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Madhira A, Srinivasan N. Letting it go: The interplay between mind wandering, mindfulness, and creativity. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
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2
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Pepin AB, Harel Y, O’Byrne J, Mageau G, Dietrich A, Jerbi K. Processing visual ambiguity in fractal patterns: Pareidolia as a sign of creativity. iScience 2022; 25:105103. [PMID: 36164655 PMCID: PMC9508550 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 06/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Creativity is a highly valued and beneficial skill that empirical research typically probes using "divergent thinking" (DT) tasks such as problem solving and novel idea generation. Here, in contrast, we examine the perceptual aspect of creativity by asking whether creative individuals are more likely to perceive recognizable forms in ambiguous stimuli -a phenomenon known as pareidolia. To this end, we designed a visual task in which participants were asked to identify as many recognizable forms as possible in cloud-like fractal images. We found that pareidolic perceptions arise more often and more rapidly in highly creative individuals. Furthermore, high-creatives report pareidolia across a broader range of image contrasts and fractal dimensions than do low creatives. These results extend the established body of work on DT by introducing divergent perception as a complementary manifestation of the creative mind, thus clarifying the perception-creation link while opening new paths for studying creative behavior in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Bellemare Pepin
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H2V 2S9 Québec, Canada
- Department of Music, Concordia University, Montréal, H4B1R6 Québec, Canada
| | - Yann Harel
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H2V 2S9 Québec, Canada
| | - Jordan O’Byrne
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H2V 2S9 Québec, Canada
| | - Geneviève Mageau
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H2V 2S9 Québec, Canada
| | - Arne Dietrich
- Department of Psychology, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
| | - Karim Jerbi
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, H2V 2S9 Québec, Canada
- MILA (Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- UNIQUE Center (Quebec Neuro-AI Research Center), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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De Garrido L. Conceptual Design of a Creative Artificial Intelligence System Based on the Neurocognitive Bases of Human Creativity in the Brain. CREATIVITY RESEARCH JOURNAL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2021.2005309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Luis De Garrido
- Universitat de València
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- National Association of Sustainable Creative Architecture Researh
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Valtulina J, de Rooij A. The Predictive Creative Mind: A First Look at Spontaneous Predictions and Evaluations During Idea Generation. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2465. [PMID: 31736841 PMCID: PMC6839424 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Idea generation, the process of creating and developing candidate solutions that when implemented can solve ill-defined and complex problems, plays a pivotal role in creativity and innovation. The algorithms that underlie classical evolutionary, cognitive, and process models of idea generation, however, appear too inefficient to effectively help solve the ill-defined and complex problems for which one would engage in idea generation. To address this, these classical models have recently been redesigned as forward models, drawing heavily on the "predictive mind" literature. These pose that more efficiency can be achieved by making predictions based on heuristics, previous experiences, and domain knowledge about what material to use to generate ideas with, and evaluate these subsequently generated ideas based on whether they indeed match the initial prediction. When a discrepancy occurs between prediction and evaluation, new predictions are made, and thus shaping what actions, and how these actions, are undertaken. Although promising, forward models of idea generation remain theoretical and thus no empirical evidence exists about whether such predictions and evaluations indeed form part of the idea generation process. To take a first empirical look at this, a mixed-methods study was conducted by analyzing people's self-reports for the reasons of the actions that they take during an idea generation task. The results showed that predictions and evaluations are pervasive in the idea generation process. Specifically, switching between concept selection and conceptual combination and idea generation, as well as repeating idea generation based on earlier selected conceptual combination, and possibly (but to a lesser extent) concept selection and the repetition thereof, are likely to be driven by predictions and evaluations. Moreover, the frequencies of the predictions and evaluations that drive these actions influenced the amount of ideas generated, amount of concepts used, and within-concept fluency (the ratio of the amount of ideas generated per concept used). Therefore, the contribution of this paper is the first empirical evidence that indicates that the idea generation process is driven by both predictions and evaluations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alwin de Rooij
- Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
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Mekern V, Hommel B, Sjoerds Z. Computational models of creativity: a review of single-process and multi-process recent approaches to demystify creative cognition. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- Dingcheng Yang
- Washington Institute for Health Sciences, Arlington, VA, United States
| | - Bin Li
- Washington Institute for Health Sciences, Arlington, VA, United States
- Department of Neurosciences, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States
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Loui P. Rapid and flexible creativity in musical improvisation: review and a model. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2018; 1423:138-145. [PMID: 29577331 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Creativity has been defined as the ability to produce output that is novel, useful, beneficial, and desired by an audience. But what is musical creativity, and relatedly, to what extent does creativity depend on domain-general or domain-specific neural and cognitive processes? To what extent can musical creativity be taught? To answer these questions from a reductionist scientific approach, we must attempt to isolate the creative process as it pertains to music. Recent work in the neuroscience of creativity has turned to musical improvisation as a window into real-time musical creative process in the brain. Here, I provide an overview of recent research in the neuroscience of musical improvisation, especially focusing on multimodal neuroimaging studies. This research informs a model of creativity as a combination of generative and reactive processes that coordinate their functions to give rise to perpetually novel and aesthetically rewarding improvised musical output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Psyche Loui
- Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience & Behavior, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
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Przysinda E, Zeng T, Maves K, Arkin C, Loui P. Jazz musicians reveal role of expectancy in human creativity. Brain Cogn 2017; 119:45-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2017.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2017] [Revised: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Zhu Y, Ritter SM, Müller BC, Dijksterhuis A. Creativity: Intuitive processing outperforms deliberative processing in creative idea selection. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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10
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Network attributes underlying intellectual giftedness in the developing brain. Sci Rep 2017; 7:11321. [PMID: 28900176 PMCID: PMC5596014 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11593-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain network is organized to maximize the efficiency of both segregated and integrated information processing that may be related to human intelligence. However, there have been surprisingly few studies that focus on the topological characteristics of brain network underlying extremely high intelligence that is intellectual giftedness, particularly in adolescents. Here, we examined the network topology in 25 adolescents with superior intelligence (SI-Adol), 25 adolescents with average intelligence (AI-Adol), and 27 young adults with AI (AI-Adult). We found that SI-Adol had network topological properties of high global efficiency as well as high clustering with a low wiring cost, relative to AI-Adol. However, contrary to the suggested role that brain hub regions play in general intelligence, the network efficiency of rich club connection matrix, which represents connections among brain hubs, was low in SI-Adol in comparison to AI-Adol. Rather, a higher level of local connection density was observed in SI-Adol than in AI-Adol. The highly intelligent brain may not follow this efficient yet somewhat stereotypical process of information integration entirely. Taken together, our results suggest that a highly intelligent brain may communicate more extensively, while being less dependent on rich club communications during adolescence.
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van der Velde F, Forth J, Nazareth DS, Wiggins GA. Linking Neural and Symbolic Representation and Processing of Conceptual Structures. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1297. [PMID: 28848460 PMCID: PMC5554342 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2016] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We compare and discuss representations in two cognitive architectures aimed at representing and processing complex conceptual (sentence-like) structures. First is the Neural Blackboard Architecture (NBA), which aims to account for representation and processing of complex and combinatorial conceptual structures in the brain. Second is IDyOT (Information Dynamics of Thinking), which derives sentence-like structures by learning statistical sequential regularities over a suitable corpus. Although IDyOT is designed at a level more abstract than the neural, so it is a model of cognitive function, rather than neural processing, there are strong similarities between the composite structures developed in IDyOT and the NBA. We hypothesize that these similarities form the basis of a combined architecture in which the individual strengths of each architecture are integrated. We outline and discuss the characteristics of this combined architecture, emphasizing the representation and processing of conceptual structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank van der Velde
- Department of Cognitive Psychology and Ergonomics, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences, University of TwenteEnschede, Netherlands.,Institute of Psychology (IOP)Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Jamie Forth
- Department of Computing, Goldsmiths University of LondonLondon, United Kingdom
| | - Deniece S Nazareth
- Department of Cognitive Psychology and Ergonomics, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences, University of TwenteEnschede, Netherlands
| | - Geraint A Wiggins
- Computational Creativity Lab, Cognitive Science Group, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of LondonLondon, United Kingdom
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Mullen Raymond S. Neural Foundations of Creativity: A Systematic Review. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 46:187-192. [PMID: 28728803 DOI: 10.1016/j.rcp.2016.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2015] [Revised: 04/30/2016] [Accepted: 06/04/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
When considering the importance of the human cognitive function of creativity, we often overlook the fact that it is due to human creativity and to the constant search for new sensory stimuli that our world has, throughout the years, been one of innovation in every aspect of our existence -in the sciences, the humanities, and the arts. Almost everything that surrounds us is the result of human creativity, therefore it is not difficult to understand that although neuroscientific research has led to valuable perceptions into the probable underpinnings of this multifaceted ability, the precise neurological substrates that underlie creativity are yet to be determined. Despite the establishment of a strong link between creativity and divergent thinking, other brain networks have been implicated in this mental process. The following review underlines recent studies on the neural foundations of creativity. A comprehensive analysis of the upmost important facts will be presented, with emphasis on concepts, tests, and methods that have been used to study creativity, and how they have outlined a pathway to the key understanding of this unique human ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Mullen Raymond
- Occupational Therapist, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia; MSc Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
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Brain Areas Subserving Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking: An Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. Dement Neurocogn Disord 2017; 16:48-53. [PMID: 30906370 PMCID: PMC6427957 DOI: 10.12779/dnd.2017.16.2.48] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2017] [Revised: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 06/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Purpose Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is a well-known and commonly used measure of creativity. However, the TTCT-induced creative hemodynamic brain activity is rarely revealed. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the neural correlates of creative thinking in the setting of a modified version of the figural TTCT adapted for an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment. Methods We designed a blocked fMRI experiment. Twenty-five participants (11 males, 14 females, mean age 19.9±1.8) were asked to complete the partially presented line drawing of the figural TTCT (creative drawing imagery; creative). As a control condition, subjects were asked to keep tracking the line on the screen (line tracking; control). Results Compared to the control condition, creative condition revealed greater activation in the distributed and bilateral brain regions including the left anterior cingulate, bilateral frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital regions as shown in the previous creativity studies. Conclusions The present revealed the neural basis underlying the figural TTCT using fMRI, providing an evidence of brain areas encompassing the figural TTCT. Considering the significance of a creativity test for dementia patients, the neural correlates of TTCT elucidated by this study may be valuable to evaluate the brain function of patients in the clinical field.
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Forth J, Agres K, Purver M, Wiggins GA. Entraining IDyOT: Timing in the Information Dynamics of Thinking. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1575. [PMID: 27803682 PMCID: PMC5067415 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a novel hypothetical account of entrainment in music and language, in context of the Information Dynamics of Thinking model, IDyOT. The extended model affords an alternative view of entrainment, and its companion term, pulse, from earlier accounts. The model is based on hierarchical, statistical prediction, modeling expectations of both what an event will be and when it will happen. As such, it constitutes a kind of predictive coding, with a particular novel hypothetical implementation. Here, we focus on the model's mechanism for predicting when a perceptual event will happen, given an existing sequence of past events, which may be musical or linguistic. We propose a range of tests to validate or falsify the model, at various different levels of abstraction, and argue that computational modeling in general, and this model in particular, can offer a means of providing limited but useful evidence for evolutionary hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Geraint A. Wiggins
- Computational Creativity Lab, Computational Linguistics Lab, Cognitive Science Group, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of LondonLondon, UK
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Pétervári J, Osman M, Bhattacharya J. The Role of Intuition in the Generation and Evaluation Stages of Creativity. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1420. [PMID: 27703439 PMCID: PMC5028408 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2016] [Accepted: 09/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Both intuition and creativity are associated with knowledge creation, yet a clear link between them has not been adequately established. First, the available empirical evidence for an underlying relationship between intuition and creativity is sparse in nature. Further, this evidence is arguable as the concepts are diversely operationalized and the measures adopted are often not validated sufficiently. Combined, these issues make the findings from various studies examining the link between intuition and creativity difficult to replicate. Nevertheless, the role of intuition in creativity should not be neglected as it is often reported to be a core component of the idea generation process, which in conjunction with idea evaluation are crucial phases of creative cognition. We review the prior research findings in respect of idea generation and idea evaluation from the view that intuition can be construed as the gradual accumulation of cues to coherence. Thus, we summarize the literature on what role intuitive processes play in the main stages of the creative problem-solving process and outline a conceptual framework of the interaction between intuition and creativity. Finally, we discuss the main challenges of measuring intuition as well as possible directions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Pétervári
- Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London London, UK
| | - Magda Osman
- Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London London, UK
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Marmpena M, Dimitriadis SI, Thakor N, Bezerianos A. Phase to amplitude coupling as a potential biomarker for creative ideation: an EEG study. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2016; 2016:383-386. [PMID: 28268354 DOI: 10.1109/embc.2016.7590720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The most consistent finding of creative ideation in the neuroscientific study of creativity is the increment of EEG α power. However, the majority of existing studies focused only on ERP experimental paradigms while only a few analyzed time-related changes of EEG α power patterns during the time unlocked creation of ideas. Here, we designed an experimental paradigm where the participants were asked to generate alternative uses of everyday objects (AU task). For the control task, we adopted an Object Characteristics (OC) task, for which participants were asked to list typical characteristics or properties of an object. We estimated relative power spectrum, global efficiency from brain networks constructed with the imaginary part of coherence and phase-to-amplitude coupling (PAC) as potential biomarkers of creativity. Both relative power spectrum and nodal global efficiency failed to reach significant level by comparing AU with OC. In contrast, statistically significant differences between AU and OC were detected with PAC estimated within sensors in frequency pairs θ-γ and α2-γ. Our results can be the ground for both detecting and designing a connectomic biomarker of creativity.
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Thermodynamics and historical relevance of a jetting thermometer made of Chinese zisha ceramic. Sci Rep 2016; 6:28609. [PMID: 27431925 PMCID: PMC4949419 DOI: 10.1038/srep28609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Following a recent trend of scientific studies on artwork, we study here the thermodynamics of a thermometer made of zisha ceramic, related to the Chinese tea culture. The thermometer represents a boy who “urinates” shortly after hot water is poured onto his head. Long jetting distance is said to indicate that the water temperature is hot enough to brew tea. Here, a thermodynamic model describes the jetting phenomenon of that pee-pee boy. The study demonstrates how thermal expansion of an interior air pocket causes jetting. A thermodynamic potential is shown to define maximum jetting velocity. Seven optimization criteria to maximize jetting distance are provided, including two dimensionless numbers. Predicted jetting distances, jet durations, and temperatures agree very well with infrared and optical measurements. Specifically, the study confirms that jetting distances are sensitive enough to measure water temperature in the context of tea brewing. Optimization results show that longer jets are produced by large individuals, with low body mass index, with a boyhood of medium size inclined at an angle π/4. The study ends by considering the possibility that ceramic jetting artifacts like the pee-pee boy might have been the first thermometers known to mankind, before Galileo Galilei’s thermoscope.
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Durning SJ, Costanzo ME, Beckman TJ, Artino AR, Roy MJ, van der Vleuten C, Holmboe ES, Lipner RS, Schuwirth L. Functional neuroimaging correlates of thinking flexibility and knowledge structure in memory: Exploring the relationships between clinical reasoning and diagnostic thinking. MEDICAL TEACHER 2016; 38:570-577. [PMID: 26079668 DOI: 10.3109/0142159x.2015.1047755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Diagnostic reasoning involves the thinking steps up to and including arrival at a diagnosis. Dual process theory posits that a physician's thinking is based on both non-analytic or fast, subconscious thinking and analytic thinking that is slower, more conscious, effortful and characterized by comparing and contrasting alternatives. Expertise in clinical reasoning may relate to the two dimensions measured by the diagnostic thinking inventory (DTI): memory structure and flexibility in thinking. AIM Explored the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) correlates of these two aspects of the DTI: memory structure and flexibility of thinking. METHODS Participants answered and reflected upon multiple-choice questions (MCQs) during fMRI. A DTI was completed shortly after the scan. The brain processes associated with the two dimensions of the DTI were correlated with fMRI phases - assessing flexibility in thinking during analytical clinical reasoning, memory structure during non-analytical clinical reasoning and the total DTI during both non-analytical and analytical reasoning in experienced physicians. RESULTS Each DTI component was associated with distinct functional neuroanatomic activation patterns, particularly in the prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSION Our findings support diagnostic thinking conceptual models and indicate mechanisms through which cognitive demands may induce functional adaptation within the prefrontal cortex. This provides additional objective validity evidence for the use of the DTI in medical education and practice settings.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Michael J Roy
- a Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences , USA
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Abstract
UNLABELLED The default mode network (DMN) has been traditionally assumed to hinder behavioral performance in externally focused, goal-directed paradigms and to provide no active contribution to human cognition. However, recent evidence suggests greater DMN activity in an array of tasks, especially those that involve self-referential and memory-based processing. Although data that robustly demonstrate a comprehensive functional role for DMN remains relatively scarce, the global workspace framework, which implicates the DMN in global information integration for conscious processing, can potentially provide an explanation for the broad range of higher-order paradigms that report DMN involvement. We used graph theoretical measures to assess the contribution of the DMN to global functional connectivity dynamics in 22 healthy volunteers during an fMRI-based n-back working-memory paradigm with parametric increases in difficulty. Our predominant finding is that brain modularity decreases with greater task demands, thus adapting a more global workspace configuration, in direct relation to increases in reaction times to correct responses. Flexible default mode regions dynamically switch community memberships and display significant changes in their nodal participation coefficient and strength, which may reflect the observed whole-brain changes in functional connectivity architecture. These findings have important implications for our understanding of healthy brain function, as they suggest a central role for the DMN in higher cognitive processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The default mode network (DMN) has been shown to increase its activity during the absence of external stimulation, and hence was historically assumed to disengage during goal-directed tasks. Recent evidence, however, implicates the DMN in self-referential and memory-based processing. We provide robust evidence for this network's active contribution to working memory by revealing dynamic reconfiguration in its interactions with other networks and offer an explanation within the global workspace theoretical framework. These promising findings may help redefine our understanding of the exact DMN role in human cognition.
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Luft CDB, Pereda E, Banissy MJ, Bhattacharya J. Best of both worlds: promise of combining brain stimulation and brain connectome. Front Syst Neurosci 2014; 8:132. [PMID: 25126060 PMCID: PMC4115621 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2014] [Accepted: 07/07/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcranial current brain stimulation (tCS) is becoming increasingly popular as a non-pharmacological non-invasive neuromodulatory method that alters cortical excitability by applying weak electrical currents to the scalp via a pair of electrodes. Most applications of this technique have focused on enhancing motor and learning skills, as well as a therapeutic agent in neurological and psychiatric disorders. In these applications, similarly to lesion studies, tCS was used to provide a causal link between a function or behavior and a specific brain region (e.g., primary motor cortex). Nonetheless, complex cognitive functions are known to rely on functionally connected multitude of brain regions with dynamically changing patterns of information flow rather than on isolated areas, which are most commonly targeted in typical tCS experiments. In this review article, we argue in favor of combining tCS method with other neuroimaging techniques (e.g., fMRI, EEG) and by employing state-of-the-art connectivity data analysis techniques (e.g., graph theory) to obtain a deeper understanding of the underlying spatiotemporal dynamics of functional connectivity patterns and cognitive performance. Finally, we discuss the possibilities of using these combined techniques to investigate the neural correlates of human creativity and to enhance creativity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ernesto Pereda
- Lab. of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Technology, University of La Laguna Tenerife, Spain
| | - Michael J Banissy
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London London, UK
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