Functional neuroimaging of visual creativity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Investigating the neural substrate variations between easy and challenging creative association tasks during product design within an fMRI scanner

In practice, individuals strive to develop highly original and valuable creative products within specific limitations. However, previous functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies focused on divergent-thinking tasks without considering the "valuableness" of an idea. Additionally, different types of creative tasks (e.g., the easier association vs. the harder association task) may engage distinct cognitive processes. This study aimed to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms associated with different types of creative thinking, specifically focusing on the generation of the most original and valuable creative product within an fMRI scanner. Twenty-one college students participated in a block design study. During each trial, participants were instructed to draw the most original and valuable product inspired by a given figure. The findings revealed that, in comparison to the harder association task, the easier association task led to broader activation across multiple brain regions. However, this broader activation resulted in inefficient thinking and poorer creative performance. Notably, the orbitofrontal cortex exhibited activation across various creativity tasks and displayed connectivity with several seed brain regions, highlighting the importance of decision-making when only one original and valuable product design is allowed. Furthermore, the complex functional connectivity observed between different brain networks reflects the intricate nature of creative thinking. To conclude, widespread activation of brain regions does not necessarily indicate superior creativity. Instead, optimal creative performance within constraints is achieved through an efficient utilization of association for generating innovative ideas, inhibition for suppressing unoriginal ideas, and decision-making to select the most creative idea.

Impaired creative cognition after surgery for an IDH-mutated glioma: A proof-of-concept study

Assessment of high cognitive functions, such as creativity, is often overlooked in medical practice. However, it is crucial to understand the impact of brain tumors, specifically low-grade gliomas, on creative cognition, as these tumors predominantly affect brain regions associated with cognitive creativity. In this study, we investigated creative cognition using the Alternative Uses Task (AUT) and the Combination of Associates Task (CAT) in a cohort of 29 patients who underwent brain surgery for a low-grade glioma, along with 27 control participants. While the group of patients did not exhibit deficits in clinical neuropsychological assessments, our results revealed significant impairment in generating original and creative ideas compared to the control group. Furthermore, when analyzing the specific brain regions affected by the tumors, patients with lesions overlapping the left rostro-lateral prefrontal cortex, a critical region for creativity, displayed more pronounced impairments in the CAT compared to patients with lesions outside this region. These findings provide proof of concept that patients can experience impaired creative cognition following surgery for low-grade glioma, highlighting the importance of assessing higher-order cognitive functions, including creativity, in neurosurgical patients. Moreover, beyond its clinical relevance, our study contributes to advancing our understanding of the neuroscience of creativity.

Psychological resilience-related functional connectomes predict creative personality

Both psychological resilience and creativity are complex concepts that have positive effects on individual adaptation. Previous studies have shown overlaps between the key brain regions or brain functional networks related to psychological resilience and creativity. However, no direct experimental evidence has been provided to support the assumption that psychological resilience and creativity share a common brain basis. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between psychological resilience and creativity using neural imaging method with a machine learning approach. At the behavioral level, we found that psychological resilience was positively related to creative personality. Predictive analysis based on static functional connectivity (FC) and dynamic FC demonstrated that FCs related to psychological resilience could effectively predict an individual's creative personality score. Both the static FC and dynamic FC were mainly located in the default mode network. These results prove that psychological resilience and creativity share a common brain functional basis. These findings also provide insights into the possibility of promoting individual positive adaptation from negative events or situations in a creative way.

Supporting youth mental health with arts-based strategies: a global perspective

The devastating impact of youth mental health concerns is increasingly evident on a global scale. This crisis calls for innovative solutions that are sufficiently accessible, scalable, and cost-effective to support diverse communities around the world. One such solution involves engagement in the arts: incorporating and building upon existing local resources and cultural practices to bolster youth mental health. In this article, we describe the global youth mental health crisis and note major gaps in the knowledge and resources needed to address it. We then discuss the potential for arts- and culture-based strategies to help meet this challenge, review the mounting evidence regarding art's ability to support mental health, and call for action to undertake critical research and its translation into accessible community practices. Four steps are suggested: (1) elevate and prioritize youth voice, (2) develop core outcome measures, (3) identify and analyze successful models around the globe, and (4) generate clear funding pathways for research and translational efforts. Worldwide implementation of arts- and culture-based strategies to address youth mental health will provide critical resources to support the health, wellbeing and flourishing of countless youth across the globe.

Enhanced white matter fiber tract of the cortical visual system in visual artists: implications for creativity

Introduction

This study aimed to examine the white matter characteristics of visual artists (VAs) in terms of visual creativity and the structural connectivity within the cortical visual system.

Methods

Diffusion spectrum imaging was utilized to examine the changes in white matter within the cortical visual system of a group of VAs (n = 25) in comparison to a group of healthy controls matched for age and education (n = 24). To assess the integrity of white matter and its relationship with visual creativity, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using region-based and track-specific tractographic examinations.

Results

Our study uncovered that VAs demonstrated increased normalized quantitative anisotropy in specific brain regions, including the right inferior temporal gyrus and right lateral occipital gyrus, along with the corresponding white matter fiber tracts connecting these regions. These enhancements within the cortical visual system were also found to be correlated with measures of visual creativity obtained through psychological assessments.

Discussion

The noted enhancement in the white matter within the cortical visual system of VAs, along with its association with visual creativity, is consistent with earlier research demonstrating heightened functional connectivity in the same system among VAs. Our study's findings suggest a link between the visual creativity of VAs and structural alterations within the brain's visual system.

A Supervised Machine Learning Approach to Classify Brain Morphology of Professional Visual Artists versus Non-Artists

This study aimed to investigate whether there are structural differences in the brains of professional artists who received formal training in the visual arts and non-artists who did not have any formal training or professional experience in the visual arts, and whether these differences can be used to accurately classify individuals as being an artist or not. Previous research using functional MRI has suggested that general creativity involves a balance between the default mode network and the executive control network. However, it is not known whether there are structural differences between the brains of artists and non-artists. In this study, a machine learning method called Multi-Kernel Learning (MKL) was applied to gray matter images of 12 artists and 12 non-artists matched for age and gender. The results showed that the predictive model was able to correctly classify artists from non-artists with an accuracy of 79.17% (AUC 88%), and had the ability to predict new cases with an accuracy of 81.82%. The brain regions most important for this classification were the Heschl area, amygdala, cingulate, thalamus, and parts of the parietal and occipital lobes as well as the temporal pole. These regions may be related to the enhanced emotional and visuospatial abilities that professional artists possess compared to non-artists. Additionally, the reliability of this circuit was assessed using two different classifiers, which confirmed the findings. There was also a trend towards significance between the circuit and a measure of vividness of imagery, further supporting the idea that these brain regions may be related to the imagery abilities involved in the artistic process.

Cognitive control in creative discovery: The gap between ideal and reality

Creative discovery involves discovering the additional values of existing things in the environment by identifying the novel associations between seemingly unrelated things; the judgment made in this process is expected to be accurate but not entirely correct. From the perspective of cognitive processing, what is the difference between the ideal and real states of creative discovery? This is largely unknown. In this study, a daily life scenario was presented, and a great number of seemingly unrelated tools were presented for participants to discover valuable tools. Electrophysiological activity was recorded when participants identified tools, and we then retrospectively analyzed the differences between responses. Compared with usual tools, unusual tools evoked greater N2, N400 and late sustained potential (LSP) amplitudes, which was likely associated with the monitoring and resolution of cognitive conflicts. Moreover, unusual tools evoked smaller N400 and greater LSP amplitudes when correctly identified as usable than when identified as unusable; this result suggested that creative discovery in the ideal state should depend on the cognitive control involved in resolving conflicts. However, in the comparison between subjectively rated usable and unusable tools, smaller N400 and greater LSP amplitudes were observed only when unusual tools could be identified by expanding the application scope but not by releasing functional fixedness; this outcome suggested that creative discovery in the real state was not always influenced by the cognitive control involved in resolving conflicts. The difference in cognitive control that should be exerted and that was actually exerted to identify novel associations was discussed.

Women and men have a similar potential for malevolent creativity - But their underlying brain mechanisms are different

Research interest in gender differences in aggression and creative ideation cumulates in the phenomenon of malevolent creativity. Taking another critical step in understanding malevolent creativity, we investigated gender differences in brain activation and functional coupling of cortical sites in the EEG alpha band while n = 88 women and men purposefully generated malevolent creative ideas for taking revenge on others. Results showed that malevolent creativity performance between the genders was similar; however, their underlying EEG patterns were markedly different. While women exhibited a steep decrease of task-related alpha power from frontal to left central-temporal, men's malevolent creative ideation was characterized by a more diffuse pattern of task-related alpha power changes, along with decreased frontal-central coupling. Per interpretation, women's malevolent creative thinking may more strongly rely on controlled semantic memory retrieval and novel re-combination of social/relationship information, while men may utilize more automatic motor-related imagery that may predominantly facilitate physical revenge ideation. Our findings add novel evidence to the idea that women and men engage different neurocognitive strategies to achieve similar creative performance and may help to further illuminate the darker side of creative ideation.

Functional brain activation patterns of creative metacognitive monitoring

Creative metacognitive monitoring represents the ability to accurately evaluate the quality of own ideas during idea generation. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first EEG investigation of creative metacognitive monitoring in the brain, using data, of 100 participants, who generated single, original uses of common objects (alternate uses task). After each response, participants subjectively rated the creative quality of their idea. Additionally, five independent external judges rated the creative quality of all ideas. The correspondence between the subjective and the external performance ratings served as a measure of monitoring accuracy. We applied a generalized linear mixed effects model to investigate effects of creative metacognitive monitoring and creative potential on EEG activity in the alpha band at idea and person level. Participants with both higher monitoring skills and higher creative potential showed stronger alpha power decreases at parietal/occipital sites during creative idea generation and evaluation. Interestingly, only more creative people with lower metacognitive monitoring skills showed the expected alpha power increases at parietal/occipital sites during both phases. Furthermore, metacognitive monitoring skills were associated with lower frontal and temporal/central alpha power during idea evaluation (compared to generation) at the person level. This pattern of findings seems to suggest that less internal attention, less memory load, and increased sensory processing are associated with more effective and accurate monitoring of the creative process. This study sheds first light on the brain mechanisms underlying the interplay of creative metacognitive monitoring skills and creative potential.

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Creative Ideation

Abstract. Creative ideas in daily life show substantial variation in quality. Yet, most studies investigate the creative ideation process in highly controlled laboratory contexts, which challenges the ecological validity of creativity research findings. In this article, we advocate the use of ambulatory assessments of creative ideation to gain deeper insight into the variability of ideation processes (between- and within-subjects) in everyday life. We demonstrate this approach by the example of the ambulatory battery of creativity (ABC), which constitutes a reliable and valid approach to assess divergent thinking ability in the verbal and figural domain in everyday life context. Furthermore, it differentiates between-person and within-person variation of creative ideation performance. The first part of this paper will shortly describe the general approach using ABC as an example. In the second part, we use the 7 C’s heuristic to explore applications and implications of this novel method for creativity research. We focus on four C’s with special relevance for ambulatory assessment: Creator, Creating, Context, and Curricula. To this end, we review the findings of strongly controlled laboratory studies and discuss and illustrate applications of the ambulatory assessment. We conclude that the assessment of creative ideation performance in the field might help move the spotlight of creative ideation research from the laboratory to more naturalistic settings. This would increase the ecological validity of creative ideation research and facilitate fresh or unprecedented perspectives on past and future questions on a person’s creative potential and its moment-to-moment fluctuation.

Power Spectrum and Connectivity Analysis in EEG Recording during Attention and Creativity Performance in Children

The present research aims at examining the power spectrum and exploring functional brain connectivity/disconnectivity during concentration performance, as measured by the d2 test of attention and creativity as measured by the CREA test in typically developing children. To this end, we examined brain connectivity by using phase synchrony (i.e., phase locking index (PLI) over the EEG signals acquired by the Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset in 15 children aged 9- to 12-years. Besides, as a complement, a power spectrum analysis of the acquired signals was performed. Our results indicated that, during d2 Test performance there was an increase in global gamma phase synchronization and there was a global alpha and theta band desynchronization. Conversely, during CREA task, power spectrum analysis showed a significant increase in the delta, beta, theta, and gamma bands. Connectivity analysis revealed marked synchronization in theta, alpha, and gamma. These findings are consistent with other neuroscience research indicating that multiple brain mechanisms are indeed involved in creativity. In addition, these results have important implications for the assessment of attention functions and creativity in clinical and research settings, as well as for neurofeedback interventions in children with typical and atypical development.

Acute and Chronic Physical Activity Increases Creative Ideation Performance: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Physical activity is a health-relevant lifestyle factor associated with various benefits on physical and mental health. Several meta-analyses indicated effects of acute and chronic physical activities on elementary cognitive functions such as executive control processes, memory, and attention. Meta-analytic evidence on the effects of physical activity on creative idea generation, which involves a conglomerate of these elementary cognitive functions, is largely missing.

OBJECTIVE

A twofold approach was used to evaluate (1) if there is an association between habitual physical activity and creative ideation and (2) if physical activity interventions (acute and chronic) enhance creative ideation performance.

METHODS

Multilevel meta-analytic methods were applied to (1) evaluate the cross-sectional association between creative ideation performance and measures of habitual physical activity and (2) the effect of physical activity on creative ideation performance. Indicators of creative ideation (fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, or composite score), creativity domain (verbal, figural), population (adults, children), gender, study quality, and publication year served as moderator variables for both meta-analyses. Analyses of intervention studies additionally examined the moderator variables study design (between, within), time of measurement (during, after), and implementation of intervention (acute, chronic).

RESULTS

The applied meta-analytic multilevel analysis indicated a medium effect for cross-sectional studies (r = 0.22, SE = 0.06, p = 0.002, 95% CI [0.10-0.34]) based on 17 effects sizes from seven studies. The pooled effects of 28 intervention studies, providing 115 effect sizes, indicated a medium effect size of Hedges' g = 0.47 (SE = 0.09, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.30-0.65]). Furthermore, a stronger effect was observed for chronic interventions of several days or weeks in comparison with acute interventions of one single bout.

CONCLUSION

This study adds important new meta-analytic evidence on the beneficial role of physical activity beyond mental and physical health outcomes: Physical activity has a positive impact on creative ideation, which expands the literature on the role of physical activity in more elementary cognitive functions such as executive control, memory, and attention. Moderator analyses suggested that chronic interventions showed stronger effects than single bouts of physical activity. Rigorously conducted randomized controlled intervention studies and more cross-sectional studies are needed to broaden the evidence in this nascent field of research.

Design Meets Neuroscience: An Electroencephalogram Study of Design Thinking in Concept Generation Phase

Extant research on design thinking is subjective and limited. This manuscript combines protocol analysis and electroencephalogram (EEG) to read design thoughts in the core design activities of concept generation phase. The results suggest that alpha band power had event related synchronization (ERS) in the scenario task and divergent thinking occupies a dominant position. However, it had event related desynchronization (ERD) in analogy and inference activities, etc., and it is stronger for mental pressure and exercised cognitive processing. In addition, the parietooccipital area differs significantly from other brain areas in most design activities. This study explores the relationship of different design thinking and EEG data, which is innovative and professional in the field of design, providing a more objective data basis and evaluation method for future applied research and diverse educational practices.

Synchronised neural signature of creative mental imagery in reality and augmented reality

Creativity, transforming imaginative thinking into reality, is a mental imagery simulation in essence. It can be incorporeal, concerns sophisticated and/or substantial thinking, and involves objects. In the present study, a mental imagery task consisting of creating a scene using familiar (FA) or abstract (AB) physical or virtual objects in real (RMI) and augmented reality (VMI) environments, and an execution task involving effectively creating a scene in augmented reality (VE), were utilised. The beta and gamma neural oscillations of healthy participants were recorded via a 32 channel wireless 10/20 international EGG system. In real and augmented environments and for both the mental imagery and execution tasks, the participants displayed a similar cortico-cortical neural signature essentially based on synchronous vs asynchronous beta and gamma oscillatory activities between anterior (i.e. frontal) and posterior (i.e. parietal, occipito-parietal and occipito-temporal) areas bilaterally. The findings revealed a transient synchronised neural architecture that appears to be consistent with the hypothesis according to which, creativity, because of its inherent complexity, cannot be confined to a single brain area but engages various interconnected networks.

Network oscillations imply the highest cognitive workload and lowest cognitive control during idea generation in open-ended creation tasks

Design is a ubiquitous, complex, and open-ended creation behaviour that triggers creativity. The brain dynamics underlying design is unclear, since a design process consists of many basic cognitive behaviours, such as problem understanding, idea generation, idea analysis, idea evaluation, and idea evolution. In this present study, we simulated the design process in a loosely controlled setting, aiming to quantify the design-related cognitive workload and control, identify EEG-defined large-scale brain networks, and uncover their temporal dynamics. The effectiveness of this loosely controlled setting was tested through comparing the results with validated findings available in the literature. Task-related power (TRP) analysis of delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency bands revealed that idea generation was associated with the highest cognitive workload and lowest cognitive control, compared to other design activities in the experiment, including problem understanding, idea evaluation, and self-rating. EEG microstate analysis supported this finding as microstate class C, being negatively associated with the cognitive control network, was the most prevalent in idea generation. Furthermore, EEG microstate sequence analysis demonstrated that idea generation was consistently associated with the shortest temporal correlation times concerning finite entropy rate, autoinformation function, and Hurst exponent. This finding suggests that during idea generation the interplay of functional brain networks is less restricted and the brain has more degrees of freedom in choosing the next network configuration than during other design activities. Taken together, the TRP and EEG microstate results lead to the conclusion that idea generation is associated with the highest cognitive workload and lowest cognitive control during open-ended creation task.

The neurobiological basis of divergent thinking: Insight from gene co-expression network-based analysis

Although many efforts have been made to explore the genetic basis of divergent thinking (DT), there is still a gap in the understanding of how these findings relate to the neurobiology of DT. In a combined sample of 1,682 Chinese participants, by integrating GWAS with previously identified brain-specific gene co-expression network modules, this study explored for the first time the functional brain-specific gene co-expression networks underlying DT. The results showed that gene co-expression network modules in anterior cingulate cortex, caudate, amygdala and substantia nigra were enriched with DT association signals. Further functional enrichment analysis showed that these DT-related gene co-expression network modules were enriched for key biological process and cellular component related to myelination, suggesting that cortical and sub-cortical grey matter myelination may serve as important neurobiological basis of DT. Although the underlying mechanisms need to be further refined, this exploratory study may provide new insight into the neurobiology of DT.

The dynamic monitoring and control mechanism in problem solving: Evidence from theta and alpha oscillations

Although both originality and value are considered necessary criteria to identify creative ideas, little is known about how original and valuable ideas are generated in the human brain. To reveal how people monitor and control ongoing processing in the pursuit of original and valuable ideas, high-density electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record electrophysiological signals when participants were performing chunk decomposition tasks via novel-appropriate, novel-inappropriate, ordinary-appropriate and ordinary-inappropriate pathways. The results showed that approximately 100 ms after the problem was presented, novel pathways showed increased theta synchronization in the frontal sites compared to ordinary pathways. Novel pathways were associated with increased alpha desynchronization over the entire brain scale. These theta and alpha oscillations likely indicated rapid monitoring and effective control of novel processing in thinking. In the latter stages of problem solving, particularly during the 2000-2600-ms intervals, increased theta synchronization with decreased alpha desynchronization was found between novel-inappropriate and novel-appropriate pathways, which likely indicated slow monitoring and less control of inappropriate processing in novel thinking. The findings demonstrated the dynamic monitoring and control mechanism in the pursuit of original and valuable ideas.

The bright side and dark side of daydreaming predict creativity together through brain functional connectivity

Daydreaming and creativity have similar cognitive processes and neural basis. However, few empirical studies have examined the relationship between daydreaming and creativity using cognitive neuroscience methods. The present study explored the relationship between different types of daydreaming and creativity and their common neural basis. The behavioral results revealed that positive constructive daydreaming is positively related to creativity, while poor attentional control is negatively related to it. Machine learning framework was adopted to examine the predictive effect of daydreaming-related brain functional connectivity (FC) on creativity. The results demonstrated that task FCs related to positive constructive daydreaming and task FCs related to poor attentional control both predicted an individual's creativity score successfully. In addition, task FCs combining the positive constructive daydreaming and poor attentional control also had significant predictive effect on creativity score. Furthermore, predictive analysis based on resting-state FCs showed similar patterns. Both of the subscale-related FCs and combined FCs had significant predictive effect on creativity score. Further analysis showed the task and the resting-state FCs both mainly located in the default mode network, central executive network, salience network, and attention network. These results showed that daydreaming was closely related to creativity, as they shared common FC basis.

Visual-Spatial and Verbal Remote Association: An fMRI Study

Although idea connections at verbal and conceptual levels have been explored by remote associates tests, the visual-spatial level is much less researched. This study investigated the visual-spatial ability via Chinese Radical Remote Associates Test (CRRAT), wherein respondents consider the positions of the stimulus and target Chinese radicals. Chinese Compound Remote Associates Test (CCRAT) questions also feature stimuli of a single Chinese character; therefore, it was adopted for comparison to distinguish the roles played by verbal and visual-spatial associations in a remote associative process. Thirty-six adults responded to CRRAT and CCRAT; their brain activities were analyzed. Upon excluding the influence of age, verbal comprehension, and working memory, it was found that the caudate, posterior cingulate cortex, postcentral gyrus, and medial frontal gyrus were activated when the respondents answered CCRAT, but only the caudate showed significant activation when they answered CRRAT. The Chinese radical remote association minus the Chinese compound remote association showed that the middle frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and precuneus demonstrated significant activation. Therefore, this study demonstrated differences in brain mechanisms between visual-spatial and verbal remote associations.

Where and How Are Original and Valuable Ideas Generated? tDCS of the Generation-Related Posterior Temporal Lobe and the Executive Control-Related Prefrontal Cortex

Creativity is generally defined as the ability to generate innovative thoughts that are both original and valuable. Previous studies have suggested that the temporal lobe, related to memory extraction and construction, is responsible for generating creative ideas and that the executive system supports the generation of creative ideas. However, the causal relationships between these structures and the novelty index as well as the appropriateness index of generated ideas have not been revealed. It is still largely unknown where and how original and valuable ideas are generated. In this study, the transcranial direct current stimulation technique was used to selectively manipulate the activity of the generation-related right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) (experiment 1) and the executive control-related left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (experiment 2). Then, both the novelty and appropriateness indexes of generated ideas were analyzed during insight problem-solving. The results showed that anodal stimulation of the right TPJ increased both the novelty and appropriateness indexes of creative ideas, whereas anodal stimulation of the left DLPFC increased the novelty index but not the appropriateness index of creative ideas. These findings suggest that the posterior temporal lobe takes both the novelty and appropriateness attributes into account to generate ideas, while the executive control system can effectively regulate the novelty attribute of generated ideas but ineffectively addresses the inappropriateness attribute. The current study indicates complementary mechanisms in the process of generating original and valuable ideas.

A novel coding scheme for assessing responses in divergent thinking: An embodied approach

In the present study we devised a novel coding scheme for responses generated in a divergent thinking task. Based on considerations from behavioural and neurocognitive research from an embodied perspective, our scheme aims to capture dimensions of simulations of action or the body. In an exploratory investigation, we applied our novel coding scheme to analyze responses from a previously published dataset of divergent thinking responses. We show that a) these dimensions are reliably coded by naïve raters, and that b) individual differences in creativity influences the way in which different dimensions are used over time. Overall, our results provide new hypotheses about the generation of creative response in the divergent thinking task and should serve to characterize the cognitive strategies used in creative endeavors.

A comprehensive approach to study the resting-state brain network related to creative potential

Studies related to creativity generally investigate cognition and brain functioning linked to creative achievement. However, this approach does not allow characterization of creative potential. To better define creative potential, we studied cognitive function related to creative processes and the associated brain resting functional connectivity. Therefore, in this pilot study, we constructed a cognitive functioning model via structural equation modeling assuming an influence of working memory (WM) and analytical thinking on creativity assessed by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. On the basis of this model, we differentiated two groups with different functioning levels on the basis of their creative score. We identified one group as the high-creative potential group, with a positive correlation between WM and creativity and a negative correlation between analytical thinking and creativity. The other group was the low-creative potential group, with no correlation between WM and creativity and a negative correlation between analytical thinking and creativity. Then, we examined brain functional connectivity at rest and found that the high-creative potential group had increased connectivity in the attentional network (AN) and default-mode network (DMN) and decreased connectivity in the salience network (SN). Our findings highlight the involvement of the AN. We, therefore, linked this network to creative potential, which is consistent with cognitive theories suggesting that creativity is underpinned by attentional processes.

Spontaneous Activity in Primary Visual Cortex Relates to Visual Creativity

Cognitive and neural processes underlying visual creativity have attracted substantial attention. The current research uses a critical time point analysis (CTPA) to examine how spontaneous activity in the primary visual area (PVA) is related to visual creativity. We acquired the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of 16 participants at the resting state and during performing a visual creative synthesis task. According to the CTPA, we then classified spontaneous activity in the PVA into critical time points (CTPs), which reflect the most useful and important functional meaning of the entire resting-state condition, and the remaining time points (RTPs). We constructed functional brain networks based on the brain activity at two different time points and then subsequently based on the brain activity at the task state in a separate manner. We explore the relationship between resting-state and task-fMRI (T-fMRI) functional brain networks. Our results found that: (1) the pattern of spontaneous activity in the PVA may associate with mental imagery, which plays an important role in visual creativity; (2) in comparison with the RTPs-based brain network, the CTP-network showed an increase in global efficiency and a decrease in local efficiency; (3) the regional integrated properties of the CTP-network could predict the integrated properties of the creative-network while the RTP-network could not. Thus, our findings indicated that spontaneous activity in the PVA at CTPs was associated with a visual creative task-evoked brain response. Our findings may provide an insight into how the visual cortex is related to visual creativity.

Brain activation during the observation of real soccer game situations predicts creative goal scoring

Creativity is an important source of success in soccer players. In order to be effective in soccer, unpredictable, sudden and at the same time creative (i.e. unique, original and effective) ideas are required in situations with high time pressure. Accordingly, creative task performance in soccer should be primarily driven by rapid and automatic cognitive processes. This study investigated if functional patterns of brain activation during the observation/encoding of real soccer game situations can predict creative soccer task performance. A machine learning approach (multivariate pattern recognition) was applied in a sample of 35 experienced male soccer players. The results revealed that brain activation during the observation of the soccer scenes significantly predicted creative soccer task performance, while brain activation during the subsequent ideation/elaboration period did not. The identified brain network included areas such as the angular gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, the occipital cortex, parts of the cerebellum and (left) supplementary motor areas, which are important for semantic information processing, memory retrieval, integration of sensory information and motor control. This finding suggests that early and presumably automatized neurocognitive processes, such as (implicit) knowledge about motor movements, and the rapid integration of information from different sources are important for creative task performance in soccer.

Basal ganglia lateralization in different types of reward

Reward processing is a fundamental human activity. The basal ganglia are recognized for their role in reward processes; however, specific roles of the different nuclei (e.g., nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen and globus pallidus) remain unclear. Using quantitative meta-analyses we assessed whole-brain and basal ganglia specific contributions to money, erotic, and food reward processing. We analyzed data from 190 fMRI studies which reported stereotaxic coordinates of whole-brain, within-group results from healthy adult participants. Results showed concordance in overlapping and distinct cortical and sub-cortical brain regions as a function of reward type. Common to all reward types was concordance in basal ganglia nuclei, with distinct differences in hemispheric dominance and spatial extent in response to the different reward types. Food reward processing favored the right hemisphere; erotic rewards favored the right lateral globus pallidus and left caudate body. Money rewards engaged the basal ganglia bilaterally including its most anterior part, nucleus accumbens. We conclude by proposing a model of common reward processing in the basal ganglia and separate models for money, erotic, and food rewards.

Left hemispheric stroke in a professional artist: A prospective case study

Several papers have investigated the effect of stroke on creativity. While initial evidence favored right hemispheric dominance in artwork creation, subsequent well-founded research has established the left hemispheric participation in creativity, supporting the idea of bi-hemispheric role in artistic production. We here describe the case of a renowned artist who suffered a left hemispheric ischemic stroke involving the occipito-temporal region and subsequently manifested several difficulties in producing visual artworks. We documented his recovery phases in a prospective way during the initial months following stroke and observed that, although his constructional abilities recovered to a significant extent over 3 months, spontaneous creation was persistently impaired. The right hemispheric role in visual art is linked mainly to visuo-spatial skills and global attention, while left hemispheric participation is thought to be related to focal attention and visual imagery. Our case study lends support to the idea that art is a bi-hemispheric function with important complementary contributions from both the right and left hemisphere.

EEG signals respond differently to idea generation, idea evolution and evaluation in a loosely controlled creativity experiment

Many neurocognitive studies endeavor to understand neural mechanisms of basic creative activities in strictly controlled experiments. However, little evidence is available regarding the neural mechanisms of interactions between basic activities underlying creativity in such experiments. Moreover, strictly controlled experiments might limit flexibility/freedom needed for creative exploration. Thus, this study investigated the whole-brain neuronal networks' interactions between three modes of thinking: idea generation, idea evolution, and evaluation in a loosely controlled creativity experiment. The loosely controlled creativity experiment will provide a degree of flexibility/freedom for participants to incubate creative ideas through extending response time from a few seconds to 3 min. In the experiment, participants accomplished a modified figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT-F) while their EEG signals were recorded. During idea generation, a participant was instructed to complete a sketch that was immediately triggered by a sketch stimulus at first sight. During idea evolution, a participant was instructed to complete a sketch that is radically distinctive from what was immediately triggered by the sketch stimulus. During the evaluation, a participant was instructed to evaluate difficulties of thinking and drawing during idea generation and evolution. It is expected that participants would use their experience to intuitively complete a sketch during idea generation while they could use more divergent and imaginative thinking to complete a possible creative sketch during idea evolution. Such an experimental design is named as a loosely controlled creativity experiment, which offers an approach to studying creativity in an ecologically valid manner. The validity of the loosely controlled creativity experiment could be verified through comparing its findings on phenomena that have been effectively studied by validated experimental research. It was found from our experiment that alpha power decreased significantly from rest to the three modes of thinking. These findings are consistent with that from visual creativity research based on event-related (de)synchronization (ERD/ERS) and task-related power changes (TRP). Specifically, in the lower alpha band (8-10 Hz), the decreases of alpha power were significantly lower over almost the entire scalp during idea evolution compared to the other modes of thinking. This finding indicated that idea evolution requires less general attention demands than the other two modes of thinking since the lower alpha ERD has been reported as being more likely to reflect general task demands such as attentional processes. In the upper alpha band (10-12 Hz), the decreases of alpha power were significantly higher over central sites during the evaluation compared to idea evolution. This finding indicated that evaluation involves more task-specific demands since the upper alpha ERD has been found as being more likely to reflect task-specific demands such as memory and intelligence, as was defined in the literature. In addition, new findings were obtained since the loosely controlled creativity experiment could activate multiple brain networks to accomplish the tasks involving the three modes of thinking. EEG microstate analysis was used to structure the unstructured EEG data to detect the activation of multiple brain networks. Combined EEG-fMRI and EEG source localization studies have indicated that EEG microstate classes are closely associated with the resting-state network as identified using fMRI. It was found that the default mode network was more active during idea evolution compared to the other two modes of thinking, while the cognitive control network was more active during the evaluation compared to the other two modes of thinking. This finding indicated that idea evolution might be more associated with unconscious and internal directed attention processes. Taken together, the loosely controlled creativity experiment with the support of EEG microstate analysis appears to offer an effective approach to investigating the real-world complex creativity activity.

A meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of divergent thinking using activation likelihood estimation

There are conflicting findings regarding brain regions and networks underpinning creativity, with divergent thinking tasks commonly used to study this. A handful of meta-analyses have attempted to synthesise findings on neural mechanisms of divergent thinking. With the rapid proliferation of research and recent developments in fMRI meta-analysis approaches, it is timely to reassess the regions activated during divergent thinking creativity tasks. Of particular interest is examining the evidence regarding large-scale brain networks proposed to be key in divergent thinking and extending this work to consider the role of the semantic control network. Studies utilising fMRI with healthy participants completing divergent thinking tasks were systematically identified, with 20 studies meeting the criteria. Activation Likelihood Estimation was then used to integrate the neuroimaging results across studies. This revealed four clusters: the left inferior parietal lobe; the left inferior frontal and precentral gyrus; the superior and medial frontal gyrus and the right cerebellum. These regions are key in the semantic network, important for flexible retrieval of stored knowledge, highlighting the role of this network in divergent thinking.

High Phase Synchronization in Alpha Band Activity in Older Subjects With High Creativity

Despite growing evidence that high creativity leads to mental well-being in older individuals, the neurophysiological bases of creativity remain elusive. Creativity reportedly involves multiple brain areas and their functional interconnections. In particular, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to investigate the role of patterns of functional connectivity between the default network and other networks in creative activity. These interactions among networks play the role of integrating various neural processes to support creative activity and involve attention, cognitive control, and memory. The electroencephalogram (EEG) enables researchers to capture a pattern of band-specific functional connectivity, as well as moment-to-moment dynamics of brain activity; this can be accomplished even in the resting-state by exploiting the excellent temporal resolution of the EEG. Furthermore, the recent advent of functional connectivity analysis in EEG studies has focused on the phase-difference variable because of its fine spatio-temporal resolution. Therefore, we hypothesized that the combining method of EEG signals having high-temporal resolution and the phase synchronization analysis having high-spatio-temporal resolutions brings a new insight of functional connectivity regarding high creative activity of older participants. In this study, we examined the resting-state EEG signal in 20 healthy older participants and estimated functional connectivities using the phase lag index (PLI), which evaluates the phase synchronization of EEG signals. Individual creativity was assessed using the S-A creativity test in a separate session before the EEG recording. In the analysis of associations of EEG measures with the S-A test scores, the covariate effect of the intelligence quotient was evaluated. As a result, higher individual S-A scores were significantly associated with higher node degrees, defined as the average PLI of a node (electrode) across all links with the remaining nodes, across all nodes at the alpha band. A conventional power spectrum analysis revealed no significant association with S-A scores in any frequency band. Older participants with high creativity exhibited high functional connectivity even in the resting-state, irrespective of intelligence quotient, which supports the theory that creativity entails widespread brain connectivity. Thus, PLIs derived from EEG data may provide new insights into the relationship between functional connectivity and creativity in healthy older people.

Structural and functional brain alterations in psychiatric patients with dissociative experiences: A systematic review of magnetic resonance imaging studies

INTRODUCTION

There is currently no general agreement on how to best conceptualize dissociative symptoms and whether they share similar neural underpinnings across dissociative disorders. Neuroimaging data could help elucidate these questions.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this review is to summarize empirical evidence for neural aberrations observed in patients suffering from dissociative symptoms.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted including patient cohorts diagnosed with primary dissociative disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or borderline personality disorder.

RESULTS

Results from MRI studies reporting structural (gray matter and white matter) and functional (during resting-state and task-related activation) brain aberrations were extracted and integrated. In total, 33 articles were included of which 10 pertained to voxel-based morphology, 2 to diffusion tensor imaging, 10 to resting-state fMRI, and 11 to task-related fMRI. Overall findings indicated aberrations spread across diverse brain regions, especially in the temporal and frontal cortices. Patients with dissociative identity disorder and with dissociative PTSD showed more overlap in brain activation than each group showed with depersonalization/derealization disorder.

CONCLUSION

In conjunction, the results indicate that dissociative processing cannot be localized to a few distinctive brain regions but rather corresponds to differential neural signatures depending on the symptom constellation.

Creativity is associated with a characteristic U-shaped function of alpha power changes accompanied by an early increase in functional coupling

Although there exists increasing knowledge about brain correlates underlying creative ideation in general, the specific neurocognitive mechanisms implicated in different stages of the creative thinking process are still under-researched. Some recent EEG studies suggested that alpha power during creative ideation varies as a function of time, with the highest levels of alpha power after stimulus onset and at the end of the creative thinking process. The main aim of the present study was to replicate and extend this finding by applying an individual differences approach, and by investigating functional coupling between long distance cortical sites during the process of creative ideation. Eighty-six participants performed the Alternate Uses (AU) task during EEG assessment. Results revealed that more original people showed increased alpha power after stimulus onset and before finalizing the process of idea generation. This U-shaped alpha power pattern was accompanied by an early increase in functional communication between frontal and parietal-occipital sites during the creative thinking process, putatively indicating activation of top-down executive control processes. Participants with lower originality showed no significant time-related variation in alpha power and a delayed increase in long distance functional communication. These findings are in line with dual process models of creative ideation and support the idea that increased alpha power at the beginning of the creative ideation process may indicate more associative modes of thinking and memory processes, while the alpha increases at later stages may indicate executive control processes, associated with idea elaboration/evaluation.

Mapping the artistic brain: Common and distinct neural activations associated with musical, drawing, and literary creativity

Whether creativity is a domain‐general or domain‐specific ability has been a topic of intense speculation. Although previous studies have examined domain‐specific mechanisms of creative performance, little is known about commonalities and distinctions in neural correlates across different domains. We applied activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta‐analysis to identify the brain activation of domain‐mechanisms by synthesizing functional neuroimaging studies across three forms of artistic creativity: music improvisation, drawing, and literary creativity. ALE meta‐analysis yielded a domain‐general pattern across three artistic forms, with overlapping clusters in the presupplementary motor area (pre‐SMA), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Regarding domain‐specificity, musical creativity was associated with recruitment of the SMA‐proper, bilateral IFG, left precentral gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) compared to the other two artistic forms; drawing creativity recruited the left fusiform gyrus, left precuneus, right parahippocampal gyrus, and right MFG compared to musical creativity; and literary creativity recruited the left angular gyrus and right lingual gyrus compared to musical creativity. Contrasting drawing and literary creativity revealed no significant differences in neural activation, suggesting that these domains may rely on a common neurocognitive system. Overall, these findings reveal a central, domain‐general system for artistic creativity, but with each domain relying to some degree on domain‐specific neural circuits.

Left Prefrontal Cortex Supports the Recognition of Meaningful Patterns in Ambiguous Stimuli

Processing of ambiguous visual stimuli has been associated with an increased activation of the left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in neuroimaging studies. Nevertheless, the functional role of prefrontal activity in this process is not fully understood. In this experiment we asked participants to evaluate ambiguous inkblots from the Rorschach test, while stimulating the left lateral PFC using excitatory anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In addition, visual insight ability was assessed as a control measure requiring visual and conceptual restructuring and convergent thinking rather than divergent idea generation employed to interpret the equivocal Rorschach inkblots. Using a randomized double-blind design, we demonstrated that anodal tDCS increased the number of meaningful patterns recognized in the inkblots but had no significant effect on visual insight. These findings support the role of left lateral PFC in the processing of ambiguous visual information and object recognition. More generally, we discuss that the PFC may be involved in the mechanisms supporting the activation of stored visual and semantic representations in order to compensate for less informative bottom-up inputs and thus facilitate flexible cognition and idea generation.

Functional coupling of brain networks during creative idea generation and elaboration in the figural domain

The neuroscientific investigation of creative cognition has advanced by considering the functional connectivity between brain regions and its dynamic changes over time, which are consistent with stages in the ideation process. Surprisingly, although the communication between neuronal networks takes place in a time-scale of milliseconds, EEG studies investigating a time-course in cortico-cortical communication during creative ideation are rare and findings are typically restricted to the verbal domain. Therefore, this study examined functional coupling using EEG (task-related phase-locking in the upper-alpha range) during creative thinking in the figural domain. Using an innovative computerized experimental paradigm, we specifically investigated the stage of idea generation and the stage of idea elaboration in an adapted picture completion task. The findings confirmed a hypothesized increase of functional coupling from idea generation to elaboration, which was most pronounced in frontal-central as well as frontal-temporal networks. The connectivity in the frontal-parietal/occipital network already increased during idea generation and remained constant during elaboration. Importantly, more original participants generally showed higher functional connectivity in all brain networks. This elevated functional coupling with frontal brain regions might reflect increased executive processes related to internal attention, motor planning, and semantic selection processes supporting highly original thought in the figural domain.

Comparing the Design Neurocognition of Mechanical Engineers and Architects: A Study of the Effect of Designer’s Domain

New tools from neuroscience allow design researchers to explore design neurocognition. By taking the advantage of EEG's temporal resolution we give up spatial resolution to focus on the performance of time-related design tasks. This paper presents results from an experiment using EEG to measure brain activation to study mechanical engineers and architects to compare their design neurocognition. In this study, we adopted and extended the tasks described in a previous fMRI study of design neurocognition reported in the literature. The block experiment consists of a sequence of 3 tasks: problem solving, basic design and open design using a physical interface. The block is preceded by a familiarizing pre-task using the physical interface and then extended to a fourth task using free-hand sketching. Brainwaves were collected from both mechanical engineers and architects. Results comparing 36 mechanical engineers and architects while designing were produced. These results indicate design cognition differences between the two domains in task-related power between the problem-solving task and the design tasks, in temporal resolution and transformed power.

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.

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.

Brain and soccer: Functional patterns of brain activity during the generation of creative moves in real soccer decision-making situations

This fMRI study investigated brain activity while soccer players were imagining creative moves in real soccer decision-making situations. After presenting brief video clips of a soccer scene, participants had to imagine themselves as the acting player and think either of a creative or obvious move that might lead to a goal. Findings revealed stronger activation during trials in which the generation of obvious moves was required, relative to trials requiring creative moves. The reversed contrast (creative > obvious) showed no significant effects. Activations were mainly left-lateralized, primarily involving the cuneus, middle temporal gyrus, and the rolandic operculum, which are known to support the processing of multimodal input from different sensory, motor and perceptual sources. Interestingly, more creative solutions in the soccer task were associated with smaller contrast values for the activation difference between obvious and creative trials, or even with more activation in the latter. Furthermore, higher trait creative potential (as assessed by a figural creativity test) was associated with stronger activation differences between both conditions. These findings suggest that with increasing soccer-specific creative task performance, the processing of the manifold information provided by the soccer scenario becomes increasingly important, while in individuals with higher trait creative potential these processes were recruited to a minor degree. This study showed that soccer-specific creativity tasks modulate activation levels in a network of regions supporting various cognitive functions such as semantic information processing, visual and motor imagery, and the processing and integration of sensorimotor and somatosensory information.

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.

Functional neuroimaging of visual creativity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

The generation of creative visual imagery contributes to technological and scientific innovation and production of visual art. The underlying cognitive and neural processes are, however, poorly understood.

METHODS

This review synthesizes functional neuroimaging studies of visual creativity. Seven functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and 19 electroencephalography (EEG) studies were included, comprising 27 experiments and around 800 participants.

RESULTS

Activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of the fMRI studies comparing visual creativity to non-rest control tasks yielded significant clusters in thalamus, left fusiform gyrus, and right middle and inferior frontal gyri. The EEG studies revealed a tendency for decreased alpha power during visual creativity compared to baseline, but comparisons of visual creativity to non-rest control tasks revealed inconsistent findings.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings are consistent with suggested contributions to visual creativity of prefrontally mediated inhibition, evaluation, and working memory, as well as visual imagery processes. Findings are discussed in relation to prominent theories of the neural basis of creativity.