The Association between Resting Functional Connectivity and Visual Creativity

The reciprocal relationship between openness and creativity: from neurobiology to multicultural environments

The desire for novelty and variety in experiences, which may manifest in an inclination to engage with individuals from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, collectively constitutes the personality dimension known as "Openness to Experience." Empirical research has identified a positive correlation between trait openness and various expressions of creativity, such as divergent ideation, innovative problem-solving strategies, and cumulative creative accomplishments. This nexus between openness to interpersonal diversity, as an aspect of the larger personality trait of openness, and creativity has precipitated considerable scholarly interest across the disciplines of personality, social and organizational psychology, and neuroscientific investigation. In this paper, we review the neurobehavioral properties, including the cognitive processes and neural mechanisms, that connect these two constructs. Further, we explore how culture influences levels of openness and creativity in individuals and consider how creativity predisposes individuals toward openness to a plethora of experiences, including those occurring in culturally diverse contexts. This reciprocal entanglement of creativity and openness has been shown to foster a reduction in biases, augment conflict resolution capabilities, and generally yield superior outcomes in multicultural environments.

Sex-specific intra- and inter-hemispheric structural connectivity related to divergent thinking

Gender differences in creativity partly underscore the diversity between males and females in society. Divergent thinking forms the core of creativity and enables humans to innovate and solve problems. Sex differences in functional activation associated with divergent thinking may reflect the use of distinct strategies in males and females when faced with tasks involving creativity. Although female-specific white matter associated to creativity has been found, fractional anisotropy measuring structural connectivity which can better reflect the degree of brain regions interplay should be adapted to corroborate sex-specific WM connectivity related to divergent thinking. Using fractional anisotropy indexes derived from diffusion tensor imaging in 425 participants (118 males), we observed that divergent thinking was positively associated with fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum and right superior longitudinal fasciculus in females and was positively associated with fractional anisotropy in the right tapetum in males. Our findings provide insight into sex-specific intra- and inter-hemispheric structural connectivity bases underlying divergent thinking.

Brain Entropy is Associated with Divergent Thinking

Creativity is the ability to generate original and useful products, and it is considered central to the progression of human civilization. As a noninherited emerging process, creativity may stem from temporally dynamic brain activity, which, however, has not been well studied. The purpose of this study was to measure brain dynamics using entropy and to examine the associations between brain entropy (BEN) and divergent thinking in a large healthy sample. The results showed that divergent thinking was consistently positively correlated with regional BEN in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/pre-supplementary motor area and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggesting that creativity is closely related to the functional dynamics of the control networks involved in cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Importantly, our main results were cross-validated in two independent cohorts from two different cultures. Additionally, three dimensions of divergent thinking (fluency, flexibility, and originality) were positively correlated with regional BEN in the left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus, suggesting that more highly creative individuals possess more flexible semantic associative networks. Taken together, our findings provide the first evidence of the associations of regional BEN with individual variations in divergent thinking and show that BEN is sensitive to detecting variations in important cognitive abilities in healthy subjects.

Plasticity of the resting-state brain: static and dynamic functional connectivity change induced by divergent thinking training

Creativity is very important and is linked to almost all areas of our everyday life. Improving creativity brings great benefits. Various strategies and training paradigms have been used to stimulate creative thinking. These training approaches have been confirmed to be effective. However, whether or not training can reshape the resting-state brain is still unclear. The present study examined whether or not the divergent thinking training intervention can reshape the resting-state brain functional connectivity (FC). Static seed-based and dynamic approaches were used to explore this problem. Results demonstrate significant changes in static and dynamic FCs. FCs, such as dorsal anterior cingulate cortex-inferior parietal lobule, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex-precuneus and left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, was significantly improved through the training. Furthermore, the temporal variability of the supplementary motor area and middle temporal gyrus was improved. These results indicate that divergent thinking training may lead to resting-state brain plasticity. Considering the role of these regions in brain networks, the present study further confirms the close relationship between the brain networks' dynamic interactions and divergent thinking processes.

Development and Validation of the Thought Impact Scale: A Measure of Subconscious Connectedness

The Thought Impact Scale (TIS) is a new questionnaire designed to measure the theorized psychological characteristic of subconscious connectedness, defined as the degree to which nonconscious mental functions spontaneously interact with, and are accessible to, conscious awareness in everyday life. A principal reason for developing the TIS was the expectation that subconscious connectedness influences hypnosis treatment responses and seeking of hypnosis treatment. Two studies involving 1,216 subjects were carried out to validate the questionnaire. The TIS exhibited high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.93 and 0.95), good one-month test-retest reliability (r = 0.89), and convergent validity evidenced by substantial correlations with other measures hypothesized to partly assess the same construct: Absorption (r = 0.70), fantasy proneness (r = 0.54), dissociation (r = 0.50), and emotional empathy (r = 0.39). TIS scores were approximately normally distributed, higher in females than males, and declining with age. Exploratory factor analysis showed the TIS to be composed of a single dominant factor. High TIS scorers were 2.5 times as likely as low scorers to have undergone hypnosis treatment, 2.6 times as likely to report at least moderate benefit after hypnosis treatment, and 3.8 times as likely to consider themselves highly hypnotizable. High TIS scorers also more frequently reported being highly creative, art lovers, intuition-reliant, absentminded, spontaneous, novelty-seeking, and prone to form intense relationships. The TIS is a reliable and valid measure that is likely to be useful in clinical hypnosis practice and hypnosis research and for quantifying communication between conscious and nonconscious mental functions.

Neuroanatomy of creative achievement

Very few studies have investigated neuroanatomical correlates of "everyday" creative achievement in cohorts of normal subjects. In previous research, we first showed that scores on the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ) were associated with lower cortical thickness within the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus (LOFG), and increased thickness of the right angular gyrus (AG) (Jung et al., 2010). Newer studies found the CAQ to be associated with decreased volume of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and that artistic and scientific creativity was associated with increased and decreased volumes within the executive control network and salience network (Shi et al., 2017). We desired to replicate and extend our previous study in a larger cohort (N ​= ​248), comprised of subjects studying and working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Subjects were young (Range ​= ​16-32; Mean age ​= ​21.8; s.d. ​= ​3.5) all of whom were administered the CAQ, from which we derived artistic and scientific creativity factors. All subjects underwent structural MRI on a 3 ​T scanner from which cortical thickness, area, and volume measures were obtained using FreeSurfer. Our results showed mostly cortical thinning in relation to total, scientific, and artistic creative achievement encompassing many regions involved in the cognitive control network (CCN) and default mode network (DMN).

Neuroimaging predictors of creativity in healthy adults

Neuroimaging has revealed numerous neural predictors of individual differences in creativity; however, with most of these identified in only one study, sometimes involving very small samples, their reliability is uncertain. To contribute to a convergent cognitive neuroscience of creativity, we conducted a pre-registered conceptual replication and extension study in which we assessed previously reported predictors of creativity using a multimodal approach, incorporating volumetric, white matter, and functional connectivity neuroimaging data. We assessed sets of pre-registered predictors against prevailing measures of creativity, including visual and verbal tests of divergent thinking, everyday creative behaviour, and creative achievement. We then conducted whole-brain exploratory analyses. Greater creativity was broadly predicted by features of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and inferior parietal lobe (IPL), including both local grey matter and white matter predictors in the IFG, the superior longitudinal fasciculus that connects them, and IFG-IPL functional connectivity. As IFG and IPL are important nodes within executive control and default mode networks (DMN), respectively, this result supports the view that executive modulation of DMN activity optimizes creative ideation. Furthermore, white matter integrity of the basal ganglia was also a generalizable creativity predictor, and exploratory analyses revealed the anterior lobe of the cerebellum and the parahippocampal gyrus to both be reliable predictors of creativity across neuroimaging modalities. This pattern aligns with proposals ascribing roles of working and long-term memory to problem-solving and imagination. Overall, our findings help to consolidate some, but not all, neural correlates of individual differences that have been discussed in the cognitive neuroimaging of creativity, yielding a subset that appear particularly promising for focused future investigation.

Brain structures and functional connectivity associated with individual differences in trait proactive aggression

Although considerable efforts have been made to understand the neural underpinnings of (state) reactive aggression, which is triggered by provocation or perceived threat, little is known about the neural correlates of proactive aggression, which is driven by instrumental motivations to obtain personal gains through aggressive means and which varies dramatically across individuals in terms of tendency of appealing to such means. Here, by combining structural (grey matter density, GMD) and functional (resting-state functional connection, RSFC) fMRI, we investigated brain structures and functional networks related to trait proactive aggression. We found that individual differences in trait proactive aggression were positively associated with GMD in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and negatively correlated with GMD in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC); they were also negatively correlated with the strength of functional connectivity between left PCC and other brain regions, including right DLPFC, right IPL, right MPFC/ACC, and bilateral precuneus. These findings shed light on the differential brain bases of proactive and reactive aggressions and suggested the neural underpinnings of proactive aggression.

Neuroanatomical Correlates of Creativity: Evidence From Voxel-Based Morphometry

Creativity was a special cognitive capacity which was crucial to human survival and prosperity. Remote associates test (RAT), identifying the relationships among remote ideas, was one of the most frequently used methods of measuring creativity. However, the structural characteristics associated with RAT remains unclear. In the present study, the relationship between gray matter density (GMD)/white matter density (WMD) and RAT was explored using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in a larger healthy college student sample (144 women and 117 men). Results showed that the score of RAT was significantly positively related with the GMD in the right anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG) and negatively correlated with the GMD in the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Meanwhile, results also showed that the score of RAT was significantly positively related with the WMD in the right dACC and negatively correlated with the WMD in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). These findings indicate that individual creativity, as measured by the RAT, was mainly related to the regional gray /white matter density of brain regions in the aSTG, dACC and IFG, which might have been involved in the forming of novel combinations, breaking of mental set, monitoring of conflict and semantic integration.

The role of mid-insula in the relationship between cardiac interoceptive attention and anxiety: evidence from an fMRI study

Interoception refers to the perception of the internal bodily states. Recent accounts highlight the role of the insula in both interoception and the subjective experience of anxiety. The current study aimed to delve deeper into the neural correlates of cardiac interoception; more specifically, the relationship between interoception-related insular activity, interoceptive accuracy, and anxiety. This was done using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an experimental design in which 40 healthy volunteers focused on their heartbeat and anxious events. Interoceptive accuracy and anxiety levels were measured using the Heartbeat Perception Task and State Trait Anxiety Inventory, respectively. The results showed posterior, mid and anterior insular activity during cardiac interoception, whereas anxiety-related activation showed only anterior insular activity. Activation of the anterior insula when focused on cardiac interoception was positively correlated to state and trait anxiety levels, respectively. Moreover, the mid-insular activity during the cardiac attention condition not only related to individuals’ interoceptive accuracy but also to their levels of state and trait anxiety, respectively. These findings confirm that there are distinct neural representations of heartbeat attention and anxious experience across the insular regions, and suggest the mid-insula as a crucial link between cardiac interoception and anxiety.

Openness to experience and psychophysiological interaction patterns during divergent thinking

Creativity is the ability to produce something novel and useful. Various tasks have been used to explore the neural bases of creativity. However, studies exploring the relationship between the brain regions during divergent thinking are still rare. Given that the brain works in networks, exploring the functional connectivity (FC) patterns during divergent thinking is important. The present study explored the FC patterns during alternative uses task and its relationship with openness to experience. Psychophysiological interaction results corroborated that the inferior parietal lobule was positively connected to the precuneus and middle temporal gyrus. Middle frontal gyrus/superior frontal gyrus was positively connected to the precuneus and supramarginal gyrus. Individual difference analysis revealed that openness to experience was positively related to the strength of FCs between some key regions of default mode, cognitive control and salience networks. Findings confirmed the network-based mechanisms underlying creativity and the neural basis of individual differences of openness to experience.

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.

Neural and genetic determinants of creativity

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

Association between resting-state brain network topological organization and creative ability: Evidence from a multiple linear regression model

Previous studies have indicated a tight linkage between resting-state functional connectivity of the human brain and creative ability. This study aimed to further investigate the association between the topological organization of resting-state brain networks and creativity. Therefore, we acquired resting-state fMRI data from 22 high-creativity participants and 22 low-creativity participants (as determined by their Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking scores). We then constructed functional brain networks for each participant and assessed group differences in network topological properties before exploring the relationships between respective network topological properties and creative ability. We identified an optimized organization of intrinsic brain networks in both groups. However, compared with low-creativity participants, high-creativity participants exhibited increased global efficiency and substantially decreased path length, suggesting increased efficiency of information transmission across brain networks in creative individuals. Using a multiple linear regression model, we further demonstrated that regional functional integration properties (i.e., the betweenness centrality and global efficiency) of brain networks, particularly the default mode network (DMN) and sensorimotor network (SMN), significantly predicted the individual differences in creative ability. Furthermore, the associations between network regional properties and creative performance were creativity-level dependent, where the difference in the resource control component may be important in explaining individual difference in creative performance. These findings provide novel insights into the neural substrate of creativity and may facilitate objective identification of creative ability.