the traditional thinking and create something novel. A number of neuroimaging studies have explored the neural mechanism of creativity. However, a majority of researches have focused only on the stationary functional connectivity in resting-state fMRI and task-related fMRI, neglecting the dynamic variation of brain networks. Here, we used dynamic network analysis to investigate the relation between the dynamic reorganization of brain networks and verbal creativity in 370 healthy subjects. We found that the integration of the left lingual gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) in default mode network (DMN) and the integration of the DMN and cerebellum, frontoparietal task control network (FPTC) and auditory network (Aud) showed positive correlation with verbal creativity performance. In addition, the recruitment of the bilateral postcentral gyrus from the sensory/somatomotor network (SMN) and the recruitment of the SMN in general displayed a significant correlation with verbal creativity scores. Taken together, these results suggested that the dynamic reorganization among the brain networks involved multiple cognitive processes, such as memory retrieval, imaginative process, cognitive control - these are all important for verbal creativity. These findings provided direct evidence that verbal creativity was related to the dynamic variation of brain mechanism during resting-state, extending past research on the neural mechanism of creativity. Meanwhile, these results bought about new perspectives for verbal creative training and rehabilitation training of depression.

Large-scale network interactions involved in dividing attention between the external environment and internal thoughts to pursue two distinct goals

Previous research suggests that default-mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network (DAN) are involved in internally- and externally-directed attention, respectively, through interactions with salience network (SN) and frontoparietal network (FPCN). Performing a task requiring external attention is often accompanied by a down-regulation of attention to internal thoughts, and vice-versa. In contrast, we often divide our attention between the external environment and internal thoughts to pursue distinct goals, yet virtually no prior research has examined how brain networks support this functionally critical neurocognitive process. In the current study, participants planned their responses for an upcoming alternate uses divergent thinking task (AUT-Condition), indicated whether arrows were pointing left or right (Arrows-Condition) or performed both tasks simultaneously (Dual-Task condition). Behaviorally, the Dual-Task condition was associated with equivalent generation of alternate uses but increased RT variability compared to the single-task conditions. Static connectivity analyses indicated that FPCN and SN increased their connectivity to DMN and reduced their connectivity to DAN during the Dual-Task condition and the AUT-Condition compared to the Arrows-Condition. Furthermore, DAN-SN connectivity was highest during the Arrows-Condition, intermediate during the Dual-Task condition and lowest during the AUT-Condition. Finally, time-varying connectivity analyses indicated that individuals who reported spending less time thinking of alternate uses during the Dual-Task condition spent more time in a state associated with performing the Arrows-Condition. Overall, our results suggest that interactions between DMN, FPCN, SN and DAN allow internal-external dual-tasking, and that time-varying functional connectivity between these networks is sensitive to attentional fluctuations between tasks during dual-tasking.

Differential role of prefrontal, temporal and parietal cortices in verbal and figural fluency: Implications for the supramodal contribution of executive functions

Verbal and figural fluency are related to executive functions (EFs), but the extent to which they benefit from executive resources and their respective cortical representations is not clear. Moreover, different brain areas and cognitive functions are involved in fluency processing. This study investigated effects of modulation of cortical excitability in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC), left temporal area and right posterior parietal cortex (r-PPC) with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), on verbal and figural fluency. Fifteen healthy adult participants received anodal l-DLPFC (F3), anodal left temporal (T3), anodal r-PPC (P4) and sham tDCS (15 min, 1.5 mA). After five minutes of stimulation, participants underwent the verbal fluency (i.e., semantic and phonemic fluency tasks) and figural fluency tasks. Participants significantly generated more words with phonemic cues during anodal l-DLPFC tDCS and more words with semantic cues during both anodal left temporal and anodal l-DLPFC tDCS. In contrast, they generated more unique figures under anodal r-PPC and anodal l-DLPFC tDCS. Our results implicate that prefrontal regions and EFs are shared anatomical correlates and cognitive processes relevant for both, verbal and figural fluency (supramodal contribution of DLPFC activation), whereas r-PPC and left temporal cortex are more specifically involved in figural and semantic fluency (modality-specific contribution).

Intrinsic default-executive coupling of the creative aging brain

Creativity refers to the ability to generate novel associations and has been linked to better problem-solving and real-world functional abilities. In younger adults, creative cognition has been associated with functional connectivity among brain networks implicated in executive control [fronto-parietal network (FPN) and salience network (SN)] and associative or elaborative processing default network (DN). Here, we investigate whether creativity is associated with the intrinsic network architecture of the brain and how these associations may differ for younger and older adults. Young (mean age: 24.76, n = 22) and older (mean age: 70.03, n = 44) adults underwent multi-echo functional magnetic resonance image scanning at rest and completed a divergent-thinking task to assess creative cognition outside the scanner. Divergent thinking in older adults, compared to young adults, was associated with functional connectivity between the default and both executive control networks (FPN and SN) as well as more widespread default-executive coupling. Finally, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex appears to be a critical node involved in within- and between-network connectivity associated with creative cognition in older adulthood. Patterns of intrinsic network coupling revealed here suggest a putative neural mechanism underlying a greater role for mnemonic processes in creative cognition in older adulthood.

Investigating executive control network and default mode network dysfunction in major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mental disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. Previous investigated the MDD has primarily focused on interpreting the abnormal functional connectivity of different brain regions, rather than entire brain networks. Although recent studies have found depression-related abnormalities functional connectivity of the brain networks, it is not clear the certain brain regions or the various functional networks as a whole are involved in the emotional dysregulation of depression. Moreover, abnormal functional connectivity regions are well replicated research, however, default mode network (DMN) and executive control network (ECN) haven't received adequately examined in MDD. To address the above issues, in this paper, we adopt sparse inverse covariance estimation (SICE) approach to investigate the functional connectivity both DMN and ECN. Our experimental results show functional connectivity of ECN have significantly changed in MDD, where the anterior cingulate cortex (ACG.R) region and the thalamus region (THA.R) have shown increased functional connectivity compared with normal control, the superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed.R) region has shown decreased functional connectivity. Moreover, the precuneus lobule (PCUN.L) region and posterior cingulate cortex (PCG.L) of DMN have shown increased functional connectivity. These results may suggest that MDD is associated with large-scale functional networks, rather than the portions of brain regions. These changed functional connectivity may provide more neuroimaging biomarker for MDD diagnosis.

The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility in the Influence of Counter-Stereotypes on Creativity

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between counter-stereotypes and creativity, and further explore the mechanism underlying the impact of priming counter-stereotypic information on individual creativity. More importantly, here we have proposed cognitive and emotional dual processing pathways, which may mediate the influences of counter-stereotypes on creativity. Two experiments examined how counter-stereotypes impacted creativity through the dual processing pathways. A total of 152 university students were recruited to test their creativity performance. In Experiment 1, we replicated results of past studies. Participants were randomly allocated to different priming conditions (stereotype or counter-stereotype), in which descriptions of male governors and female nurses served as priming of stereotypes, whereas descriptions of male nurses and female governors served as priming of counter-stereotypes. Measurements of creativity were based on the poster paradigm. The poster paradigm required participants to design a poster for a college fellowship party. In Experiment 2, we recruited 104 participants to examine the mediating roles of emotions and cognitive flexibility. The procedure of Experiment 2 was similar to that of Experiment 1, except for the measurement of creativity, which was Chinese idiom riddle test. Participants who selected more creative answers were more creative, based on the criteria of our experimental design. Also, we included measurements of emotions (i.e., surprise and delight) and cognitive flexibility (using the Cognitive Flexibility Scale) after priming of stereotypes and counter-stereotypes in Experiment 2. We also verified the credibility of our counter-stereotype measurements. The results of Experiment 1—which replicated previous studies—demonstrated that priming of counter-stereotypes promoted creative performance compared with priming of stereotypes in the poster paradigm. However, our proposed dual processing pathways were not fully verified by Experiment 2. The results of this experiment showed that neither surprising nor delighted emotion mediated the influence of counter-stereotypes on creativity, whereas cognitive flexibility did. In conclusion, our current study reveals a mechanism of creative performance in terms of cognitive flexibility, and further inspires us to focus on the positive influence of counter-stereotypes on creativity.

Temporal Immediacy: A Two-System Theory of Mind for Understanding and Changing Health Behaviors

BACKGROUND

Health promotion and chronic disease management both require behavior change, but people find it hard to change behavior despite having good intentions. The problem arises because patients' narratives about experiences and intentions are filtered through memory and language. These narratives inaccurately reflect intuitive decision-making or actual behaviors.

OBJECTIVES

We propose a principle-temporal immediacy-as a moderator variable that explains which of two mental systems (narrative or intuitive) will be activated in any given situation. We reviewed multiple scientific areas to test temporal immediacy as an explanation for findings.

METHODS

In an iterative process, we used evidence from philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral economics, symptom science, and ecological momentary assessment to develop our theoretical perspective. These perspectives each suggest two cognitive systems that differ in their level of temporal immediacy: an intuitive system that produces behavior in response to everyday states and a narrative system that interprets and explains these experiences after the fact.

FINDINGS

Writers from Plato onward describe two competing influences on behavior-often with moral overtones. People tend to identify with the language-based narrative system and blame unhelpful results on the less accessible intuitive system, but neither is completely rational, and the intuitive system has strengths based on speed and serial processing. The systems differ based on temporal immediacy-the description of an experience as either "now" or "usually"-with the intuitive system generating behaviors automatically in real time and the narrative system producing beliefs about the past or future.

DISCUSSION

The principle of temporal immediacy is a tool to integrate nursing science with other disciplinary traditions and to improve research and practice. Interventions should build on each system's strengths, rather than treating the intuitive system as a barrier for the narrative system to overcome. Nursing researchers need to study the roles and effects of both systems.

Gender differences in parieto-frontal brain functional connectivity correlates of creativity

INTRODUCTION

Creativity is a complex construct that lies at the core of what has made human civilizations possible. One frequently used measure of creativity is the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults that yields an overall creativity score. In this study, we examine the relationship between the task-related differences in brain functional connectivity and the creativity score in a male and female group of participants.

METHODS

Brain functional connectivity was estimated from the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) event-related partial coherence in a group of 27 females and 27 males while they performed a low-demand visual vigilance task and the A-X version of the Continuous Performance Task. Task-related differences in brain functional connectivity (ΔFC) were correlated with the creativity score separately in the female and male groups.

RESULTS

We found that the creativity score was correlated with a parieto-frontal ΔFC component for both the female and male groups. However, significant gender differences were observed in both the timing and the laterality of the parietal component. Females exhibited a left parietal to bilateral frontal ΔFC component correlated with creativity score and this peaked on the appearance of a target in both tasks. By contrast, males demonstrated a right parietal to bilateral frontal ΔFC component correlated with creativity score which peaked on the appearance of the letter following the targets.

CONCLUSION

These findings are discussed in the context of the role of the Default Mode Network in creativity, and the role of gender-related differences in cortical networks that mediate creativity.

Estimation of Functional Connectivity Modulations During Task Engagement and Their Neurovascular Underpinnings Through Hemodynamic Reorganization Method

This study proposes an approach to understand the effect of task engagement through integrated analysis of modulations in functional networks and associated changes in their neurovascular underpinnings at every voxel. For this purpose, a novel approach that brings reorganization in acquired task-functional magnetic resonance imaging information based on hemodynamic characteristics of every task stimulus is proposed and validated. At first, modulations in functional networks of visual target detection task were estimated at every voxel through proposed methodology. It revealed task stimulus dependency in the modulation of default mode network (DMN). The DMN modulated as task negative network (TNN) during target stimulus. On the contrary, it was not entirely TNN during nontarget stimulus. The frontal-parietal and visual networks modulated as task positive network during both task stimuli. Further, modulations of neurovascular underpinnings associated with engagement of task were estimated by correlating the hemodynamically reorganized task blood oxygen level dependent information with simultaneously acquired electroencephalography frequency powers. It revealed the strong association of neurovascular underpinnings with their modulation of functional networks and the associated neuronal activity during task engagement. Finally, graph theoretical parameters such as local, global efficiency and clustering coefficient were also measured at the specific regions for validating the results of proposed method. Modulation observed in graph theory measures clearly validated the activation and deactivation of functional networks observed by the proposed method during task engagement. Thus, the voxel-wise estimation of task-related modulation of functional networks and associated neurovascular underpinnings through proposed technique provide better insights into neuronal mechanism involved during engagement in a task.

Creative exploration as a scale-invariant search on a meaning landscape

Can knowledge accumulated in systems biology on mechanisms governing cell behavior help us to elucidate cognitive processes, such as human creative search? To address this, we focus on the property of scale invariance, which allows sensory systems to adapt to environmental signals spanning orders of magnitude. For example, bacteria search for nutrients, by responding to relative changes in nutrient concentration rather than absolute levels, via a sensory mechanism termed fold-change detection (FCD). Scale invariance is prevalent in cognition, yet the specific mechanisms are mostly unknown. Here, we screen many possible dynamic equation topologies, to find that an FCD model best describes creative search dynamics. The model further predicts robustness to variations in meaning perception, in agreement with behavioral data. We thus suggest FCD as a specific mechanism for scale invariant search, connecting sensory processes of cells and cognitive processes in human.

The Dynamics of Creative Ideation: Introducing a New Assessment Paradigm

Despite six decades of creative cognition research, measures of creative ideation have heavily relied on divergent thinking tasks, which still suffer from conceptual, design, and psychometric shortcomings. These shortcomings have greatly impeded the accurate study of creative ideation, its dynamics, development, and integration as part of a comprehensive psychological assessment. After a brief overview of the historical and current anchoring of creative ideation measurement, overlooked challenges in its most common operationalization (i.e., divergent thinking tasks framework) are discussed. They include (1) the reliance on a single stimulus as a starting point of the creative ideation process (stimulus-dependency), (2) the analysis of response quality based on a varying number of observations across test-takers (fluency-dependency), and (3) the production of "static" cumulative performance indicators. Inspired from an emerging line of work from the field of cognitive neuroscience of creativity, this paper introduces a new assessment framework referred to as "Multi-Trial Creative Ideation" (MTCI). This framework shifts the current measurement paradigm by (1) offering a variety of stimuli presented in a well-defined set of ideation "trials," (2) reinterprets the concept of ideational fluency using a time-analysis of idea generation, and (3) captures individual dynamics in the ideation process (e.g., modeling the effort-time required to reach a response of maximal uncommonness) while controlling for stimulus-specific sources of variation. Advantages of the MTCI framework over the classic divergent thinking paradigm are discussed in light of current directions in the field of creativity research.

Core Network Contributions to Remembering the Past, Imagining the Future, and Thinking Creatively

The core network refers to a set of neural regions that have been consistently associated with episodic memory retrieval and episodic future simulation. This network is thought to support the constructive thought processes that allow the retrieval and flexible combination of stored information to reconstruct past and construct novel future experiences. Recent behavioral research points to an overlap between these constructive processes and those also engaged during divergent thinking-the ability to think creatively and generate novel ideas-but the extent to which they involve common neural correlates remains unclear. Using fMRI, we sought to address this question by assessing brain activity as participants recalled past experiences, simulated future experiences, or engaged in divergent thinking. Consistent with past work, we found that episodic retrieval and future simulation activated the core network compared with a semantic control condition. Critically, a triple conjunction of episodic retrieval, future simulation, and divergent thinking revealed common engagement of core network regions, including the bilateral hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, as well as other regions involved in memory retrieval (inferior frontal gyrus) and mental imagery (middle occipital gyrus). The results provide further insight into the roles of the hippocampus and the core network in episodic memory retrieval, future simulation, and divergent thinking and extend recent work highlighting the involvement of constructive episodic processes in creative cognition.

Cognitive Profiles and Atrophy Ratings on MRI in Senior Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment

In this cross-sectional study, we sought to describe cognitive and neuroimaging profiles of Memory clinic patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). 51 MCI patients and 51 controls, matched on age, sex, and socio-economic status (SES), were assessed with an extensive neuropsychological test battery that included a measure of intelligence (General Ability Index, "GAI," from WAIS-IV), and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MCI subtypes were determined after inclusion, and z-scores normalized to our control group were generated for each cognitive domain in each MCI participant. MR-images were scored by visual rating scales. MCI patients performed significantly worse than controls on 23 of 31 cognitive measures (Bonferroni corrected p = 0.001), and on 8 of 31 measures after covarying for intelligence (GAI). Compared to nonamnestic MCI patients, amnestic MCI patients had lower test results in 13 of 31 measures, and 5 of 31 measures after co-varying for GAI. Compared to controls, the MCI patients had greater atrophy on Schelten's Medial temporal lobe atrophy score (MTA), especially in those with amnestic MCI. The only structure-function correlation that remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons was the MTA-long delay recall domain. Intelligence operationalized as GAI appears to be an important moderator of the neuropsychological outcomes. Atrophy of the medial temporal lobe, based on MTA scores, may be a sensitive biomarker for the functional episodic memory deficits associated with MCI.

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity

Design cognition is a human cognitive ability that is characterized by multi-faceted skills and competencies. This skill requires finding solutions for a vague problem, where the end point is not specified and the transformations from the problem state to the solution state are also flexible. Designers solve such tasks regularly, but the mental processes involved in such a skill are not known completely. Design research has involved empirical studies and theoretical modeling to understand the cognitive processes underlying this skill. In lab-based studies, a sub-class of problem-solving tasks called “ill-structured” tasks has been used to study the design process. However, the use of a cognitive neuroscience perspective has only been nascent. In this review, some defining features of design creativity will be elucidated and a few cognitive neuroscience studies of design creativity that shows the underlying brain networks will be highlighted. Results from these experiments using ill-structured tasks along with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show that the brain networks underlying design creativity only partially overlap with brain networks underlying other kinds of creativity. This argues for studying design creativity as a unique subset of creativity using experiments that mimic the real-world design creative processes.

Creative aging: functional brain networks associated with divergent thinking in older and younger adults

Creative thinking is associated with connectivity between the default and executive control networks in the young brain. In aging, this pattern of functional coupling has been observed across multiple tasks. We have described this as the Default-Executive Coupling Hypothesis of Aging and suggest that this connectivity pattern may also be associated with creativity in older adulthood. However, age differences in brain networks implicated in creativity have yet to be investigated. The overarching goal of the present study was to examine age-related changes to functional brain networks associated with creativity. Specifically, we explored functional connectivity patterns among default and executive control brain regions associated with creative thoughts in older and younger adults. In a cross-sectional design, young (mean age = 21 y; n = 30) and older (mean age = 70 y; n = 25) participants completed a divergent thinking task during fMRI, which was examined using region of interest functional connectivity analyses. Consistent with predictions, analyses demonstrated that default and executive networks are more functionally coupled during creative thinking for older than younger adults. Critically, despite similar performance on an in-scanner creativity task, increased network efficiency was associated with creative ability for older adults only. These findings provide novel evidence of default-executive coupling as a putative mechanism associated with creative ability in later life.

Modulations of human resting brain connectivity by kisspeptin enhance sexual and emotional functions

BACKGROUND

Resting brain connectivity is a crucial component of human behavior demonstrated by disruptions in psychosexual and emotional disorders. Kisspeptin, a recently identified critical reproductive hormone, can alter activity in certain brain structures but its effects on resting brain connectivity and networks in humans remain elusive.

METHODS

We determined the effects of kisspeptin on resting brain connectivity (using functional neuroimaging) and behavior (using psychometric analyses) in healthy men, in a randomized double-blinded 2-way placebo-controlled study.

RESULTS

Kisspeptin's modulation of the default mode network (DMN) correlated with increased limbic activity in response to sexual stimuli (globus pallidus r = 0.500, P = 0.005; cingulate r = 0.475, P = 0.009). Furthermore, kisspeptin's DMN modulation was greater in men with less reward drive (r = -0.489, P = 0.008) and predicted reduced sexual aversion (r = -0.499, P = 0.006), providing key functional significance. Kisspeptin also enhanced key mood connections including between the amygdala-cingulate, hippocampus-cingulate, and hippocampus-globus pallidus (all P < 0.05). Consistent with this, kisspeptin's enhancement of hippocampus-globus pallidus connectivity predicted increased responses to negative stimuli in limbic structures (including the thalamus and cingulate [all P < 0.01]).

CONCLUSION

Taken together, our data demonstrate a previously unknown role for kisspeptin in the modulation of functional brain connectivity and networks, integrating these with reproductive hormones and behaviors. Our findings that kisspeptin modulates resting brain connectivity to enhance sexual and emotional processing and decrease sexual aversion, provide foundation for kisspeptin-based therapies for associated disorders of body and mind.

FUNDING

NIHR, MRC, and Wellcome Trust.

A Neuroeconomic Framework for Creative Cognition

Neuroeconomics is the study of the neurobiological bases of subjective preferences and choices. We present a novel framework that synthesizes findings from the literatures on neuroeconomics and creativity to provide a neurobiological description of creative cognition. We propose that value-based decision-making processes and activity in the locus ceruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) neuromodulatory system underlie creative cognition, as well as the large-scale brain network dynamics shown to be associated with creativity. This reconceptualization leads to several falsifiable hypotheses that can further understanding of creativity, decision making, and brain network dynamics.

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.

Meta-analytic evidence for a core problem solving network across multiple representational domains

Problem solving is a complex skill engaging multi-stepped reasoning processes to find unknown solutions. The breadth of real-world contexts requiring problem solving is mirrored by a similarly broad, yet unfocused neuroimaging literature, and the domain-general or context-specific brain networks associated with problem solving are not well understood. To more fully characterize those brain networks, we performed activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis on 280 neuroimaging problem solving experiments reporting 3166 foci from 1919 individuals across 131 papers. The general map of problem solving revealed broad fronto-cingulo-parietal convergence, regions similarly identified when considering separate mathematical, verbal, and visuospatial problem solving domain-specific analyses. Conjunction analysis revealed a common network supporting problem solving across diverse contexts, and difference maps distinguished functionally-selective sub-networks specific to task type. Our results suggest cooperation between representationally specialized sub-network and whole-brain systems provide a neural basis for problem solving, with the core network contributing general purpose resources to perform cognitive operations and manage problem demand. Further characterization of cross-network dynamics could inform neuroeducational studies on problem solving skill development.

On the Dependability and Feasibility of Layperson Ratings of Divergent Thinking

A new system for subjective rating of responses to divergent thinking tasks was tested using raters recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. The rationale for the study was to determine if such raters could provide reliable (aka generalizable) ratings from the perspective of generalizability theory. To promote reliability across the Alternative Uses and Consequence task prompts often used by researchers as measures of Divergent Thinking, two parallel scales were developed to facilitate feasibility and validity of ratings performed by laypeople. Generalizability and dependability studies were conducted separately for two scoring systems: the average-rating system and the snapshot system. Results showed that it is difficult to achieve adequate reliability using the snapshot system, while good reliability can be achieved on both task families using the average-rating system and a specific number of items and raters. Additionally, the construct validity of the average-rating system is generally good, with less validity for certain Consequences items. Recommendations for researchers wishing to adopt the new scales are discussed, along with broader issues of generalizability of subjective creativity ratings.

On Curiosity: A Fundamental Aspect of Personality, a Practice of Network Growth

Human personality is reflected in patterns-or networks-of behavior, either in thought or action. Curiosity is an oft-treasured component of one's personality, commonly associated with information-seeking proclivities with distinct neurophysiological correlates. The markers of curiosity can differ substantially across people, suggesting the possibility that personality also determines the architectural style of one's curiosity. Yet progress in defining those styles, and marking their neurophysiological basis, has been hampered by fairly fundamental difficulties in defining curiosity itself. Here, we offer and exercise a definition of the practice of curiosity as knowledge network building, one particular pattern of thought behavior. To unpack this definition and motivate its utility, we begin with a short primer on network science and describe how the mathematical object of a network can be used to map items and relations that are characteristic of bodies of knowledge. Next, we turn to a discussion of how networks grow, how their growth can be modeled, and how the practice of curiosity can be formalized as a process of network growth. We pay particular attention to how individuals may differ in how they build their knowledge networks, and discuss how the sort, manner, and action of building can be modulated by experience. We discuss how this definition of the practice of curiosity motivates new experiments and theory development at the interdisciplinary intersection of network science, personality neuroscience, education, and curiosity studies. We close with a note on the potential of network science to inform studies of other domains of personality, and the patterns of thought- or action-behavior characteristic thereof.

Longitudinal Alterations of Frontoparietal and Frontotemporal Networks Predict Future Creative Cognitive Ability

Creative cognition is important to academic performance and career success during late adolescence and adulthood. However, there is a lack of longitudinal data on whether brain structural development could predict improvements in creative thinking, and how such changes interact with other cognitive abilities to support creative performance. Here we examined longitudinal alterations of brain structure and their relation to creative cognitive ability in a sample of 159 healthy young adults who were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging 2-3 times over the course of 3 years. The most robust predictor of future creative ability was the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which in conjunction with baseline creative capacity showed a 31% prediction rate. Longitudinal analysis revealed that slower decreases in gray matter density within left frontoparietal and right frontotemporal clusters predicted enhanced creative ability. Moreoever, the relationship between longitudinal alterations within frontal-related clusters and improved creative ability was moderated by the right DLPFC and working memory ability. We conclude that continuous goal-directed planning and accumulated knowledge are implemented in the right DLPFC and temporal areas, respectively, which in turn support longitudinal gains in creative cognitive ability.

Promoting Creativity Through Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). A Critical Review

Creativity, meant as the ability to produce novel, original and suitable ideas, has received increased attention by research in the last years, especially from neuroaesthetics and social neuroscience. Besides the research conducted on the neural correlates of such capacities, previous work tried to answer the question of whether it is possible to enhance creativity through cognitive and neural stimulation. In particular, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been applied to increase neuronal excitability in those areas related to creativity. However, being a complex construct that applies to a huge variety of situations, available results are often confusing and inconsistent. Thus, in the present critical review, after selecting original research articles investigating creativity with tDCS, results will be reviewed and framed according to the different effects of tDCS and its underlying mechanisms, which can be defined as follows: the promotion of self-focused attention; the disruption of inhibiting mechanisms; the enhancement of creative thinking; the promotion of artistic enactment. Finally, a theoretical perspective, the creative on/off model, will be provided to integrate the reported evidence with respect to both anatomical and functional issues and propose a cognitive explanation of the emergence of creative thinking.

The neural underpinnings of cross-cultural differences in creativity

Whereas Western individualistic cultures emphasize uniqueness, collectivistic East-Asian cultures discourage it. Here we examined whether cross-cultural differences in creativity as measured by a task of divergent thinking (DT) are explained by enhanced activity in brain regions that mediate inhibitory control (e.g., the left inferior frontal gyrus [L-IFG]). We therefore predicted that the L-IFG would be "hyperactive" among individuals from East-Asian cultures compared to Western ones. In Study 1, Israeli and South Korean participants were compared on a classic DT task (AUT; "Alternate uses: Manual of instructions and interpretation"). Israelis generated more original ideas compared to South Koreans. In Study 2, Israeli participants and South Korean participants currently living in Israel were scanned while performing the AUT. In line with previous studies, the results indicate that generation of original ideas across cultures is associated with activation of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), which is part of the default mode network (DMN). As hypothesized, South Koreans showed enhanced activation of the L-IFG compared to Israelis. This enhanced activation was associated with lower originality scores. The cultural dimension of traditionalism, being higher in the South Korean sample than in the Israeli Sample, was related to enhance L-IFG activity, further supporting our hypothesis regarding cultural influences on inhibitory control. Furthermore, functional connectivity analysis indicated that activation of the L-IFG was positively coupled with PCC activity among Israelis and with preSMA activity among South Koreans. The results suggest that cross-cultural differences in creativity might be explained by variations in inhibitory control.

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.

Spontaneous Cognition and Epistemic Agency in the Cognitive Niche

According to Thomas Metzinger, many human cognitive processes in the waking state are spontaneous and are deprived of the experience of epistemic agency. He considers mind wandering as a paradigm example of our recurring loss of epistemic agency. I will enrich this view by extending the scope of the concept of epistemic agency to include cases of depressive rumination and creative cognition, which are additional types of spontaneous cognition. Like mind wandering, they are characterized by unique phenomenal and functional properties that give rise to varying degrees of epistemic agency. The main claim of this paper will be that the experience of being an epistemic agent within a certain time frame is a relational phenomenon that emerges from the organism’s capacity to interact with its cognitive niche. To explore this relation, I develop a new framework that integrates phenomenological considerations on epistemic agency with a functional account of the reciprocal coupling of the embodied organism with its cognitive niche. This account rests upon dynamical accounts of strong embodied and embedded cognition and recent work on cognitive niche construction. Importantly, epistemic agency and organism-niche coupling are gradual phenomena ranging from weak to strong realizations. The emerging framework will be employed to analyze mind wandering, depressive rumination, and creative cognition as well as their commonalities and differences. Mind wandering and depressive rumination are cases of weak epistemic agency and organism-niche coupling. However, there are also important phenomenological, functional, and neuronal differences. In contrast, creative cognition is a case of strong epistemic agency and organism-niche coupling. By providing a phenomenological and functional analysis of these distinct types of spontaneous cognition, we can gain a better understanding of the importance of organism-niche interaction for the realization of epistemic agency.

The Relationships Between Cognitive Reserve and Creativity. A Study on American Aging Population

The Cognitive Reserve (CR) hypothesis suggests that the brain actively attempts to cope with neural damages by using pre-existing cognitive processing approaches or by enlisting compensatory approaches. This would allow an individual with high CR to better cope with aging than an individual with lower CR. Many of the proxies used to assess CR indirectly refer to the flexibility of thought. The present paper aims at directly exploring the relationships between CR and creativity, a skill that includes flexible thinking. We tested a sample of 72 adults (aged between 45 and 78) assessing both their level of CR and their creativity. To evaluate CR we used the proxies commonly used in literature, namely, three subtests from the WAIS (vocabulary, similarities, and digit span) and the years of education. We also used an ad-hoc test asking people to report how frequently they tend to perform activities that are believed to increase CR. We used verbal creativity tasks (alternative uses and generation of acronyms) to assess individual levels of creativity. We asked participants to describe their main occupation (present or past) and coded each occupation as creative or not creative. Results (controlling for age-related differences) showed that scores from the WAIS correlated positively with creativity performance, even though correlations varied across the subtests. Focusing on the frequency and type of activities that people perform, and comparing individuals who have or had a creative job to those with a routine job, a clear relationship between creativity and CR emerged. This effect was more relevant than the level of job complexity. Implications for the study of CR and aging are discussed.

Changes in Brain Activation Associated with Spontaneous Improvization and Figural Creativity After Design-Thinking-Based Training: A Longitudinal fMRI Study

Creativity is widely recognized as an essential skill for entrepreneurial success and adaptation to daily-life demands. However, we know little about the neural changes associated with creative capacity enhancement. For the first time, using a prospective, randomized control design, we examined longitudinal changes in brain activity associated with participating in a five-week design-thinking-based Creative Capacity Building Program (CCBP), when compared with Language Capacity Building Program (LCBP). Creativity, an elusive and multifaceted construct, is loosely defined as an ability to produce useful/appropriate and novel outcomes. Here, we focus on one of the facets of creative thinking-spontaneous improvization. Participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention for spontaneous improvization skills using a game-like figural Pictionary-based fMRI task. Whole-brain group-by-time interaction revealed reduced task-related activity in CCBP participants (compared with LCBP participants) after training in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior/paracingulate gyrus, supplementary motor area, and parietal regions. Further, greater cerebellar-cerebral connectivity was observed in CCBP participants at post-intervention when compared with LCBP participants. In sum, our results suggest that improvization-based creative capacity enhancement is associated with reduced engagement of executive functioning regions and increased involvement of spontaneous implicit processing.

Large-scale brain network associated with creative insight: combined voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity analyses

Creative insight occurs with an “Aha!” experience when solving a difficult problem. Here, we investigated large-scale networks associated with insight problem solving. We recruited 232 healthy participants aged 21–69 years old. Participants completed a magnetic resonance imaging study (MRI; structural imaging and a 10 min resting-state functional MRI) and an insight test battery (ITB) consisting of written questionnaires (matchstick arithmetic task, remote associates test, and insight problem solving task). To identify the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) associated with individual creative insight, we conducted an exploratory voxel-based morphometry (VBM)-constrained RSFC analysis. We identified positive correlations between ITB score and grey matter volume (GMV) in the right insula and middle cingulate cortex/precuneus, and a negative correlation between ITB score and GMV in the left cerebellum crus 1 and right supplementary motor area. We applied seed-based RSFC analysis to whole brain voxels using the seeds obtained from the VBM and identified insight-positive/negative connections, i.e. a positive/negative correlation between the ITB score and individual RSFCs between two brain regions. Insight-specific connections included motor-related regions whereas creative-common connections included a default mode network. Our results indicate that creative insight requires a coupling of multiple networks, such as the default mode, semantic and cerebral-cerebellum networks.

Structural correlates of Openness and Intellect: Implications for the contribution of personality to creativity

Openness/Intellect (i.e., openness to experience) is the Big Five personality factor most consistently associated with individual differences in creativity. Recent psychometric evidence has demonstrated that this factor consists of two distinct aspects-Intellect and Openness. Whereas Intellect reflects perceived intelligence and intellectual engagement, Openness reflects engagement with fantasy, perception, and aesthetics. We investigated the extent to which Openness and Intellect are associated with variations in brain structure as measured by cortical thickness, area, and volume (N = 185). Our results demonstrated that Openness was correlated inversely with cortical thickness and volume in left middle frontal gyrus (BA 6), middle temporal gyrus (MTG, BA 21), and superior temporal gyrus (BA 41), and exclusively with cortical thickness in left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, BA 45), and MTG (BA 37). When age and sex were statistically controlled for, the inverse correlations between Openness and cortical thickness remained statistically significant for all regions except left MTG, whereas the correlations involving cortical volume remained statistically significant only for left middle frontal gyrus. There was no statistically significant correlation between Openness and cortical area, and no statistically significant correlation between Intellect and cortical thickness, area, or volume. Our results demonstrate that individual differences in Openness are correlated with variation in brain structure-particularly as indexed by cortical thickness. Given the involvement of the above regions in processes related to memory and cognitive control, we discuss the implications of our findings for the possible contribution of personality to creative cognition.

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate increases brain resting-state functional connectivity of the salience network and dorsal nexus in humans

According to the triple network hypothesis the brain is equipped with three core neurocognitive networks: the default mode (DMN), the salience (SN), and the central executive (CEN) network. Moreover, the so called dorsal nexus, has met growing interest as it is a hub region connecting these three networks. Assessment of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of these networks enables the elucidation of drug-induced brain alterations. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a GHB/GABA-B receptor agonist that induces a paradoxical state of mixed stimulation and sedation at moderate doses, which makes it a valuable tool to investigate neural signatures of subjective drug effects. Employing a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, cross-over design, we assessed the effects of GHB (35 mg/kg p. o.) in 19 healthy male subjects on DMN-, SN-, CEN-, and dorsal nexus-rsFC measured by functional magnet resonance imaging and applying independent component as well as seed-based analyses, while subjective drug effects were investigated using visual analog scales (VAS). Subjectively, GHB increased VAS ratings of a general drug effect, stimulation, and sedation. Intrinsic DMN-, and CEN-rsFC remained largely unchanged under GHB, but the drug increased SN-DMN-rsFC and SN-dorsal nexus-rsFC, while dorsal nexus-rsFC was reciprocally increased to both the SN (right anterior insula) and to the CEN (right middle frontal gyrus). Increased sedation significantly predicted the observed SN-dorsal nexus-rsFC. In conclusion, GHB generates a unique stimulant/sedative subjective state that is paralleled by a complex pattern of increased functional connectivity encompassing all three core neurocognitive networks of the brain, while increased SN-dorsal nexus-rsFC was demonstrated to be a potential signature of the sedative component of the drug effect.

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.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with enhanced hippocampal functional connectivity in healthy young adults

Consistent associations have been found between higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and indices of enhanced brain health and function, including behavioral measures of cognition as well as neuroimaging indicators such as regional brain volume. Several studies have reported that higher CRF levels are associated with a larger hippocampus, yet associations between volume and memory or functional connectivity metrics remain poorly understood. Using a multi-modal framework, we hierarchically examine the association between CRF and hippocampal volume and resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in younger adults, as well as their relationship between with memory function. We conducted theoretically-driven analyses with seeds in the anterior and posterior hippocampus, as well as control seeds in the caudate nucleus. We tested whether (1) hippocampal connectivity with prefrontal cortical regions was associated with CRF in an adult sample much younger than traditionally tested, (2) associations between CRF and rsFC remain significant after adjusting for volume, and (3) volume and rsFC are related to memory. We found that higher CRF levels were associated with larger anterior hippocampal volume and more positive rsFC of the anterior hippocampus to several regions including the prefrontal cortex. rsFC also accounted for significant variance in CRF, above and beyond volume. CRF can thus be independently linked to increased anterior hippocampal volume, as well as stronger hippocampal rsFC in a population much younger than those typically tested, suggesitng it is critical to maintainig multiple aspects of brain health.