图形创造力的认知机制及神经机制

Feedback drives creativity, yet how individuals benefit from it remains unclear. This study explored the cognitive and neural mechanisms through which interpersonal feedback promotes creativity. The fNIRS measured interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) during feedback, focusing on the prefrontal cortex and the right temporoparietal area. Participants completed creativity tasks (acquisition/transfer) across four groups: interpersonal feedback, one-way feedback, irrelevant communication, and no feedback. Feedback uptake (ignore, copy, and apply) was coded by linking dialogue content to posttest performance, reflecting cognitive processes. Results showed that only interpersonal feedback improved creativity acquisition and transfer. Applying feedback positively correlated with creativity enhancement, while ignoring it was negatively correlated. Notably, interpersonal feedback induced increased INS at the superior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal cortex, which correlated with creativity enhancement and was further amplified when feedback was applied. The study reveals how interpersonal feedback promotes creativity through underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms, offering insights into fostering creativity.

Creativity is a common, complex, and multifaceted cognitive activity with significant implications for technological progress, social development, and human survival. Understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying creative thought is essential for fostering individual creativity. While previous studies have demonstrated that exploratory behavior positively influences creative performance, few studies investigated the relationship between creativity and exploration at the neural level. To address this gap, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis comprising 80 creativity experiments (1,850 subjects) and 23 exploration experiments (646 subjects) to examine potential shared neural activations between creativity and exploration. Furthermore, we analyzed the neural similarities and differences among three forms of creative thinking-divergent thinking (DT), convergent thinking (CT), and artistic creativity-and their relationship with exploration. The conjunction analysis of creativity and exploration revealed significant activations in the bilateral IFJ and left preSMA. Further conjunction analyses revealed that both CT and artistic creativity exhibited common neural activations with exploration, with CT co-activating the left IFJ and artistic creativity co-activating both the right IFJ and left preSMA, while DT did not. Additionally, the conjunction analyses across the three forms of creativity did not identify shared neural activations. Further functional decoding analyses of the overlapping brain regions associated with CT and exploration, as well as artistic creativity and exploration, revealed correlations with inhibitory control mechanisms. These results enhance our understanding of the role of exploration in the creative thinking process and provide valuable insights for developing strategies to foster innovative thinking.

Visual arts education has been linked to cognitive and neural benefits, yet the neural mechanisms associated with creativity remain unclear. This study examined how long-term engagement in design-related visual arts education relates to creative performance and brain function. Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching, we compared design majors to matched non-design majors. Participants completed visual art creative tasks (product and book cover design) and divergent thinking tasks (AUT, TTCT-figural) during fNIRS recording. The design group outperformed peers across tasks and showed greater left dorsolateral prefrontal activation during early idea generation, while non-design peers relied more on sensory and motor regions. Functional connectivity revealed reduced coupling within task-relevant circuits, indicating greater neural efficiency. Dynamic network analysis showed design majors spent more time in efficient states and switched between states more flexibly. These findings suggest that design-related visual arts education may support creativity through efficient and flexible brain network engagement.

The neural mechanisms underlying the cognitive metacontrol states of persistence and flexibility are not yet fully understood but are thought to be modulated by frontal and striatal dopamine, respectively. In this study, we attempted to induce persistence and flexibility states by having participants engage in 2 creativity tasks (remote associates task and alternative uses task) and 2 meditation techniques (focused-attention meditation and open-monitoring meditation), to study the neural correlates of these metacontrol states and test the metacontrol model of creativity (MCC). Results show that brain areas known to be modulated by both frontal and striatal dopamine were activated in conditions that are thought to call for persistence, particularly the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and basal ganglia, indicating goal-related selective attention and top-down control. In contrast, conditions that call for flexibility showed brain activation in areas of the default mode network, suggesting reduced top-down control. This pattern was much clearer for the creativity tasks than meditation. Notably, we did not find significant effects when contrasting the 2 meditation techniques and when looking at brain activation overlap between meditation and creativity at the whole-brain level. Finally, the examination of the MCC provided partial supporting evidence for the model, but its prediction for the left inferior frontal gyrus showed the exact opposite result, which calls for clarification in future research.

The neuroscience of creativity has proposed that shared and domain-specific brain mechanisms underlie creative thinking. However, greater nuance is needed in characterizing these mechanisms, and limited neuroimaging analyses, especially regarding the relationship between the Alternative Uses Task (AUT) and other linguistic tasks, have so far prevented a comprehensive understanding of the neural basis of creativity. This paper offers to fill these gaps with a closer examination of the contributions of the specific domains and the deactivations associated with creativity. We conduct a voxel-based meta-analysis of 43 neuroimaging studies involving 1118 participants. Using Seed-Based d Mapping, we investigate the spatial activity maps in the brain associated with overall creativity and with specific domains. Our findings reveal various domain-general mechanisms related to creativity, including working memory, the ability to connect distantly related concepts, the inhibition of conventional thought, interoception, internal goal orientation, mind wandering, and mental motor simulations. We also identify domain-specific mechanisms of creativity that differ by modality. Linguistic creativity requires inhibiting typical semantic associations, musical creativity involves auditory-motor integration and spontaneous expression, and visual creativity depends on inhibiting habitual visuospatial associations. Additionally, AUT is more effective at capturing novel tool manipulation and ideation rather than elaborative creative processes, which limits its scope. This meta-analysis underscores that creativity depends on multi-component neural circuits and highlights the need for future research to report deactivations, investigate neurofeedback applications, and analyze long-term and collaborative creative processes.

Creativity is a fundamental aspect of human cognition, particularly during childhood. Exploring creativity through electroencephalography (EEG) provides valuable insights into the brain mechanisms underlying this vital cognitive process. This study analyzed the power spectrum and functional connectivity of interhemispheric and intrahemispheric brain activity during creative tasks in 15 Argentine children aged 9 to 12, using a 14-channel EEG system. The Torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT) was used, incorporating one figural and one verbal task. EEG metrics included relative power spectral density (rPSD) across Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma bands. Spearman's Rho correlations were calculated between frequency bands and performance on creativity tasks, followed by functional connectivity assessment through coherence analysis across the [1–50] Hz spectrum. The results revealed significant increases in rPSD across all frequency bands during creative tasks compared to rest, with no significant differences between figural and verbal tasks. Correlational analysis revealed positive associations between the Beta band and the innovative and adaptive factors of the figural task. In contrast, for the verbal task, both the Beta and Gamma bands were positively related to flexibility, while the Alpha band showed a negative relationship with fluency and originality. Coherence analysis showed enhanced intrahemispheric synchronization, particularly in frontotemporal and temporo-occipital regions, alongside reduced interhemispheric frontal coherence. These findings suggest that creativity in children involves a dynamic reorganization of brain activity, characterized by oscillatory activation and region-specific connectivity changes. Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the brain mechanisms supporting creativity during child development.

Creativity is typically operationalized as divergent thinking (DT) ability, a form of higher-order cognition which relies on memory, attention, and other component processes. Despite recent advances, creativity neuroscience lacks a unified framework to model its complexity across neural, genetic, and cognitive scales. Using task-based fMRI from two independent samples and MVPA, we identified a neural pattern that predicts DT, validated through cognitive decoding, genetic data, and large-scale resting-state fMRI. Our findings reveal that DT neural patterns span brain regions associated with diverse cognitive functions, with positive weights in the default mode and frontoparietal control networks and negative weights in the visual network. The high correlation with the primary gradient of functional connectivity suggests that DT involves extensive integration from concrete sensory information to abstract, higher-level cognition, distinguishing it from other advanced cognitive functions. Moreover, neurobiological analyses show that the DT pattern is positively correlated with dopamine-related neurotransmitters and genes influencing neurotransmitter release, advancing the neurobiological understanding of creativity. This study used fMRI and MVPA to identify neural patterns predicting divergent thinking (DT). DT engages the default mode and frontoparietal control networks, opposing the visual network, and is linked to dopamine-related neurotransmitters and genes.

Although intelligence beliefs have been applied to explain the influence of cognition, behavior, and creativity, the research on creativity is still limited. Therefore, in order to effectively expand the understanding of the influence of intelligence beliefs on the creative performance of learners’ graphics, the implicit theories of intelligence were exploited as the basis of this study. Three hypothetical pathways were proposed to be explored, and a research model was validated. First- and second-year students from a technical high school in New Taipei City were invited to participate. There were 273 valid data (88.9% of complete data). Reliability and validity analyses were performed, as well as overall model fit analysis and research model validation, and descriptive statistical analysis of the learners’ performance in applying the operational virtual reality (VR). The results of this study showed that: (1) Incremental beliefs of aesthetic intelligence had a positive effect on spatial performance; (2) entity belief of spatial intelligence (EBSI) had a negative effect on spatial performance; and (3) spatial performance had a positive effect on graphical design performance. From the results, it is clear that design teachers can assess students’ implicit beliefs in the early stages of teaching to actively promote better spatial performance when students show high levels of entity beliefs.

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The dual‐process theory that two different systems of thought coexist in creative thinking has attracted considerable attention. In the field of creative thinking, divergent thinking (DT) is the ability to produce multiple solutions to open‐ended problems in a short time. It is mainly considered an associative and fast process. Meanwhile, insight, the new and unexpected comprehension of close‐ended problems, is frequently marked as a deliberate and time‐consuming thinking process requiring concentrated effort. Previous research has been dedicated to revealing their separate neural mechanisms, while few studies have compared their differences and similarities at the brain level. Therefore, the current study applied Activation Likelihood Estimation to decipher common and distinctive neural pathways that potentially underlie DT and insight. We selected 27 DT studies and 30 insight studies for retrospective meta‐analyses. Initially, two single analyses with follow‐up contrast and conjunction analyses were performed. The single analyses showed that DT mainly involved the inferior parietal lobe (IPL), cuneus, and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), while the precentral gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), parahippocampal gyrus (PG), amygdala (AMG), and superior parietal lobe were engaged in insight. Compared to insight, DT mainly led to greater activation in the IPL, the crucial part of the default mode network. However, insight caused more significant activation in regions related to executive control functions and emotional responses, such as the IFG, MFG, PG, and AMG. Notably, the conjunction analysis detected no overlapped areas between DT and insight. These neural findings implicate that various neurocognitive circuits may support DT and insight.

Are intelligence and creativity distinct abilities, or do they rely on the same cognitive and neural systems? We sought to quantify the extent to which intelligence and creative cognition overlap in brain and behavior by combining machine learning of fMRI data and latent variable modeling of cognitive ability data in a sample of young adults (N = 186) who completed a battery of intelligence and creative thinking tasks. The study had 3 analytic goals: (a) to assess contributions of specific facets of intelligence (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence) and general intelligence to creative ability (i.e., divergent thinking originality), (b) to model whole-brain functional connectivity networks that predict intelligence facets and creative ability, and (c) to quantify the degree to which these predictive networks overlap in the brain. Using structural equation modeling, we found moderate to large correlations between intelligence facets and creative ability, as well as a large correlation between general intelligence and creative ability (r = .63). Using connectome-based predictive modeling, we found that functional brain networks that predict intelligence facets overlap to varying degrees with a network that predicts creative ability, particularly within the prefrontal cortex of the executive control network. Notably, a network that predicted general intelligence shared 46% of its functional connections with a network that predicted creative ability-including connections linking executive control and salience/ventral attention networks-suggesting that intelligence and creative thinking rely on similar neural and cognitive systems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

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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.

Throughout recorded history, and across cultures, humans have made visual art. In recent years, the neural bases of creativity, including artistic creativity, have become a topic of interest. In this study we investigated the neural bases of the visual creative process with both professional artists and a group of control participants. We tested the idea that creativity (planning an artwork) would influence the functional connectivity between regions involved in the default mode network (DMN), implicated in divergent thinking and generating novel ideas, and the executive control network (EN), implicated in evaluating and selecting ideas. We measured functional connectivity with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) during three different conditions: rest, visual imagery of the alphabet and planning an artwork to be executed immediately after the scanning session. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found stronger connectivity between areas of the DMN and EN during the creative task, and this difference was enhanced in professional artists. These findings suggest that creativity involves an expert balance of two brain networks typically viewed as being in opposition.

Although creativity has been called the most important of all human resources, its neural basis is still unclear. In the current study, we used fMRI to measure neural activity in participants solving a visuospatial creativity problem that involves divergent thinking and has been considered a canonical right hemisphere task. As hypothesized, both the visual creativity task and the control task as compared to rest activated a variety of areas including the posterior parietal cortex bilaterally and motor regions, which are known to be involved in visuospatial rotation of objects. However, directly comparing the two tasks indicated that the creative task more strongly activated left hemisphere regions including the posterior parietal cortex, the premotor cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the medial PFC. These results demonstrate that even in a task that is specialized to the right hemisphere, robust parallel activity in the left hemisphere supports creative processing. Furthermore, the results support the notion that higher motor planning may be a general component of creative improvisation and that such goal-directed planning of novel solutions may be organized top-down by the left DLPFC and by working memory processing in the medial prefrontal cortex.

What does it take to have a creative mind? Theories of creative cognition assert that the quantity of automatic associations places fundamental constraints on the probability of reaching creative solutions. Due to the difficulties inherent in isolating automated associative responses from cognitive control, the neural basis underlying this faculty remains unknown. Here we acquired fMRI data in an incidental-viewing paradigm in which subjects performed an attention-demanding task whilst viewing task-irrelevant objects. By assigning a standard creativity task on the same objects out of the scanner, as well as a battery of psychometric creativity tests, we could assess whether stimulus-bound neural activity was predictive of state or trait variability in creativity. We found that stimulus-bound responses in superior occipital regions were linearly predictive of trial-by-trial variability in creative performance (state-creativity), and that in more creative individuals (trait-creativity) this response was more strongly expressed in entorhinal cortex. Additionally, the mean response to the onset of objects in parahippocampal gyrus was predictive of trait differences in creativity. This work suggests that, creative individuals are endowed with occipital and medial temporal reflexes that generate a greater fluency in associative representations, making them more accessible for ideation even when no ideation is explicitly called for.

Abstract The neuroscience of creativity seeks to disentangle the complex brain processes that underpin the generation of novel ideas. Neuroimaging studies of functional connectivity, particularly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), have revealed individual differences in brain network organization associated with creative ability; however, much of the extant research is limited to laboratory-based divergent thinking measures. To overcome these limitations, we compare functional brain connectivity in a cohort of creative experts (n = 27) and controls (n = 26) and examine links with creative behavior. First, we replicate prior findings showing reduced connectivity in visual cortex related to higher creative performance. Second, we examine whether this result is driven by integrated or segregated connectivity. Third, we examine associations between functional connectivity and vivid distal simulation separately in creative experts and controls. In accordance with past work, our results show reduced connectivity to the primary visual cortex in creative experts at rest. Additionally, we observe a negative association between distal simulation vividness and connectivity to the lateral visual cortex in creative experts. Taken together, these results highlight connectivity profiles of highly creative people and suggest that creative thinking may be related to, though not fully redundant with, the ability to vividly imagine the future.

ABSTRACT The cognitive and physiological processes underlying creativity remain unclear, and very few studies to date have attempted to identify the behavioral and brain characteristics that distinguish exceptional (“Big‐C”) from everyday (“little‐c”) creativity. The Big‐C Project examined functional brain responses during tasks demanding divergent and convergent thinking in 35 Big‐C Visual Artists (VIS), 41 Big‐C Scientists (SCI), and 31 individuals in a “smart comparison group” (SCG) matched to the Big‐C groups on parental educational attainment and estimated IQ. Functional MRI (fMRI) scans included two activation paradigms widely used in prior creativity research, the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) and Remote Associates Task (RAT), to assess brain function during divergent and convergent thinking, respectively. Task performance did not differ between groups. Functional MRI activation in Big‐C and SCG groups differed during the divergent thinking task. No differences in activation were seen during the convergent thinking task. Big‐C groups had less activation than SCG in frontal pole, right frontal operculum, left middle frontal gyrus, and bilaterally in occipital cortex. SCI displayed lower frontal and parietal activation relative to the SCG when generating alternate uses in the AUT, while VIS displayed lower frontal activation than SCI and SCG when generating typical qualities (the control condition in the AUT). VIS showed more activation in right inferior frontal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus relative to SCI. All groups displayed considerable overlapping activation during the RAT. The results confirm substantial overlap in functional activation across groups, but suggest that exceptionally creative individuals may depend less on task‐positive networks during tasks that demand divergent thinking. HighlightsBig‐C groups activated less than the comparison group during divergent thinking.Artists activated frontal regions more than scientists during divergent thinking.The three groups had similar activations during convergent thinking.

Recent research has shown that the cerebellum is involved not only in motor control but also in higher-level activities, which are closely related to creativity. This study aimed to explore the role of the cerebellum in visual divergent thinking based on its intrinsic activity. To this end, we selected the resting-state fMRI data of high- (n = 22) and low-level creativity groups (n = 22), and adopted the voxel-wise, seed-wise, and dynamic functional connectivity to identify the differences between the two groups. Furthermore, the topological properties of the cerebello-cerebral network and their relations with visual divergent thinking were calculated. The voxel-wise functional connectivity results indicated group differences across the cerebellar (e.g. lobules VI, VIIb, Crus I, and Crus II) and cerebral regions (e.g. superior frontal cortex, middle frontal cortex, and inferior parietal gyrus), as well as the cerebellar lobules (e.g. lobules VIIIa, IX, and X) and the cerebral brain regions (the cuneus and precentral gyrus). We found a significant correlation between visual divergent thinking and activities of the left lobules VI, VIIb, Crus I, and Crus II, which are associated with executive functions. Our overall results provide novel insight into the important role of the cerebellum in visual divergent thinking.

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The present study used functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) to examine the role of focused attention in divergent thinking and real-life creativity. Participants completed a Navon task, on which the stimuli consisted of a large letter made up of the smaller version of the same (congruent), or a different (incongruent) letter. Participants were cued to identify a letter at either the local or at the global level. A smaller congruency effect - how much faster people responded on the congruent than on the incongruent trials - was an index of focused attention. Overall, larger behavioral congruency effect was accompanied with increased activation in the anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG), and with increased activation in the left precuneus. Individual differences in divergent thinking, however, were associated with smaller behavioral congruency effect, as well as with smaller right aSTG increase on the incongruent versus congruent targets, suggesting that people with better performance on the divergent thinking tests have more focused attention. Real-world creativity was not associated with the congruency effect, or with any of the regions implicated in the congruency effect. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Art is a product of human creativity; it is a superior skill that can be learned by study, practice and observation. Modern neuroscience and neuroimaging enable study of the processes during artistic performance. Creative people have less marked hemispheric dominance. It was found that the right hemisphere is specialized for metaphoric thinking, playfulness, solution finding and synthesizing, it is the center of visualization, imagination and conceptualization, but the left hemisphere is still needed for artistic work to achieve balance. A specific functional organization of brain areas was found during visual art activities. Marked hemispheric dominance and area specialization is also very prominent for music perception. Brain is capable of making new connections, activating new pathways and unmasking secondary roads, it is "plastic". Music is a strong stimulus for neuroplasticity. fMRI studies have shown reorganization of motor and auditory cortex in professional musicians. Other studies showed the changes in neurotransmitter and hormone serum levels in correlation to music. The most prominent connection between music and enhancement of performance or changing of neuropsychological activity was shown by studies involving Mozart's music from which the theory of "The Mozart Effect" was derived. Results of numerous studies showed that listening to music can improve cognition, motor skills and recovery after brain injury. In the field of visual art, brain lesion can lead to the visuospatial neglect, loss of details and significant impairment of artistic work while the lesions affecting the left hemisphere reveal new artistic dimensions, disinhibit the right hemisphere, work is more spontaneous and emotional with the gain of artistic quality. All kinds of arts (music, painting, dancing...) stimulate the brain. They should be part of treatment processes. Work of many artists is an excellent example for the interweaving the neurology and arts.

Objective: To illustrate an innovative protocol of intensive Professional Art Therapy (PAT) specifically designed for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. To present feasibility data from the first group completing this pilot program. Background: According to previous studies art therapy exerts beneficial effects on mood and other psychological functions in PD. Art creation involves visuospatial perception, multisensory integration, visuomotor coordination, abstraction and creativity. An intensive PAT program exploiting these skills could be used to improve different symptoms of PD, including visuospatial and gait dysfunction. Design/Methods: An initial cross-sectional biomarker study comparing eye-tracking analysis and fMRI connectivity explored differences in visuospatial functions and visual integration between PD-subjects and age-matched controls. A prospective, open-label, 10-weeks PAT program consisting of 20 sessions specifically designed to improve visuospatial skills in PD patients was administered. The impact of PAT was assessed by means of eye-tracking analysis, fMRI, clinical and neuropsychological performances. Eye-movements were recorded by 250 Hz sampling, infrared camera with 0.5° spatial accuracy. MRI utilized structural T1-weighted 3D high-resolution with co-registered diffusion weighted imaging. Correlative analyses between whole brain tractography, connectivity and visuospatial performances were performed. Results: Since May 2017, 8-PD subjects and 5-controls (ages 54–76) were screened. Feasibility data from this first cohort were obtained. Among all PAT sessions (147), only 9 were missed (94% compliance). All subjects completed the study. Two falls were reported and deemed unrelated to the study. All assessments were performed per protocol. No severe adverse events were reported. Conclusions: Visuospatial function in PD has never been explored through a combined approach of eye movement analysis, fMRI, and clinical profiling nor has the impact of PAT on visuospatial function. Acceptability of PAT seems optimal due to ease of recruitment, excellent adherence and no attrition. Current sample size prevents efficacy analysis. The completion of this study is warranted to assess the therapeutic potential of this novel intervention. Study Supported by: Study supported by The Kellar Family Foundation (grant ID# 008181) Disclosure: Dr. Cucca has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mania has nothing to disclose. Dr. Acosta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Berberian has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bertish has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hudson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lemen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rizzo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Biagioni has nothing to disclose. Dr. Di Rocco has nothing to disclose.

Most of us effortlessly describe visual objects, whether seen or remembered. Yet, around 4% of people report congenital aphantasia: they struggle to visualize objects despite being able to describe their visual appearance. What neural mechanisms create this disparity between subjective experience and objective performance? Aphantasia can provide novel insights into conscious processing and awareness. We used ultra-high field 7T fMRI to establish the neural circuits involved in visual mental imagery and perception, and to elucidate the neural mechanisms associated with the processing of internally generated visual information in the absence of imagery experience in congenital aphantasia. Ten typical imagers and 10 aphantasic individuals performed imagery and perceptual tasks in five domains: object shape, object color, written words, faces, and spatial relationships. In typical imagers, imagery tasks activated left-hemisphere frontoparietal areas, the relevant domain-preferring areas in the ventral temporal cortex partly overlapping with the perceptual domain-preferring areas, and a domain-general area in the left fusiform gyrus (the Fusiform Imagery Node). The results were valid for each individual participant. In aphantasic individuals, imagery activated similar visual areas, but there was reduced functional connectivity between the Fusiform Imagery Node and frontoparietal areas. Our results unveil the domain-general and domain-specific circuits of visual mental imagery, their functional disorganization in aphantasia, and support the general hypothesis that conscious visual experience - whether perceived or imagined - depends on the integrated activity of high-level visual cortex and frontoparietal networks.

Studies have been conducted to investigate the components involved in generating creative outcomes. Divergent and convergent thinking are the most extensively studied components of this kind. There is evidence of important contributions of divergent thinking to creativity in artistic domains (e.g., writing, music, and visual art), but the role of convergent thinking remains unclear. This study aimed at comparing the relative contribution of divergent and convergent thinking to visual creativity. Participants worked through four tasks serving to assess divergent and convergent thinking, and a creative drawing task. Our SEM and mediation models characterized the relationship between the two creative thinking processes and visual creativity, and revealed a positive impact of both divergent and convergent thinking on visual creativity. Divergent thinking has a direct, facilitating impact on visual creativity, whereas convergent thinking predicts visual creativity through drawing skills, thus suggesting a more indirect, enabling role. Taken together, both divergent and convergent thinking are involved in producing creative visual drawings.

ABSTRACT Immersive virtual reality (IVR) takes advantage of exponential growth in our technological abilities to offer an array of new forms of entertainment, learning opportunities, and even psychological interventions and assessments. The field of creativity is a driving force in both large-scale innovations and everyday progress, and imbedding creativity assessment in IVR programs has important practical implications for future research and interventions in this field. Creativity assessment, however, tends to either rely on traditional concepts or newer, yet cumbersome methods. Can creativity be measured within IVR? This study introduces the VIVA, a new IVR-based visual arts creativity assessment paradigm in which user create 3D drawings in response to a prompt. Productions are then rated with modern extensions of a classic product-based approach to creativity assessment. A sample of 67 adults completed the VIVA, further scored using item-response modeling. Results demonstrated the strong psychometric properties of the VIVA assessment, including its structural validity, internal reliability, and criterion validity with relevant criterion measures. Together, this study established a solid proof-of-concept of the feasibility of measuring creativity in IVR. We conclude by discussing directions for future studies and the broader importance and impact of this line of work for the field of creativity and virtual reality.

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

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Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC), the temporal correlation of intrinsic activation between different brain regions, has become one of the most fascinating field in the functional imaging studies. To better understand the association between RSFC and individual creativity, we used RSFC and the figure Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT-F) to investigate the relationship between creativity measured by TTCT and RSFC within two different brain networks, default mode network and the cognitive control network, in a large healthy sample (304). We took the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC) to be the seed regions and investigated the association across subjects between the score of TTCT-F and the strength of RSFC between these seed regions and other voxels in the whole brain. Results revealed that the strength of RSFC with the MPFC was significantly and negatively correlated with the score of TTCT-F in the precuneus. Meanwhile, we also found that the strength of RSFC with the left DLPFC was significantly and positively correlated with the score of TTCT-F in the right DLPFC. It suggests that the decreased RSFC within DMN and the increased RSFC within CCN presents a potential interaction mechanism between different region for higher creativity.

Creativity refers to the capability to catch original and valuable ideas and solutions. It involves different processes. In this study the extent to which visual creativity is related to cognitive processes underlying visual mental imagery was investigated. Fifty college students (25 women) carried out: the Creative Synthesis Task, which measures the ability to produce creative objects belonging to a given category (originality, synthesis and transformation scores of pre-inventive forms, and originality and practicality scores of inventions were computed); an adaptation of Clark’s Drawing Ability Test, which measures the ability to produce actual creative artworks (graphic ability, esthetic, and creativity scores of drawings were assessed) and three mental imagery tasks that investigate the three main cognitive processes involved in visual mental imagery: generation, inspection and transformation. Vividness of imagery and verbalizer–visualizer cognitive style were also measured using questionnaires. Correlation analysis revealed that all measures of the creativity tasks positively correlated with the image transformation imagery ability; practicality of inventions negatively correlated with vividness of imagery; originality of inventions positively correlated with the visualization cognitive style. However, regression analysis confirmed the predictive role of the transformation imagery ability only for the originality score of inventions and for the graphic ability and esthetic scores of artistic drawings; on the other hand, the visualization cognitive style predicted the originality of inventions, whereas the vividness of imagery predicted practicality of inventions. These results are consistent with the notion that visual creativity is domain- and task-specific.

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Using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire we selected 14 high-scoring and 15 low-scoring healthy participants from an initial sample of 111 undergraduates. The two groups were matched on measures of age, IQ, memory and mood but differed significantly in imagery vividness. We used fMRI to examine brain activation while participants looked at, or later imagined, famous faces and famous buildings. Group comparison revealed that the low-vividness group activated a more widespread set of brain regions while visualising than the high-vividness group. Parametric analysis of brain activation in relation to imagery vividness across the entire group of participants revealed distinct patterns of positive and negative correlation. In particular, several posterior cortical regions show a positive correlation with imagery vividness: regions of the fusiform gyrus, posterior cingulate and parahippocampal gyri (BAs 19, 29, 31 and 36) displayed exclusively positive correlations. By contrast several frontal regions including parts of anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24) and inferior frontal gyrus (BAs 44 and 47), as well as the insula (BA 13), auditory cortex (BA 41) and early visual cortices (BAs 17 and 18) displayed exclusively negative correlations. We discuss these results in relation to a previous, functional imaging study of a clinical case of 'blind imagination', and to the existing literature on the functional imaging correlates of imagery vividness and related phenomena in visual and other domains.

ABSTRACT 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<Symbol). 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. Symbol. No caption available. HIGHLIGHTSThe neural correlates and genetic determinates of creativity remain largely unclear.We developed a prediction‐based approach in identifying the functional connectivity and SNPs closely related to creativity.High figural creativity is associated with brain networks with strong top‐down control versus weak bottom‐up processes.Genes correlated with figural creativity were involved in glutamate and GABA functionality.Our neuroimaging prediction model was cross‐validated by a completely new dataset.

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Key Points Question Does creativity map to a specific brain circuit, and does damage to this circuit align with creativity changes that occur in brain disease? Findings This study using network mapping of meta-analytic data involving 857 participants found that brain regions activated by creativity tasks mapped to a human brain circuit centered on the right frontal pole. Damage to this circuit aligned with both decreases and paradoxical increases in creativity observed across multiple different brain diseases. Meaning Findings from this study suggest that creativity maps to a specific brain circuit in healthy individuals and that damage to this circuit in individuals with certain neurodegenerative diseases may explain their paradoxical increases in creativity; further research is needed to confirm and validate these findings.

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Aesthetic experience is widely believed to foster creativity, yet the neural mechanisms mediating this link remain poorly defined. Here, we propose five key brain networks that may support this process and systematically review the evidence. In the creative generation stage, immersive aesthetic stimuli first activate the default mode network (DMN), which supports memory retrieval and spontaneous divergent thinking. Concurrently, the executive control network (ECN) remains suppressed, enabling associative thinking and intuitive creativity, while the salience network (SN) monitors novel or emotionally salient features. During the creative evaluation stage, aesthetic processing synergistically engages the SN, DMN, and ECN. The SN flexibly modulates the coupling between the DMN and ECN. The DMN contributes to affective and interoceptive evaluation, retrieves prototypical events, and supports insight generation, whereas the ECN inhibits conventional ideas, facilitates mental set shifting, and promotes the formation of novel associations. In the creative expression stage, aesthetic experience recruits the sensorimotor network (SMN), enhancing creative output and improvisational capability. Across all three stages, the reward system (RS) plays a dual role in both initiating and sustaining creativity. Dopamine released in response to aesthetic pleasure increases cognitive flexibility and task persistence during the generation and evaluation stages. In the expression stage, it maintains high creative motivation, thereby driving creative implementation and reinforcing emotional resonance. Importantly, none of these stages is mediated by a single brain region or network; instead, creativity is supported by the dynamic reconfiguration of connections within and between these networks. Finally, the review addresses current challenges in the field and proposes promising future directions.

Creativity, characterized by the pursuit of uniqueness and novelty, highlights the importance of individual variability, which have been a key focus in cognitive and behavioral research on creativity. However, most studies on the neural basis of creativity have primarily focused on consistent patterns of brain activity across individuals, with little attention to the variability in brain function. In this study, inter-subject representational similarity analysis was employed to investigate the relationship between inter-individual variability in resting-state functional connectivity and creative ability. The results revealed significant positive correlations between individual variability in functional connectivity maps of multiple brain regions, including the superior frontal gyrus, orbital gyrus, precuneus, cingulate gyrus, and lateral occipital cortex, and variability in creative ability. Notably, both intra-network variability within the default mode network (DMN) and visual network, as well as inter-network variability among the DMN, visual, sensorimotor, dorsal attention, and fronto-parietal networks, were linked to the variability in creative ability. The variations in functional connectivity patterns effectively distinguished individuals with high creative ability from those with lower ability. By examining creativity from the perspective of individual variability, this study provides new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying creativity.

Creativity, or divergent thinking, is essential to and supported by cognitive functions necessary for everyday tasks. The current study investigates divergent thinking and its neural mechanisms from adolescence to late adulthood. To do this, 180 healthy participants completed a creativity task called the egg task including 86 adolescents (mean age (SD) = 13.62 (1.98)), 52 young adults (24.92 (3.60), and 42 older adults (62.84 (7.02)). Additionally, a subsample of 111 participants completed a resting-state fMRI scan. After investigating the impact of age on different divergent thinking metrics, we investigated the impact of age on the association between divergent thinking and resting-state functional connectivity within and between major resting-state brain networks associated with creative thinking: the DMN, ECN, and SN. Adolescents tended to be less creative than both young and older adults in divergent thinking scores related to expansion creativity, and not in persistent creativity, while young and older adults performed relatively similar. We found that adolescents' functional integrity of the executive control network (ECN) was positively associated with expansion creativity, which was significantly different from the negative association in both the young and older adults. These results suggest that creative performance and supporting brain networks change throughout the lifespan.

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

Although numerous studies have primarily associated creativity with spontaneous thought and its corresponding neural networks, effective creativity entails much more than uninhibited ideation. It requires the capacity to filter out irrelevant information, maintain optimal attentional tuning, and strategically regulate and refine innovative outputs. We argue that a robust and adaptive executive control network (ECN), operating in concert with attentional networks, is essential for creativity. Accordingly, we hypothesized that high-creative individuals would exhibit enhanced top-down modulation from both the ECN and attention networks onto other brain networks. To test this hypothesis, we employed resting-state fMRI and Dependency Network Analysis (DEPNA) to examine differences in hierarchical influence patterns across multiple brain regions and networks between individuals with high and low creative abilities. Our analyses revealed that high-creative individuals, relative to their low-creative counterpart, exhibited increased influence of specific brain regions on inter-regional functional connectivity across multiple brain regions. These regions demonstrating augmented influence were predominantly localized within the ECN and ventral attention network (VAN), specifically the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral inferior frontal sulcus (IFS), and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Moreover, high-creative individuals displayed significantly greater influence of the ECN and the dorsal attention network (DAN) on other large-scale brain networks. These findings suggest top-down cognitive and attentional control may be crucial in facilitating creativity.

No abstract available

Fostering creative minds has always been a premise to ensure adaptation to new challenges of human civilization. While some alternative educational settings (i.e., Montessori) were shown to nurture creative skills, it is unknown how they impact underlying brain mechanisms across the school years. This study assessed creative thinking and resting-state functional connectivity via fMRI in 75 children (4-18 y.o.) enrolled either in Montessori or traditional schools. We found that pedagogy significantly influenced creative performance and underlying brain networks. Replicating past work, Montessori-schooled children showed higher scores on creative thinking tests. Using static functional connectivity analysis, we found that Montessori-schooled children showed decreased within-network functional connectivity of the salience network. Moreover, using dynamic functional connectivity, we found that traditionally-schooled children spent more time in a brain state characterized by high intra-default mode network connectivity. These findings suggest that pedagogy may influence brain networks relevant to creative thinking-particularly the default and salience networks. Further research is needed, like a longitudinal study, to verify these results given the implications for educational practitioners. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Most executive jobs are prospected to be obsolete within several decades, so creative skills are seen as essential for the near future. School experience has been shown to play a role in creativity development, however, the underlying brain mechanisms remained under-investigated yet. Seventy-five 4-18 years-old children, from Montessori or traditional schools, performed a creativity task at the behavioral level, and a 6-min resting-state MR scan. We uniquely report preliminary evidence for the impact of pedagogy on functional brain networks.

Research indicates that creative cognition depends on both associative and controlled processes, corresponding to the brain's default mode network (DMN) and executive control network (ECN) networks. However, outstanding questions include how the DMN and ECN operate over time during creative task performance, and whether creative cognition involves distinct generative and evaluative stages. To address these questions, we used multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to assess how the DMN and ECN contribute to creative cognition over three successive time phases during the production of a single creative idea. Training classifiers to predict trial condition (creative vs non-creative), we used classification accuracy as a measure of the extent of creative activity in each brain network and time phase. Across both networks, classification accuracy was highest in early phases, decreased in mid phases, and increased again in later phases, following a U-shaped curve. Notably, classification accuracy was significantly greater in the ECN than the DMN during early phases, while differences between networks at later time phases were non-significant. We also computed correlations between classification accuracy and human-rated creative performance, to assess how relevant the creative activity in each network was to the creative quality of ideas. In line with expectations, classification accuracy in the DMN was most related to creative quality in early phases, decreasing in later phases, while classification accuracy in the ECN was least related to creative quality in early phases, increasing in later phases. Given the theorized roles of the DMN in generation and the ECN in evaluation, we interpret these results as tentative evidence for the existence of separate generative and evaluative stages in creative cognition that depend on distinct neural substrates.

Creativity is hypothesized to arise from a mental state which balances spontaneous thought and cognitive control, corresponding to functional connectivity between the brain’s Default Mode (DMN) and Executive Control (ECN) Networks. Here, we conduct a large-scale, multi-center examination of this hypothesis. Employing a meta-analytic network neuroscience approach, we analyze resting-state fMRI and creative task performance across 10 independent samples from Austria, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States (N = 2433)—constituting the largest and most ethnically diverse creativity neuroscience study to date. Using time-resolved network analysis, we investigate the relationship between creativity (i.e., divergent thinking ability) and dynamic switching between DMN and ECN. We find that creativity, but not general intelligence, can be reliably predicted by the number of DMN-ECN switches. Importantly, we identify an inverted-U relationship between creativity and the degree of balance between DMN-ECN switching, suggesting that optimal creative performance requires balanced brain network dynamics. Furthermore, an independent task-fMRI validation study (N = 31) demonstrates higher DMN-ECN switching during creative idea generation (compared to a control condition) and replicates the inverted-U relationship. Therefore, we provide robust evidence across multi-center datasets that creativity is tied to the capacity to dynamically switch between brain networks supporting spontaneous and controlled cognition. Robust evidence that creativity is tied to the capacity to dynamically switch between brain networks supporting spontaneous and controlled cognition.

No abstract available

The relationship between creativity and psychopathology has been a controversial research topic for decades. Specifically, it has been shown that people with schizophrenia have an impairment in creative performance. However, little is known about the brain correlates underlying this impairment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze whole brain white matter (WM) correlates of several creativity dimensions in people with schizophrenia. Fifty-five patients with schizophrenia underwent diffusion-weighted imaging on a 3T magnetic resonance imaging machine as well as a clinical and a creativity assessment, including verbal and figural creativity measures. Tract-based spatial statistic, implemented in FMRIB Software Library (FSL), was used to assess whole brain WM correlates with different creativity dimensions, controlling for sex, age, premorbid IQ, and medication. Mean fractional anisotropy (FA) in frontal, temporal, subcortical, brain stem, and interhemispheric regions correlated positively with figural originality. The most significant clusters included the right corticospinal tract (cerebral peduncle part) and the right body of the corpus callosum. Verbal creativity did not show any significant correlation. As a whole, these findings suggest that widespread WM integrity is involved in creative performance of patients with schizophrenia. Many of these areas have also been related to creativity in healthy people. In addition, some of these regions have shown to be particularly impaired in schizophrenia, suggesting that these WM alterations could be underlying the worse creative performance found in this pathology.

The present research used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether the ability to generate creative ideas corresponds to differences in the intrinsic organization of functional networks in the brain. We examined the functional connectivity between regions commonly implicated in neuroimaging studies of divergent thinking, including the inferior prefrontal cortex and the core hubs of the default network. Participants were prescreened on a battery of divergent thinking tests and assigned to high- and low-creative groups based on task performance. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis revealed greater connectivity between the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the entire default mode network in the high-creative group. The right IFG also showed greater functional connectivity with bilateral inferior parietal cortex and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the high-creative group. The results suggest that the ability to generate creative ideas is characterized by increased functional connectivity between the inferior prefrontal cortex and the default network, pointing to a greater cooperation between brain regions associated with cognitive control and low-level imaginative processes.

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No abstract available

Graphic symbolic creation-transforming abstract concepts into visual forms-is a cognitively complex and uniquely human skill. Neurophysiological evidence suggests that oscillatory alpha activity is correlated with visual-figurative creative thinking. However, whether alpha oscillations play a functional role in generating graphic symbols remains unclear. To address this issue, we compared the EEG alpha power of 40 healthy adults while ideating creative and conventional graphic symbols representing an abstract concept's meaning (e.g., the word 'peace'). Our results revealed that the ideation of graphic symbols elicited alpha synchronization, with higher levels in the conventional compared to the creative condition, mainly over frontal-central, frontal-temporal, parietal-occipital, and occipital regions. Furthermore, we observed greater alpha synchronization in the right hemisphere than in the left across both conditions, particularly between temporal, central-parietal, and parietal electrodes. This asymmetry extended to central electrodes in the creative condition, while in the conventional condition, it was more pronounced over parietal-occipital regions. Finally, we also found that frontal and occipital alpha synchronization during the creative ideation phase predicted the subsequent originality scores of the graphic symbols produced. Together, these findings enhance our understanding of the dynamics of oscillatory alpha activity during graphic symbol creation, shedding light on how the interaction between inhibitory top-down control mechanisms and cognitive flexibility processes facilitates the transformation of abstract concepts into visual forms. These findings provide new insights into the neural processes underlying this uniquely human ability.

Chronic heroin addiction induces severe physiological dependence and systematically impairs the neural mechanisms underlying basic cognitive functions. However, the specific effects of opioids on divergent thinking—a higher-order cognitive function—and its neural basis remain underexplored. This study recruited individuals with chronic heroin use disorder (HUD, n = 38) and healthy controls (HC, n = 35) to record neural activity during divergent thinking tasks (Alternative Uses Test, AUT) using electroencephalography (EEG). Source-space analysis quantified power spectral density (PSD) in brain regions, complemented by functional connectivity analysis using weighted phase lag index (wPLI) from selected seed regions. Machine learning assessed the utility of connectivity metrics as cognitive impairment markers. Source-space analysis revealed that compared to the HC group, the HUD group exhibited increased alpha-band power in the left precuneus (L.PCUN) and left superior parietal lobule (L.SPL) and beta-band power in the right superior parietal lobule (R.SPL). Functional connectivity analysis revealed weakened cross-network coupling between the default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal control network (FPN), with reduced alpha connectivity between the right superior frontal gyrus (R.SFG) and L.PCUN correlating with impaired divergent thinking. Machine learning confirmed this metrics as effective neurobiological markers (AUC = 0.772, accuracy = 0.767) of cognitive impairment in heroin addiction. The findings indicate that abnormal local oscillatory activity and disrupted network integration impair the dynamic “generation-evaluation” loop of divergent thinking, constituting a compensatory pathological mechanism. This study provides neural evidence linking opioid addiction to creativity deficits and supports precision interventions targeting cognitive dysfunction in addiction.

Abstract Neurotechnology has been applied to gain insights on creativity-related cognitive factors. Prior research has identified relations between cognitive factors and creativity qualitatively; while quantitative relations, such as the relative importance of cognitive factors and creativity, have not been fully determined. Therefore, taking the creative design process as an example, this study using electroencephalography (EEG) aims to objectively identify how creativity-related cognitive factors of retrieval, recall, association, and combination contribute to creativity. The theoretical basis for an EEG-based decoding method to objectively identify which cognitive factors occur in a creative process is developed. Thirty participants were recruited for a practical study to verify the reliability of the decoding method. Based on the methodology, relationships between the relative importance level of the cognitive factor and creative output quality levels were detected. Results indicated that the occurrence of recall and association are reported with a high reliability level by the decoding method. The results also indicated that association is the dominant cognitive factor for higher creative output quality levels. Recall is the dominant cognitive factor for lower creative output quality levels.

Design fixation is related to the broad phenomenon of unconscious cognition bias that hinders the generation of creative solutions during the conceptual design process. While numerous research studies have gone into the study of design fixation, the experimental methods used were external to the cognitive process of designers; thus, there are some limitations. To address these limitations, the present study utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to explore the differences in neural activities between designers with different degrees of design fixation during creative idea generation. Fluency, flexibility, and the degree of copying were used to evaluate the design performance and fixation degrees of all participants; for the follow-up analyses on brain activity patterns, participants were then divided into the Higher Fixation Group and the Lower Fixation Group according to the evaluation of the degrees of copying. Next, participants in each group were contrasted separately against the task-related alpha power changes during creative idea generation. The comparison results revealed that participants with lower design fixation demonstrated stronger alpha synchronization in frontal, parietotemporal, and occipital regions during creative idea generation, while participants with higher design fixation showed stronger task-related alpha desynchronization in frontal, centroparietal, and parietotemporal regions. Such findings suggested that participants with higher fixation showed lower solution flexibility because of the inability to inhibit the solutions generated overrelying on intuition. These results could contribute to a deeper understanding of design fixation from the neuroscience perspective and provide essential theoretical supports for the subsequent defixation methods and tool development.

Humor comprehension is increasingly recognized as showing parallels to more conventional creative cognition; yet our understanding of brain mechanisms underlying creative cognition in a humorous context is still limited. The present study addressed this issue by investigating functional patterns of EEG alpha activity while 93 participants viewed nonverbal humorous cartoons until they indicated having recognized the punch line, and subsequently vocalized their idea as to what constituted it. In a similar fashion, EEG was also assessed during performance of the Alternate Uses Task (AUT), in order to identify similarities and differences in EEG alpha activity implicated in conventional creative cognition vs. humor comprehension. Analyses revealed a pattern of robust task-related alpha power increases in both tasks, which were markedly more right-lateralized at ventral fronto-temporal sites in the humor task as compared to the AUT. Findings are interpreted in line with recent literature on the functional role of alpha activity in the creativity domain. Altogether, this study adds further evidence to the particular role of EEG alpha oscillations in creative cognition and supports the idea that conventional creative ideation and the comprehension of humor share neural mechanisms affiliated to creative cognition.

ABSTRACT This study investigated EEG activity in the upper alpha band during the well‐known Picture Completion Task of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), a widely used creative ideation task in the figural domain. The application of a sophisticated computerized version of the TTCT facilitating the online assessment and digitalizing of participant's drawings allowed to separate two central stages of the creative ideation process (i.e., idea generation and idea elaboration). During idea generation, the participants' task was to generate an initial draft of an original and creative completion of the presented abstract lines and figures of the TTCT. During idea elaboration, the participants were required to mentally improve the originality of the initially generated idea/draft. Creative ideation in this figural task was generally associated with comparatively strong desynchronization of upper alpha power over parietal and occipital sites, indicating high visual/figural processing demands. Interestingly, the stage of idea elaboration was accompanied by a relative increase of upper alpha power at parietal and occipital sites compared to the stage of idea generation, indicating heightened top‐down processing demands. Furthermore, task performance was associated with relative increases of upper alpha power at frontal sites and relative decreases at centro‐temporal sites from the stage of idea generation to idea elaboration. This association suggests the importance of increased inhibitory control over stimulus‐based bottom‐up information and motor imagery in order to achieve more creative outputs. Taken together these findings add to the relevant literature in that they a) extend research on the relationship between EEG alpha activity and creativity to the figural domain, and b) support a multistage view of creative ideation, involving cognitive control and mental imagery as important components of creativity. HighlightsFigural creative thinking was linked to increased task related alpha power decreases.Idea elaboration was associated with more alpha power compared to idea generation.Creative performance was associated with frontal and centro‐temporal power changes.

ABSTRACT This study investigated task‐related changes of EEG alpha power while participants were imagining creative moves in soccer decision‐making situations. After presenting brief video clips of a soccer scene, participants had to imagine themselves as the acting player and to think either of a creative/original or an obvious/conventional move (control condition) that might lead to a goal. Performance of the soccer task generally elicited comparatively strong alpha power decreases at parietal and occipital sites, indicating high visuospatial processing demands. This power decrease was less pronounced in the creative vs. control condition, reflecting a more internally oriented state of information processing characterized by more imaginative mental simulation rather than stimulus‐driven bottom‐up processing. In addition, more creative task performance in the soccer task was associated with stronger alpha desynchronization at left cortical sites, most prominently over motor related areas. This finding suggests that individuals who generated more creative moves were more intensively engaged in processes related to movement imagery. Unlike the domain‐specific creativity measure, individual's trait creative potential, as assessed by a psychometric creativity test, was globally positively associated with alpha power at all cortical sites. In investigating creative processes implicated in complex creative behavior involving more ecologically valid demands, this study showed that thinking creatively in soccer decision‐making situations recruits specific brain networks supporting processes related to visuospatial attention and movement imagery, while the relative increase in alpha power in more creative conditions and in individuals with higher creative potential might reflect a pattern relevant across different creativity domains. HIGHLIGHTSParticipants imagined creative moves in soccer decision‐making situations.Soccer task performance was associated with motor imagery and visuospatial demands.Individual differences in creativity modulated brain activity during task performance.

ABSTRACT Decades of problem solving and creativity research have converged to show that the ability to generate new and useful ideas can be blocked or impeded by intuitive biases leading to mental fixations. The present study aimed at investigating the neural bases of the processes involved in overcoming fixation effects during creative idea generation. Using the AU task adapted for EEG recording, we examined whether participant's ability to provide original ideas was related to alpha power changes in both the frontal and temporo‐parietal regions. Critically, for half of the presented objects, the classical use of the object was primed orally, and a picture of the classical use was presented visually to increase functional fixedness (Fixation Priming condition). For the other half, only the name of the object and a picture of the object was provided to the participants (control condition). As expected, priming the classical use of an object before the generation of creative alternative uses of the object impeded participants' performances in terms of remoteness. In the control condition, while the frontal alpha synchronization was maintained across all successive time windows in participants with high remoteness scores, the frontal alpha synchronization decreased in participants with low remoteness scores. In the Fixation Priming condition, in which functional fixedness was maximal, both participants with high and low remoteness scores maintained frontal alpha synchronization throughout the period preceding their answer. Whereas participants with high remoteness scores maintained alpha synchronization in the temporo‐parietal regions throughout the creative idea generation period, participants with low remoteness scores displayed alpha desynchronization in the same regions during this period. We speculate that individuals with high remoteness scores might generate more creative ideas than individuals with low remoteness scores because they rely more on internal semantic association and selection processes. HighlightsWe investigated the neural bases of the processes involved in overcoming a fixation.We used a new version of the AU task adapted for EEG recording.Priming the classical use of an object impeded creative performances.Creativity was related to alpha power changes in frontal and parietal regions.

Cognitive training is considered as an effective intervention for slowing cognitive decline, however single-domain training programs have shown limited transfer to untrained tasks. Complex cognitive training has a potential to yield broader transfer effect. Given that creative thinking involves variety of cognitive subprocesses, creative tasks may be useful as a complex training paradigm. In line with this assumption, creative engagement has a neuroprotective effect in older subjects, improving mental health and well-being. However, neural mechanisms underlying the effect has remained unknown. Evidence suggests that post-task changes in resting-state brain activity may be detected in regions involved during training. The current study was aimed to reveal changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during creative task performance and to identify whether those activity patterns persist in the baseline EEG after the end of a creative session. EEG was registered in 25 elderly ($64\pm 6$ years) high-functioning subjects before, during and after creative problem solving, consisting of 30 verbal and 30 figural tasks. Current source density estimates and subsequent statistical contracts using statistical non-parametrical mapping (SnPM) were calculated via LORETA package. We found a significant increase of spectral density from pre- to post-task interval in theta-gamma frequency bands. The effect was localized in parieto-occipital cortex, overlapping with the region showing synchronization during the tasks performance. Observed changes in resting-state EEG activity may be considered as an indicator of use-dependent neuroplasticity.

The study is dedicated to the investigation of EEG spectral characteristics during resting states and a creative task performance (Alternative Uses Task, AUT) before and after a single session of neurofeedback (NFB) and sham-NFB training. The study involved 24 adolescents (aged 15–17 years) who were randomly divided into two independent groups both with 12 subjects. The test group (TEST) participated in one session of NFB training based on their own EEG data (power of individual alpha frequency), while the control group (SHAM) participated in one session of sham-NFB training. Spectral power in the Δ (1.5–4 Hz)-, θ (4–8 Hz)-, α1 (8–10 Hz)-, α2 (10–13 Hz)-, β1 (13–18 Hz)-, β2 (18–30 Hz)-bands of the EEG during eyes open and closed resting states, and event-related synchronisation/desynchronisation of the EEG during performance of the alternative use task before and after the NFB/SHAM session were analysed. Prior to the NFB/SHAM sessions, no differences were observed between the groups in the resting state EEG. After the NFB/SHAM session, lower EEG power values in the β2-band were observed in the test group compared to the control group in the eyes-closed condition. There was a decrease in Δ-band EEG power in frontal temporal regions in the eyes-closed condition and an increase in α2-band power in the eyes-open condition after the NFB session compared to a condition before the NFB session. In the control group, no differences in EEG spectral power were observed in the states AFTER vs. BEFORE the SHAM session. Analysis of event-related EEG synchronisation/desynchronisation during the AUT before and after the NFB session revealed no differences between the test and control groups. Intragroup comparisons of AFTER vs. BEFORE NFB/SHAM sessions revealed the following different effects: in the test group, first, EEG desynchronisation in the frequency range 17.5–30 Hz was observed in the frontal regions of the left hemisphere in the interval 220–300 ms after the presentation of the stimulus, and subsequently, there was synchronisation in the θ and low-frequency α electroencephalogram (EEG) ranges (4–9.8 Hz) (in the interval 540–1400 ms) with maximum differences in the frontal regions. The control group was characterised by synchronisation of electroencephalogram (EEG) activity in the higher frequency ranges of 9.5–26 Hz and in the narrower time interval of 520–760 ms in central and frontal electrodes. Consequently, a single NFB session in the test group resulted in changes in EEG spectral power during resting states that were not observed in the control (SHAM) group following sham training, and exhibited precise modulation of the state during creative activity.

Previous research highlights the importance of semantic memory and associative ability in divergent thinking, yet their roles in visual artistic creativity remain unclear. Using an expert-novice paradigm, this study investigated the predictive roles of semantic memory structure and associative ability in divergent thinking and visual artistic creativity. Design and non-design students completed a semantic distance judgment task, an association chain task, and four creative tasks. Key demographic and baseline variables were recorded to ensure group comparability. Results revealed significant group differences in semantic memory structure and associative ability. Notably, semantic network structure strongly predicted both divergent thinking and visual artistic creativity, with the non-design group showing particularly pronounced effects. Association fluency also predicted different types of creative performances across both groups. These findings extend the associative theory of creativity to visual arts, offering insights into the cognitive foundations of artistic creativity and its implications for art education.

An increasing number of studies have found that a few, specific subcortical regions are involved in creative visual divergent thinking. In addition, creative thinking is heavily reliant on the fronto-striatal dopaminergic pathways. This study aimed to explore whether spontaneous fluctuations in the subcortex, which contribute to our creative abilities, showed significant differences between individuals with different levels of creativity based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. We calculated subcortical regions’ seed-wise and dynamic functional connectivity (dFC), and then examined the differences between the high and low visual creativity groups. Furthermore, the topological properties of the subcortical network were measured, and their relationship with creative visual divergent thinking was calculated using brain–behavior correlation analyses. The results showed that functional connectivity (FC) between the putamen, pallidum, and thalamus indicated group differences within the subcortex. Whole-brain FC results showed group differences across subcortical (i.e., the thalamus and pallidum) and cerebral regions (i.e., the insula, middle frontal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus). In addition, subcortical FC demonstrated a positive correlation with visual divergent thinking scores across the pallidum, putamen, and thalamus. Our findings provide novel insights into the relationship between visual divergent thinking and the activities of the subcortex. It is likely that not only fronto-striatal dopaminergic pathways, but also “motor” pathways, are involved in creative visual divergent thinking processing.

No abstract available

With the advent of the information society in recent years, ideas are becoming more and more valuable, and divergent thinking is becoming more and more important. Although there are methods to present visual stimuli to improve divergent thinking, these methods mainly present visual stimuli to the central visual field. The purpose of this study is to test hypotheses about changes in the number and variety of divergent thinking ideas under conditions in which visual stimuli, called geometric Figure animations, are presented in the peripheral visual field. The evaluation experiment was conducted with the participation of 32 university students. We asked them to perform the Alternative Uses Test (AUT) under two conditions: presenting and non-presenting geometric Figure animations in the peripheral visual field. The performance of divergent thinking was evaluated by measuring the number of responses, fluency, and flexibility of the AUT. The scores were standardized because the AUT differed in difficulty depending on each AUT topic. The results showed that all scores were higher in the presenting condition than in the non-presenting condition, and the effect size of the mean difference in flexibility was moderate. On the other hand, according to the results of the questionnaire, most of the participants did not feel that the geometric Figure animations provided any cues for divergent thinking. This suggests that the flexibility of divergent thinking might be improved unconsciously by geometric Figure animations presented in the peripheral visual field.

Information searching plays a critical role in idea generation. However, the connection between search behaviors and creative thinking processes remains underexplored. This study investigates how creativity support search tools guide idea generation during divergent and convergent thinking tasks by comparing a visual‐based and a text‐based search tool. Based on think‐aloud protocols and interviews with 58 participants, we found that the two tools supported different aspects of the creative thinking processes. The visual‐based tool fostered iterative engagement, helping users revisit, reorganize, and make idea connections, while the text‐based tool encouraged more linear and straightforward strategies such as note‐taking. Divergent thinking led to broad, exploratory searching and flexible relevance judgments, whereas convergent thinking prompted early filtering and focused evaluation. These findings reveal the cognitive complexity in transitioning from search to idea generation, and highlight the potential for search systems to better support creativity by scaffolding key stages of the idea generation process.

Promoting active and successful aging has become crucial to improve quality of life in later adulthood and reduce the impact of cognitive decline. Increasing evidence suggested that the ability to think creatively (e.g., via divergent thinking), similar to cognitive reserve, could represent a beneficial factor against the negative effects of aging. However, there is still little evidence investigating the relationships between divergent thinking, cognitive functions, and cognitive reserve in late adulthood. The present study explored these relationships in a sample of 98 individuals ranging from 61 to 88 years old (mean age: 72.44 ± 6.35). Results showed that visual, but not verbal, divergent thinking was affected by aging. Interestingly, visual divergent thinking performance was predicted by both the cognitive component of crystallized intelligence and cognitive reserve. Only the crystallized component of intelligence was found to mediate the aging effect on visual divergent thinking performance. These results suggest that in later adulthood a potential shift strategy to prior knowledge and semantic components over executive and control components of cognition could underlie a preserved ability to think divergently and, plausibly, creatively. Limitations of the study and implications for successful aging are discussed.

Abstract Objective: Divergent thinking is a critical creative cognitive process. Its neural mechanisms have been well-studied through structural and functional imaging in healthy individuals but are less explored in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Because of the traditional link between creativity and BD, this study investigated the structural correlates of divergent thinking in patients with BD through surface-based morphometry. Methods: Fifty-nine patients diagnosed with BD I or BD II (35.3 ± 8.5 years) and 56 age- and sex-matched controls (33.9 ± 7.4 years) were recruited. The participants underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging and an evaluation of divergent thinking by using the Chinese version of the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA). FreeSurfer 7.0 was used to generate thickness and surface area maps for each participant. Brainwise regression of the association between cortical thickness or surface area and ATTA performance was conducted using general linear models. Results: Divergent thinking performance did not differ significantly between the patients with BD and the healthy controls. In these patients, total ATTA score was negatively correlated with cortical thickness in the right middle frontal gyrus, right occipital, and left precuneus but positively correlated with the surface area of the right superior frontal gyrus. By contrast, total ATTA scores and cortical thickness or surface area were not significantly correlated among the controls. Conclusion: The findings indicate that divergent thinking involves cerebral structures for executive control, mental imagery, and visual processing in patients with BD, and the right prefrontal cortex might be the most crucial of these structures.

No abstract available

This research qualitatively analyzes the effects of abnormalities in dopaminergic functioning on visual art through the evaluation of Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In addition, the research discusses the examples of famous visual artists who have suffered from these disorders and draws potential connections between changes in art style and productivity, and changes in dopamine. Dopamine can impact creative thinking and expression in visual art through its influence on factors such as perception, imagery, divergent thinking, novelty-seeking, and reward-seeking behaviors. Overall trends show that mental states that induce an increase in dopaminergic activity can serve as a conducive condition for improved artistic output, through an increase in novelty seeking, energy, divergent thinking, and unique demonstrations of elements and principles of art.

ABSTRACT Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) has been used for cognitive enhancement in healthy people. However, its effect on creativity has not been investigated. The default mode network (DMN) is associated with divergent thinking (DT; but not convergent thinking, CT), and also with anxiety, which in turn has been negatively related to creativity. We aimed to use tPBM over the DMN to assess the effect on DT compared to sham. Additionally, we assessed the possible mediating effect of anxiety between tPBM and DT. In this single-blind, between-subjects study, 58 healthy participants were randomly assigned to tPBM or sham group. tPBM was applied using near-infrared light (810 nm, 40 Hz; 50% duty cycle), through light-emitting diode devices combining transcranial plus intranasal PBM over the cortical nodes of the DMN for 20 min (240 J/cm2 in total). DT and CT were assessed before (baseline) and after tPBM with the Unusual Uses (UU), Picture Completion (PC) and Remote Associates test (RAT). ANCOVA (post-stimulation controlling for baseline) results showed that tPBM group had significantly higher scores compared to sham in total UU, PC, and total DT. tPBM may be effective for DT enhancement. The lack of effect on CT reveals a specific link between DMN and DT.

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Hemispheric lateralization for creative thinking remains a controversial topic. Early behavioral and neuroimaging research supported right hemisphere dominance in creative thinking, but more recent evidence suggests the left hemisphere plays an equally important role. In addition, the extent to which hemispheric lateralization in specific brain regions relates to individual creative ability, and whether hemispheric dominance relates to distinct task performance, remain poorly understood. Here, using multivariate predictive modeling of resting-state functional MRI data in a large sample of adults (N = 502), we estimated hemispheric segregation and integration for each brain region and investigated these lateralization indices with respect to individual differences in visuospatial and verbal divergent thinking. Our analyses revealed that individual visuospatial divergent thinking performance could be predicted by right-hemispheric segregation within the visual network, sensorimotor network, and some regions within the default mode network. High visuospatial divergent thinking was related to stronger functional connectivity between the visual network, fronto-parietal network, and default mode network within the right hemisphere. In contrast, high verbal divergent thinking performance could be predicted by inter-hemispheric balance within regions mainly involved in complex semantic processing (e.g., lateral temporal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus) and cognitive control processing (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal cortex, and superior parietal lobule). The current study suggests that two distinct forms of functional lateralization support individual differences in visuospatial and verbal divergent thinking. These findings have important implications for our understanding of hemispheric interaction mechanisms of creative thinking.

Musical expertise has positive effects on cognition, especially on verbal and linguistic processing. In this study the relationships between musical expertise, not involving improvisation training, and divergent thinking were explored. Expert and self-taught musicians were tested in musical, verbal and visual divergent thinking, and were compared with a group of non-musicians in verbal and visual divergent thinking. The musical task required to generate many different pieces of music using the incipit of 'Happy Birthday' as a starting point; the verbal task required to list unusual uses for a cardboard box; the visual task asked to complete drawings adding details to basic stimuli. For each task fluency flexibility and originality scores were measured. Based on these scores, musical, verbal and visual creative indices were computed. In general, expert musicians showed higher creative indices in musical and verbal domains than self-taught musicians and in verbal creative index than non-musicians. No group difference was found in terms of visual creative index. These findings confirm that musical expertise enhances not only musical divergent thinking but also verbal divergent thinking, probably supporting the semantic associative modes of processing and improving verbal working memory, which facilitates the online recombination of information in new ways. This effect seems to be specifically supported by formal musical training. The lack of the association between musical expertise and visual divergent thinking, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

Sketching is known to support divergent thinking during conceptual ideation. Yet, in HCI teams, non-designers are known to be reluctant to sketch. Looking for a tool that could support non-designers' divergent thinking to creatively offset familiar solutions while providing starter suggestions, we hypothesized that LEGO pieces could replace sketching. In a comparative lab experiment, 36 participants did two conceptual ideations of Web interfaces, one using paper/pen, the other LEGO, in random sequence. The 72 resulting interfaces were assessed on their fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality according to Guilford [6] and Torrance's [9] divergent thinking framework. Our main finding is that LEGO could substitute sketching for non-designers; the 3D figurative, constructive pieces provide a stimulating visual representation that supports divergent thinking by offering alternate meanings, generating a greater number of elements to react to, thus enhancing the use of analogies.

Evidence suggests divergent thinking is the cognitive basis of creative thoughts. Neuroimaging literature using resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) has revealed network reorganizations during divergent thinking. Recent studies have revealed the changes of network organizations when performing creativity tasks, but such brain reconfigurations may be prolonged after task and be modulated by the trait of creativity. To investigate the dynamic reconfiguration, 40 young participants were recruited to perform consecutive Alternative Uses Tasks (AUTs) for divergent thinking and two resting-state scans (before and after AUT) were used for mapping the brain reorganizations after AUT. We split participants into high- and low-creative groups based on creative achievement questionnaire (CAQ) and targeted on reconfigurations of the two brain networks: (1) default-mode network (DMN) and (2) the network seeded at the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) because the between-group difference of AUT-induced brain activation located at the left IFG. The changes of post-AUT RSFCs (DMN and IFGN) indicated the prolonged effect of divergent thinking. More specifically, the alterations of RSFCIFG−AG and RSFCIFG−IPL (AG: angular gyrus, IPG: inferior parietal lobule) in the high-creative group had positive relationship with their AUT performances (originality and fluency), but not found in the low-creative group. Furthermore, the RSFC changes of DMN did not present significant relationships with AUT performances. The findings not only confirmed the possibility of brain dynamic reconfiguration following divergent thinking, but also suggested the distinct IFGN reconfiguration between individuals with different creativity levels.

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

Creativity pervades many areas of everyday life and is considered highly relevant in several human living domains. Previous literature suggests that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is related to creativity. However, none of previous studies have compared the effect of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) over bilateral PPC on both verbal and visual divergent thinking (DT) and Remote Associates Test (RAT) in the same experimental design. Forty healthy participants were randomly assigned to tRNS (100–500 Hz) over bilateral PPC or sham group, for 15 min and current was set at 1.5 mA. Participants’ creativity skills were assessed before and after brain stimulation with the Unusual Uses and the Picture Completion subtests from the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking and the RAT. ANCOVA (baseline scores as covariate) results indicated that tRNS group had significantly higher scores at post-test in RAT and visual originality compared to sham group. Unusual Uses, on the other hand, was not significant. Improvement in RAT suggests the involvement of PPC during via insight solution which may reflect internally directed attention that helps the recombination of remotely associated information. The improvement in visual originality dimension from DT may be due to a higher internally directed attention while reducing externally oriented attention.

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Abstract The default mode network (DMN) is a widely distributed, intrinsic brain network thought to play a crucial role in internally directed cognition. The present study employs stereo-EEG in 13 human patients, obtaining high resolution neural recordings across multiple canonical DMN regions during two processes that have been associated with creative thinking: spontaneous and divergent thought. We probe these two DMN-associated higher cognitive functions through mind wandering and alternate uses tasks, respectively. Our results reveal DMN recruitment during both tasks, as well as a task-specific dissociation in spatiotemporal response dynamics. When compared to the fronto-parietal network, DMN activity was characterized by a stronger increase in gamma band power (30–70 Hz) coupled with lower theta band power (4–8 Hz). The difference in activity between the two networks was especially strong during the mind wandering task. Within the DMN, we found that the tasks showed different dynamics, with the alternate uses task engaging the DMN more during the initial stage of the task, and mind wandering in the later stage. Gamma power changes were mainly driven by lateral DMN sites, while theta power displayed task-specific effects. During alternate uses task, theta changes did not show spatial differences within the DMN, while mind wandering was associated to an early lateral and late dorsomedial DMN engagement. Furthermore, causal manipulations of DMN regions using direct cortical stimulation preferentially decreased the originality of responses in the alternative uses task, without affecting fluency or mind wandering. Our results suggest that DMN activity is flexibly modulated as a function of specific cognitive processes and supports its causal role in divergent thinking. These findings shed light on the neural constructs supporting different forms of cognition and provide causal evidence for the role of DMN in the generation of original connections among concepts.

While recent research suggests Large Language Models match human creative performance in divergent thinking tasks, visual creativity remains underexplored. This study compared image generation in human participants (Visual Artists and Non Artists) and using an image generation AI model (two prompting conditions with varying human input: high for Human Inspired, low for Self Guided). Human raters (N=255) and GPT4o evaluated the creativity of the resulting images. We found a clear creativity gradient, with Visual Artists being the most creative, followed by Non Artists, then Human Inspired generative AI, and finally Self Guided generative AI. Increased human guidance strongly improved GenAI's creative output, bringing its productions close to those of Non Artists. Notably, human and AI raters also showed vastly different creativity judgment patterns. These results suggest that, in contrast to language centered tasks, GenAI models may face unique challenges in visual domains, where creativity depends on perceptual nuance and contextual sensitivity, distinctly human capacities that may not be readily transferable from language models.

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As generative AI (GenAI) increasingly permeates design workflows, its impact on design outcomes and designers' creative capabilities warrants investigation. We conducted a within-subjects experiment where we asked participants to design advertisements both with and without GenAI support. Our results show that expert evaluators rated GenAI-supported designs as more creative and unconventional ("weird") despite no significant differences in visual appeal, brand alignment, or usefulness, which highlights the decoupling of novelty from usefulness-traditional dual components of creativity-in the context of GenAI usage. Moreover, while GenAI does not significantly enhance designers' overall creative thinking abilities, users were affected differently based on native language and prior AI exposure. Native English speakers experienced reduced relaxation when using AI, whereas designers new to GenAI exhibited gains in divergent thinking, such as idea fluency and flexibility. These findings underscore the variable impact of GenAI on different user groups, suggesting the potential for customized AI tools.

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Although previous research provides converging evidence for the role of posterior regions of the brain (including temporal, occipital, and parietal regions) involved in inhibition on creative thinking, it remains unclear as to how these regions influence individual differences in creative thinking. Thus, we explored the relationship between posterior regions (i.e., hippocampal, parahippocampal, lingual gyrus, precuneus, and cuneus), inhibition function, and divergent thinking (DT) in 128 healthy college students. The results revealed that lower inhibition was associated with larger gray matter volume (GMV) in the lingual gyrus, which in turn was associated with higher DT. In addition, GMV in the lingual gyrus mediated the association between inhibition and DT. These results provide new evidence for the role of inhibition in creative thinking. Inhibition may affect the amount of information stored in long-term memory, which, in turn influences DT.

Introduction This study sought to elucidate the cognitive traits of visual artists (VAs) from the perspective of visual creativity and the visual system (i.e., the most fundamental neural correlate). Methods We examined the local and long-distance intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) of the visual system to unravel changes in brain traits among VAs. Twenty-seven university students majoring in visual arts and 27 non-artist controls were enrolled. Results VAs presented enhanced local FC in the right superior parietal lobule, right precuneus, left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), left superior parietal lobule, left angular gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus. VAs also presented enhanced FC with the ITG that targeted the visual area (occipital gyrus and cuneus), which appears to be associated with visual creativity. Discussion The visual creativity of VAs was correlated with strength of intrinsic functional connectivity in the visual system. Learning-induced neuroplasticity as a trait change observed in VAs can be attributed to the macroscopic consolidation of consociated neural circuits that are engaged over long-term training in the visual arts and aesthetic experience. The consolidated network can be regarded as virtuoso-specific neural fingerprint.

ABSTRACT Brain connectivity is traditionally thought to be important for creativity. Here we investigated the associations of creativity measured by divergent thinking (CMDT) with resting‐state functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) measures and their sex differences. We examined these relationships in the brains of 1277 healthy young adults. Whole‐brain analyses revealed a significant interaction between verbal CMDT and sex on (a) regional homogeneity within an area from the left anterior temporal lobe (b) on the resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) between the mPFC and the left inferior frontal gyrus and (c) on fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in several distinct areas, including the precuneus and middle cingulate gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. These interactions were mediated by positive correlations in females and negative correlations in males. These findings suggest that greater CMDT in females is reflected by (a) regional coherence (regional homogeneity) of brain areas responsible for representing and combining concepts as well as (b) the efficient functional connection (RSFC) between the key areas for the default state of cognitive activity and speech production, and (c) greater spontaneous neural activity (fALFF) during the resting of brain areas involved in frontal lobe functions, default cognitive activities, and language functions. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the associations between creativity and resting state brain connectivity patterns are different between males and females. HighlightsWe found interactions between creativity and sex on resting state imaging measures.Such effects existed in regional homogeneity in the left anterior temporal lobe.Such effects existed in functional connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex.Such effects existed in fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations.Positive (negative) correlations in females (males) formed these interactions.

Children spontaneously engage in creative behaviors. However, little is known about the biological underpinnings of creativity in children. We identified neural substrates associated with musical improvisation in children aged 9–11. Participants played a non-ferromagnetic piano keyboard in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner using a musical paradigm that required no prior musical experience, in which they played a rote pattern from memory or improvised melodies using those same notes. fMRI analysis of children’s brains during musical improvisation revealed (1) heightened functional connectivity between emotion and reward brain areas and (2) deactivation of auditory, limbic, and parietal structures, particularly the middle temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, precuneus, and cingulate cortex. Importantly, improvisation engaged reward structures more than the control condition. Neural results suggest that children possess nascent creativity networks that form the roots for later adult creativity networks.

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Enhancing divergent thinking skills via creativity stimulation training has proven to increase performance in creativity, and caused changes in neuronal responses. However, the studies on effective connectivity between these regions has yet to be explored. This study aims to identify the most optimum connectivity model between left angular gyrus (AG), left precuneus (PCU) and medial prefrontal cortices (mPFC) during divergent thinking task in 36 healthy volunteers. All participants performed a behavioral alternative use test (AUT) and were divided into two groups, in which experimental group received creativity training, and control group were void of it. Both groups then underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquisition, in which participants were instructed to alternative use test (AUT) of the common household object visually projected to them in the MRI bore. Post-fMRI AUT assessment was also done. Data were analysed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM12) and Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM12.5) software. Findings revealed full bidirectional connectivity between left AG, left PCU and mPFC during execution of alternative use generation. Creativity stimulation training has impacted in the change of input centre to be on left AG in the control group and mPFC in the experimental group, implying different divergent thinking strategies among participants who attended the creativity training.

Many studies have assessed the neural underpinnings of creativity, failing to find a clear anatomical localization. We aimed to provide evidence for a multi-componential neural system for creativity. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 45 fMRI studies. Three individual ALE analyses were performed to assess creativity in different cognitive domains (Musical, Verbal, and Visuo-spatial). The general ALE revealed that creativity relies on clusters of activations in the bilateral occipital, parietal, frontal, and temporal lobes. The individual ALE revealed different maximal activation in different domains. Musical creativity yields activations in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus, in the left cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule and in the right postcentral and fusiform gyri. Verbal creativity yields activations mainly located in the left hemisphere, in the prefrontal cortex, middle and superior temporal gyri, inferior parietal lobule, postcentral and supramarginal gyri, middle occipital gyrus, and insula. The right inferior frontal gyrus and the lingual gyrus were also activated. Visuo-spatial creativity activates the right middle and inferior frontal gyri, the bilateral thalamus and the left precentral gyrus. This evidence suggests that creativity relies on multi-componential neural networks and that different creativity domains depend on different brain regions.

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INTRODUCTION Human brain network is organized as a hierarchical organization, exhibiting various connectome gradients. The principal gradient is anchored by the modality-specific primary areas and the transmodal regions. Previous studies have suggested that the unimodal-transmodal gradient in the functional connectome may offer an overarching framework for high-order cognitions of human brain. However, there is still a lacking of direct evidence to associate these two. OBJECTIVES Therefore, we aim to explore the association between creativity, a typical human high-order cognitive function, and unimodal-transmodal gradient, using two independent datasets of young adults. METHODS For each individual, we identified the unimodal-transmodal gradient in functional connectome and calculated its global measures. Then we correlated the individual creativity score with measures of unimodal-transmodal gradient at global-brain, subsystem, and regional level. RESULTS The results suggested that better creative performance was associated with greater distance between primary areas and transmodal regions in gradient axes, and less distance between ventral attention network and default mode network. Individual creativity was also found positively correlated with regional gradients in ventral attention network, and negatively correlated with gradients of regions in visual cortex. CONCLUSION Together, these findings directly link the unimodal-transmodal gradient to individual creativity, providing empirical evidence for the cognitive implications of functional connectome gradient.

While a recent upsurge in the application of neuroimaging methods to creative cognition has yielded encouraging progress toward understanding the neural underpinnings of creativity, the neural basis of barriers to creativity are as yet unexplored. Here, we report the first investigation into the neural correlates of one such recently identified barrier to creativity: anxiety specific to creative thinking, or creativity anxiety (Daker et al., 2019). We employed a machine-learning technique for exploring relations between functional connectivity and behavior (connectome-based predictive modeling; CPM) to investigate the functional connections underlying creativity anxiety. Using whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity data, we identified a network of connections or "edges" that predicted individual differences in creativity anxiety, largely comprising connections within and between regions of the executive and default networks and the limbic system. We then found that the edges related to creativity anxiety identified in one sample generalize to predict creativity anxiety in an independent sample. We additionally found evidence that the network of edges related to creativity anxiety were largely distinct from those found in previous work to be related to divergent creative ability (Beaty et al., 2018). In addition to being the first work on the neural correlates of creativity anxiety, this research also included the development of a new Chinese-language version of the Creativity Anxiety Scale, and demonstrated that key behavioral findings from the initial work on creativity anxiety are replicable across cultures and languages.

The association of different networks in the human brain with creativity has received increasing attention as an active research topic. Creativity is a multidimensional concept reflecting different cognitive processes and associations mediated by the brain network. In this study, we first identified connections between the topological properties of the white matter network and divergent thinking and insight problem solving. Then, we performed a graph-theoretical analysis to calculate the efficiency of the brain network and to predict divergent thinking and insight-based problem solving. We found that effective information transmission across brain regions was significantly correlated with creative problem solving. Divergent thinking requires few connections between brain regions to produce novel ideas, whereas insight problem solving requires simultaneous processing by more brain regions to restructure the presentation of the problem. The results show that the integrated efficiency of the brain network varies between open- and closed-ended creative problem solving.

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Objective. Analysis of the influence of the nature of social identity on the manifestation of visual creativity in an experimental situation of frustration. Background. Social identity, being an integral characteristic of a person's attitude to himself as a representative of different communities, acts as a context for the productivity of his activities, including creativity. In recent decades of dynamic changes in the world, creativity has become one of the most sought-after qualities of a modern person. The definition of social factors that actualise/inhibit creative productivity is extremely significant. Participants. The participants were 74 18-20 year olds (M = 20,2, SD = 1,8) randomly allocated into two experimental and one control groups. Study design. The scheme of experiments with priming was used. The independent variable was the priming experimental influence: in the first experimental group – frustrating, in the second experimental group the influence was neutral-positive. In the control group, there was no exposure to the independent variable. As a dependent variable, creativity indicators (flexibility, elaborateness and originality) were measured. The type of social identity was considered as an additional context variable. To assess the reliability of the influence of frustration, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, Mann Whitney criterion were used. Measurements. Graphical Identity Test (GTI) – author's modification of B. Long's "Symbolic Tasks for Identification of the Social Self" technique. O.M. Diachenko's technique for completing unfinished pictures.Results. Individuals with multiple social identity and egocentric social identity demonstrated higher levels of creativity as compared to individuals with diffuse social identity. In situations of frustration, creativity is more stable in individuals with multiple social identities who are aware of their simultaneous involvement in different social communities. Conclusions. Social identity is a contextual factor in the realisation of creativity. Multiple social identities promote originality of ideas and elaboration of details and maintain their stability in situations of frustration. Diffuse social identity has a moderating effect on flexibility, originality, and elaboration.

The “Different Hearing” program (DHP) is an educational activity aimed at stimulating musical creativity of children and adults by group composing in the classroom, alternative to the mainstream model of music education in Czechia. Composing in the classroom in the DHP context does not use traditional musical instruments or notation, instead, the participants use their bodies, sounds originating from common objects as well as environmental sounds as the “elements” for music composition by the participants’ team, with the teacher initiating and then participating and coordinating the creative process, which ends with writing down a graphical score and then performing the composition in front of an audience. The DHP methodology works with a wide definition of musical composition. We hypothesized that the DHP short-term (2 days) intense workshop would induce changes in subjective appreciation of different classes of music and sound (including typical samples of music composed in the DHP course), as well as plastic changes of the brain systems engaged in creative thinking and music perception, in their response to diverse auditory stimuli. In our study, 22 healthy university students participated in the workshop over 2 days and underwent fMRI examinations before and after the workshop, meanwhile 24 students were also scanned twice as a control group. During fMRI, each subject was listening to musical and non-musical sound samples, indicating their esthetic impression with a button press after each sample. As a result, participants’ favorable feelings toward non-musical sound samples were significantly increased only in the active group. fMRI data analyzed using ANOVA with post hoc ROI analysis showed significant group-by-time interaction (opposing trends in the two groups) in the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, which are functional hubs of the default mode network (DMN) and in parts of the executive, motor, and auditory networks. The findings suggest that DHP training modified the behavioral and brain response to diverse sound samples, differentially changing the engagement of functional networks known to be related to creative thinking, namely, increasing DMN activation and decreasing activation of the executive network.

Novelty and appropriateness are two fundamental components of creativity. However, the way in which novelty and appropriateness are separated at behavioral and neural levels remains poorly understood. In the present study, we aim to distinguish behavioral and neural bases of novelty and appropriateness of creative idea generation. In alignment with two established theories of creative thinking, which respectively, emphasize semantic association and executive control, behavioral results indicate that novelty relies more on associative abilities, while appropriateness relies more on executive functions. Next, employing a connectome predictive modeling (CPM) approach in resting-state fMRI data, we define two functional network-based models—dominated by interactions within the default network and by interactions within the limbic network—that respectively, predict novelty and appropriateness (i.e., cross-brain prediction). Furthermore, the generalizability and specificity of the two functional connectivity patterns are verified in additional resting-state fMRI and task fMRI. Finally, the two functional connectivity patterns, respectively mediate the relationship between semantic association/executive control and novelty/appropriateness. These findings provide global and predictive distinctions between novelty and appropriateness in creative idea generation. Novelty and appropriateness are two fundamental components of creativity. This study distinguishes novelty and appropriateness of idea generation at the cognitive and neural levels.

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Neuroscience research has shown that specific brain patterns can relate to creativity during multiple tasks but also at rest. Nevertheless, the electrophysiological correlates of a highly creative brain remain largely unexplored. This study aims to uncover resting-state networks related to creative behavior using high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) and to test whether the strength of functional connectivity within these networks could predict individual creativity in novel subjects. We acquired resting state HD-EEG data from 90 healthy participants who completed a creative behavior inventory. We then employed connectome-based predictive modeling; a machine-learning technique that predicts behavioral measures from brain connectivity features. Using a support vector regression, our results reveal functional connectivity patterns related to high and low creativity, in the gamma frequency band (30-45 Hz). In leave-one-out cross-validation, the combined model of high and low networks predicts individual creativity with very good accuracy (r = 0.36, p = 0.00045). Furthermore, the model’s predictive power is established through external validation on an independent dataset (N = 41), showing a statistically significant correlation between observed and predicted creativity scores (r = 0.35, p = 0.02). These findings reveal large-scale networks that could predict creative behavior at rest, providing a crucial foundation for developing HD-EEG-network-based markers of creativity. Combining HD-EEG with connectome modeling predicts individual creative behavior from resting-state functional connectivity, highlighting the importance of optimal activation interplay across networks in creative cognition.

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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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Creative cognition emerges from a complex network of interacting brain regions. This study investigated the relationship between the structural organization of the human brain and aspects of creative cognition tapped by divergent thinking tasks. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was used to obtain fiber tracts from 83 segmented cortical regions. This information was represented as a network and metrics of connectivity organization, including connectivity strength, clustering and communication efficiency were computed, and their relationship to individual levels of creativity was examined. Permutation testing identified significant sex differences in the relationship between global connectivity and creativity as measured by divergent thinking tests. Females demonstrated significant inverse relationships between global connectivity and creative cognition, whereas there were no significant relationships observed in males. Node specific analyses revealed inverse relationships across measures of connectivity, efficiency, clustering and creative cognition in widespread regions in females. Our findings suggest that females involve more regions of the brain in processing to produce novel ideas to solutions, perhaps at the expense of efficiency (greater path lengths). Males, in contrast, exhibited few, relatively weak positive relationships across these measures. Extending recent observations of sex differences in connectome structure, our findings of sexually dimorphic relationships suggest a unique topological organization of connectivity underlying the generation of novel ideas in males and females.

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The study aimed to explore the relationship between cognitive control strategies (proactive, reactive, balanced proactive, and balanced reactive) and creative thinking (convergent and divergent) among female secondary school students, considering the impact of the educational environment. To achieve this, the study adopted a descriptive-correlational approach and employed the AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) along with measures of creative thinking (both convergent and divergent) on a sample of 139 students. The results revealed significant relationships between divergent thinking and cognitive control strategies, as well as an association between convergent thinking and specific cognitive control measures. The importance of balanced control emerged as a key factor in enhancing creative performance. Although clear statistical differences were absent between cognitive control strategies in both convergent and divergent thinking, the graphical analyses demonstrated variations in performance across schools and different control strategies. The findings showed that School Thirteen excelled in convergent thinking, while Dar Al-Ruwad School stood out in divergent thinking and its components (fluency, flexibility, and originality), reflecting the role of the school environment in fostering creativity. A significant scientific contribution of this study is the classification of the sample into four groups using the Proactive Bias Index (PBI), which illustrates cognitive control strategies along a psychological continuum extending from proactive to reactive, with balanced strategies in between. This classification provides an integrative framework for understanding the dynamics of cognitive control and its relationship with creative thinking. Accordingly, the study recommends developing flexible educational environments that promote balanced control strategies to enhance students' creative thinking.

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.

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Emergence of novel visual artistic skills has been described in neurodegenerative disorders, particularly in the frontotemporal dementia – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FTD‐ALS) spectrum, but associated clinical and genetic features and the underlying neural mechanisms have not been systematically examined. We aimed to address these gaps.

Creativity has been important in human history as it has enhanced innovation significantly from the earliest cave drawing to the discovery of the wheel to space exploration. Unfortunately, there are no specific pathways that would describe the process from beginning to end. Most research adheres to Graham Wallas model of creativity as a basis. It is comprised of a preparation phase, the incubation phase, illumination phase, and verification phase resulting in a solution to a give problem. The first two phase are responsible for actual solutions [1] often setting the stage for later modification to a more convergent solution. The process general involves various aspects of the brain systems involving the Prefrontal cortex, DMN network along with cerebellum and varies in activation noted in Music, Verbal and Visuospatial dimensions [2]. The role of the unconscious is significant as it does create visual representations of the problem [3] at the onset and is responsible for motivation, comparison with other comparable memories that were responsible for creating a dopamine high in previous experiences. Likewise, the unconscious is also involved in sleep states and is responsible for enhancing creativity in both NREM [4] and REM [5] cycles. It is likely that the incubation phase is less likely to be affected external stimulation. The creative process seems to more complex utilizing various aspects both conscious and unconscious brain function to achieve solutions.

The algorithms of work on the generation of creative and design ideas for visual material used further for professional or creative purposes are investigated.The nuances of the psychological and professional aspects of creative work are studied, as well as the possibilities of a person to increase his creativity. Various domestic and foreign experience in generating creative ideas, time-tested practices, their hybrid use, as well as their own experience in this field are considered. Various aspects of the psychological properties of creative personalities when working on the generation of creative content, their interaction with information, new tools such as artificial intelligence (neural networks) are considered. As well as individual work and work in a creative team. The self-assessment of the creative product produced, as well as methods for increasing one's own creativity, are also being investigated.  A hybrid research method is used. Theoretical in the form of an analysis of existing methods of creative work and practical in the form of various techniques to improve the efficiency of visual material generation. It is explained from an expert point of view by which method the designer came to this or that creative idea, to predict what trends in the development of design can be seen in the coming decades. The shortcomings in the algorithms of the creative process are revealed. Indicates how to tune in to creative work and achieve the desired results. 1.The profession of a designer requires being a polymath, at the same time an artist, a graphic artist, a copywriter, and a psychologist, as well as knowing about many other professions. 2.And this, in turn, forces the designer to constantly keep his brain in good shape, constantly train it, otherwise it will lose its effectiveness. Master various techniques for generating creative and design content. 3.Be inquisitive, attentive and observant. Constantly record various thoughts and ideas that arise. Take pictures of the views, details, and objects you like. 4.Also, navigate the current trends of various types of art, etc. Read, watch movies, listen to a variety of musical works. But only those that are not below a certain cultural level.

According to the standard definition, a creative act requires originality and effectiveness. Creativity is widely considered an exclusively human characteristic, linked to the activity of brain networks such as the Default Mode Network (DMN), the Fronto-Parietal Network (FPN), and, to a lesser extent, the Salience Network (SN). A significant body of literature explores the viability of teaching creativity, often reporting positive results. However, little attention has been paid to the neural network modifications induced by creativity training. This study investigates changes of creativity-related brain networks over time in the resting state (participants without specific cognitive activities). The stages considered were before and after a learning process focused on visual aesthetic creation tasks (Gabarron Method). High-density electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record brain activity. 51 female volunteers participated in the research. The results show a significant increase in the activation of the DMN and FPN, with a more limited effect in the SN. The DMN and FPN are neural networks commonly activated during artistic creation and aesthetic perception tasks. This finding supports the existence of what could be called a 'creative universe,' encompassing capacities such as creation, perception, and divergent thinking.

Creativity has previously been linked with various attentional phenomena, including unfocused or broad attention. Although this has typically been interpreted through an executive functioning framework, such phenomena may also arise from atypical incentive salience processing. Across two studies, we examine this hypothesis both neurally and psychologically. First we examine the relationship between figural creativity and event-related potentials during an audio-visual oddball task, finding that rater creativity of drawings is associated with a diminished P300 response at midline electrodes, while abstractness and elaborateness of the drawings is associated with an altered distribution of the P300 over posterior electrodes. These findings support the notion that creativity may involve an atypical attribution of salience to prominent information. We further explore the incentive salience hypothesis by examining relationships between creativity and a psychological indicator of incentive salience captured by participants' ratings of enjoyment (liking) and their motivation to pursue (wanting) diverse real world rewards, as well as their positive spontaneous thoughts about those rewards. Here we find enhanced motivation to pursue activities as well as a reduced relationship between the overall tendency to enjoy rewards and the tendency to pursue them. Collectively, these findings indicate that creativity may be associated with atypical allocation of attentional and motivational resources to novel and rewarding information, potentially allowing more types of information access to attentional resources and motivating more diverse behaviors. We discuss the possibility that salience attribution in creatives may be less dependent on task-relevance or hedonic pleasure, and suggest that atypical salience attribution may represent a trait-like feature of creativity.

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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.

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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.

The nondominant inferior parietal lobule is probably a major “store house” of artistic creativity. The ventromedial prefrontal lobe (VMPFL) is supposed to be involved in creative cognition and the dorsolateral prefrontal lobe (DLPFL) in creative output. The conceptual ventral and dorsal visual system pathways likely represent the inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi. During artistic production, conceptualization is conceived in the VMPFL and the executive part is operated through the DLFPL. The latter transfers the concept to the visual brain through the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), relaying on its path to the parietal cortex. The conceptualization at VMPFL is influenced by activity from the anterior temporal lobe through the uncinate fasciculus and limbic system pathways. The final visual image formed in the visual brain is subsequently transferred back to the DLPFL through the SLF and then handed over to the motor cortex for execution. During art appreciation, the image at the visual brain is transferred to the frontal lobe through the SLF and there it is matched with emotional and memory inputs from the anterior temporal lobe transmitted through the uncinate fasiculus. Beauty is perceived at the VMPFL and transferred through the uncinate fasciculus to the hippocampo–amygdaloid complex in the anterior temporal lobe. The limbic system (Papez circuit) is activated and emotion of appreciation is evoked. It is postulated that in practice the entire circuitry is activated simultaneously.

The investigation of similarities and differences in the mechanisms of verbal and visuospatial creative thinking has long been a controversial topic. Prior studies found that visuospatial creativity was primarily supported by the right hemisphere, whereas verbal creativity relied on the interaction between both hemispheres. However, creative thinking also involves abundant dynamic features that may have been ignored in the previous static view. Recently, a new method has been developed that measures hemispheric laterality from a dynamic perspective, providing new insight into the exploration of creative thinking. In the present study, dynamic lateralisation index was calculated with resting‐state fMRI data. We combined the dynamic lateralisation index with sparse canonical correlation analysis to examine similarities and differences in the mechanisms of verbal and visuospatial creativity. Our results showed that the laterality reversal of the default mode network, fronto‐parietal network, cingulo‐opercular network and visual network contributed significantly to both verbal and visuospatial creativity and consequently could be considered the common neural mechanisms shared by these creative modes. In addition, we found that verbal creativity relied more on the language network, while visuospatial creativity relied more on the somatomotor network, which can be considered a difference in their mechanism. Collectively, these findings indicated that verbal and visuospatial creativity may have similar mechanisms to support the basic creative thinking process and different mechanisms to adapt to the specific task conditions. These findings may have significant implications for our understanding of the neural mechanisms of different types of creative thinking.

Experienced meditators often report spontaneous visual imagery during deep meditation in the form of lights or other types of visual images. These experiences are usually interpreted as an “encounters with light” and gain mystical meaning. Contrary to the well-studied intentional and controlled visual imagery, spontaneous imagery is poorly understood, yet it plays an important role in creativity of visual artists. The neural correlates of such experiences are indeed hard to capture in laboratory settings. In this case study we aimed to investigate the neural correlates of spontaneous visual imagery in an artist who experiences strong visual imagery during meditation. She uses these images to create visual art. We recorded her EEG during seven meditation sessions in which she experienced visual imagery episodes (visions). To examine the functional role of the neural oscillations we also conducted three separate meditation sessions under different transcranial alternating current (tACS) brain stimulation: alpha (10 Hz), gamma (40 Hz) and sham. We observed a robust increase in occipital gamma power (30–70 Hz) during the deepest stage of meditation across all sessions. This gamma increase was consistent with the experience of spontaneous visual imagery: higher during visions compared to no visions. Alpha tACS was found to affect the contents of her visual imagery, making them sharper, shorter and causing more visions to occur; the artist reported that these sharp images were too detailed to be used in her art. Interestingly, gamma and sham stimulation had no impact on the visual imagery contents. Our findings raise the hypothesis that occipital gamma might be a neural marker of spontaneous visual imagery, which emerges in certain meditation practices of experienced meditators.

This study evaluates a low-cost, single-channel fNIRS device in cognitive neuroscience, aiming to overcome the financial barriers of commercial systems by testing its efficacy in tasks of varying complexity. Twenty-six participants engaged in motor control (finger-tapping), working memory (n-back), and creativity (AUT) tasks while their prefrontal cortex activity was monitored using the device, with behavioral and cerebral blood flow changes recorded. Results showed the device’s capability to detect significant blood flow variations across different tasks, thereby supporting its use in cognitive research. The study confirms the potential of single-channel fNIRS as a cost-effective tool for diverse cognitive assessments, from simple motor actions to complex creative thinking.

Creativity is perhaps what most differentiates humans from other species. It involves the capacity to shift between divergent and convergent modes of thought in response to task demands. Divergent thought has been characterized as the kind of thinking needed to generate multiple solutions, while convergent thought has been characterized as the kind of thinking needed for tasks in with one solution. Divergent thought has been conceived of as reflecting on the task from unconventional perspectives, while convergent thought has been conceived of as reflecting on it from conventional perspectives. Personality traits correlated with creativity include openness to experience, tolerance of ambiguity, and self-confidence. Evidence that creativity is linked with affective disorders is mixed. Neuroscientific research using electroencephalography (EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) suggests that creativity is associated with a loosening of cognitive control and decreased arousal. The distributed, content-addressable structure of associative memory is conducive to bringing task-relevant items to mind without the need for explicit search. Human creativity dates back to the earliest stone tools over three million years ago, with the Paleolithic marking the onset of art, science, and religion. Areas of controversy concern the relative contributions of expertise, chance, and intuition, the importance of process versus product, whether creativity is domain-specific versus domain-general, the extent to which creativity is correlated with affective disorders, and whether divergent thought entails the generation of multiple ideas or the honing of a single initially ambiguous mental representation that may manifest as different external outputs. Areas for further research include computational modeling, the biological basis of creativity, and studies that track ideation processes over time.

We present a graphical, node-based system through which users can visually chain generative AI models for creative tasks. Research in the area of chaining LLMs has found that while chaining provides transparency, controllability and guardrails to approach certain tasks, chaining with pre-defined LLM steps prevents free exploration. Using cognitive processes from creativity research as a basis, we create a system that addresses the inherent constraints of chat-based AI interactions. Specifically, our system aims to overcome the limiting linear structure that inhibits creative exploration and ideation. Further, our node-based approach enables the creation of reusable, shareable templates that can address different creative tasks. In a small-scale user study, we find that our graph-based system supports ideation and allows some users to better visualise and think through their writing process when compared to a similar conversational interface. We further discuss the weaknesses and limitations of our system, noting the benefits to creativity that user interfaces with higher complexity can provide for users who can effectively use them.

Recent advances in multimodal large language models (LLMs) have enabled unified reasoning across images, audio, and video, but extending such capability to brain imaging remains largely unexplored. Bridging this gap is essential to link neural activity with semantic cognition and to develop cross-modal brain representations. To this end, we present fMRI-LM, a foundational model that bridges functional MRI (fMRI) and language through a three-stage framework. In Stage 1, we learn a neural tokenizer that maps fMRI into discrete tokens embedded in a language-consistent space. In Stage 2, a pretrained LLM is adapted to jointly model fMRI tokens and text, treating brain activity as a sequence that can be temporally predicted and linguistically described. To overcome the lack of natural fMRI-text pairs, we construct a large descriptive corpus that translates diverse imaging-based features into structured textual descriptors, capturing the low-level organization of fMRI signals. In Stage 3, we perform multi-task, multi-paradigm instruction tuning to endow fMRI-LM with high-level semantic understanding, supporting diverse downstream applications. Across various benchmarks, fMRI-LM achieves strong zero-shot and few-shot performance, and adapts efficiently with parameter-efficient tuning (LoRA), establishing a scalable pathway toward a language-aligned, universal model for structural and semantic understanding of fMRI.

Deciphering visual content from functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) helps illuminate the human vision system. However, the scarcity of fMRI data and noise hamper brain decoding model performance. Previous approaches primarily employ subject-specific models, sensitive to training sample size. In this paper, we explore a straightforward but overlooked solution to address data scarcity. We propose shallow subject-specific adapters to map cross-subject fMRI data into unified representations. Subsequently, a shared deeper decoding model decodes cross-subject features into the target feature space. During training, we leverage both visual and textual supervision for multi-modal brain decoding. Our model integrates a high-level perception decoding pipeline and a pixel-wise reconstruction pipeline guided by high-level perceptions, simulating bottom-up and top-down processes in neuroscience. Empirical experiments demonstrate robust neural representation learning across subjects for both pipelines. Moreover, merging high-level and low-level information improves both low-level and high-level reconstruction metrics. Additionally, we successfully transfer learned general knowledge to new subjects by training new adapters with limited training data. Compared to previous state-of-the-art methods, notably pre-training-based methods (Mind-Vis and fMRI-PTE), our approach achieves comparable or superior results across diverse tasks, showing promise as an alternative method for cross-subject fMRI data pre-training. Our code and pre-trained weights will be publicly released at https://github.com/YulongBonjour/See_Through_Their_Minds.

In this paper, the task-related fMRI problem is treated in its matrix factorization formulation, focused on the Dictionary Learning (DL) approach. The new method allows the incorporation of a priori knowledge associated both with the experimental design as well as with available brain Atlases. Moreover, the proposed method can efficiently cope with uncertainties related to the HRF modeling. In addition, the proposed method bypasses one of the major drawbacks that are associated with DL methods; that is, the selection of the sparsity-related regularization parameters. In our formulation, an alternative sparsity promoting constraint is employed, that bears a direct relation to the number of voxels in the spatial maps. Hence, the related parameters can be tuned using information that is available from brain atlases. The proposed method is evaluated against several other popular techniques, including GLM. The obtained performance gains are reported via a novel realistic synthetic fMRI dataset as well as real data that are related to a challenging experimental design.

Assessing centrality in network systems is critical for understanding node importance and guiding decision-making processes. In dynamic networks, incorporating a controllability perspective is essential for identifying key nodes. In this paper, we study two control theoretic centrality measures -- the Volumetric Controllability Score (VCS) and Average Energy Controllability Score (AECS) -- to quantify node importance in linear time-invariant network systems. We prove the uniqueness of VCS and AECS for almost all specified terminal times, thereby enhancing their applicability beyond previously recognized cases. This ensures their interpretability, comparability, and reproducibility. Our analysis reveals substantial differences between VCS and AECS in linear systems with symmetric and skew-symmetric transition matrices. We also investigate the dependence of VCS and AECS on the terminal time and prove that when this parameter is extremely small, both scores become essentially uniform. Additionally, we prove that a sequence generated by a projected gradient method for computing VCS and AECS converges linearly to both measures under several assumptions. Finally, evaluations on brain networks modeled via Laplacian dynamics using real data reveal contrasting evaluation tendencies and correlations for VCS and AECS, with AECS favoring brain regions associated with cognitive and motor functions, while VCS emphasizes sensory and emotional regions.

The functional network approach, where fMRI BOLD time series are mapped to networks depicting functional relationships between brain areas, has opened new insights into the function of the human brain. In this approach, the choice of network nodes is of crucial importance. One option is to consider fMRI voxels as nodes. This results in a large number of nodes, making network analysis and interpretation of results challenging. A common alternative is to use pre-defined clusters of anatomically close voxels, Regions of Interest (ROIs). This approach assumes that voxels within ROIs are functionally similar. Because these two approaches result in different network structures, it is crucial to understand what happens to network connectivity when moving from the voxel level to the ROI level. We show that the consistency of ROIs, defined as the mean Pearson correlation coefficient between the time series of their voxels, varies widely in resting-state experimental data. Therefore the assumption of similar voxel dynamics within each ROI does not generally hold. Further, the time series of low-consistency ROIs may be highly correlated, resulting in spurious links in ROI-level networks. Based on these results, we recommend that averaging BOLD signals over anatomically defined ROIs should be carefully considered.

Understanding the human brain remains the Holy Grail in biomedical science, and arguably in all of the sciences. Our brains represent the most complex systems in the world (and some contend the universe) comprising nearly one hundred billion neurons with septillions of possible connections between them. The structure of these connections engenders an efficient hierarchical system capable of consciousness, as well as complex thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Brain connectivity and network analyses have exploded over the last decade due to their potential in helping us understand both normal and abnormal brain function. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis examines functional associations between time series pairs in specified brain voxels or regions. Brain network analysis serves as a distinct subfield of connectivity analysis in which associations are quantified for all time series pairs to create an interconnected representation of the brain (a brain network), which allows studying its systemic properties. While connectivity analyses underlie network analyses, the subtle distinction between the two research areas has generally been overlooked in the literature, with them often being referred to synonymously. However, developing more useful analytic methods and allowing for more precise biological interpretations requires distinguishing these two complementary domains.

Data visualization design often requires creativity, and research is needed to understand its nature and means for promoting it. The current visualization literature on creativity is not well developed, especially with respect to the experiences of professional data visualization designers. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 data visualization practitioners, focusing on a specific aspect of creativity known as design fixation. Fixation occurs when designers adhere blindly or prematurely to a set of ideas that limit creative outcomes. We present practitioners' experiences and perspectives from their own design practice, specifically focusing on their views of (i) the nature of fixation, (ii) factors encouraging fixation, and (iii) factors discouraging fixation. We identify opportunities for future research related to chart recommendations, inspiration, and perspective shifts in data visualization design.

Analyzing creative activity traces requires capturing activity at appropriate granularity and interpreting it in ways that reflect the structure of creative practice. However, existing approaches record state changes without preserving the intent or relationships that define higher-level creative moves. This decoupling manifests differently across domains: GenAI tools lose non-linear exploration structure, visualization authoring obscures representational intent, and programmatic environments flatten interaction boundaries. We present three complementary approaches: a node-based interface for stateful GenAI artifact management, a vocabulary of visual cues as higher-level creative moves in visualization authoring, and a programming model that embeds semantic histories directly into interaction state.

Creativity is a core cognitive capacity underlying innovation and adaptive problem solving, yet how it is represented in the brain's intrinsic functional architecture is not fully understood. While resting-state fMRI studies have identified large-scale network correlates associated with differences in creativity, EEG provides the temporal resolution for examining oscillatory dynamics contributing to intrinsic network organization. We examined whether resting-state EEG connectivity patterns are associated with individual differences across multiple creativity-related measures. Thirty healthy young adults completed a multidimensional creativity battery comprising the Inventory of Creative Activities and Achievements (ICAA), the Divergent Association Task (DAT), the Matchstick Arithmetic Puzzles Task (MAPT) and a Self-rating (SR) of creative ability. Graph-theoretical analyses of alpha-band functional connectivity revealed two participant groups, each with distinct patterns of neural activity: Cluster 1 showed reduced global connectivity with relatively preserved left frontal connectivity and greater network modularity; Cluster 0 exhibited stronger overall connectivity strength, reduced modularity and higher local clustering. Notably, Cluster 1 reported higher self-rated creative ability and more frequent engagement in real-world creative activities. These findings suggest that resting-state EEG connectivity patterns are associated with variation in creative self-efficacy and creative engagement, highlighting characteristic patterns of alpha-band network organization observed at rest.

Divergent thinking activities, like research and ideation, are key drivers of innovation in UI/UX design. Existing research has explored AI's role in automating design tasks, but leaves a critical gap in understanding how AI specifically influences divergent thinking. To address this, we conducted interviews with 19 professional UI/UX designers, examining their use and perception of AI in these creative activities. We found that in this context, participants valued AI tools that offer greater control over ideation, facilitate collaboration, enhance efficiency to liberate creativity, and align with their visual habits. Our results indicated four key roles AI plays in supporting divergent thinking: aiding research, kick-starting creativity, generating design alternatives, and facilitating prototype exploration. Through this study, we provide insights into the evolving role of AI in the less-investigated area of divergent thinking in UI/UX design, offering recommendations for future AI tools that better support design innovation.

Psychedelics have shown potential in treating a range of mental health conditions, yet far less is known about their impact on creativity. This study examined three components of creativity-divergent thinking, cognitive reflection, and insight in a large sample (N = 5,905) from the Great British Intelligence Test. We compared performance between individuals with past psychedelic use and those without such use. Psychedelic users scored significantly higher on divergent thinking than both non-drug users and drug users who had not used psychedelics. However, they did not score higher on measures of cognitive reflection, number of insights, or insight accuracy. These findings suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use may be associated with enhanced divergent thinking, but not enhanced insight-related performance. Future research should aim to establish causality through prospective designs and controlled studies incorporating long-term follow-up, biological data, and personality structure assessment.

Dual process models of cognition suggest there are two kinds of thought: rapid, automatic Type 1 processes, and effortful, controlled Type 2 processes. Models of creative thinking also distinguish between two sets of processes: those involved in the generation of ideas, and those involved with their refinement, evaluation and/or selection. Here we review dual process models in both these literatures and delineate the similarities and differences. Both generative and evaluative creative processing modes involve elements that have been attributed to each of the dual processes of cognition. We explore the notion that creative thinking may rest upon the nature of a shifting process between generative and evaluative modes of thought. We suggest that through a synthesis application of the evidence bases on dual process models of cognition and from neuroimaging, together with developing chronometric approaches to explore the shifting process, could assist the development of interventions to facilitate creativity.

The Disrupted in Schizophrenia Gene 1 (DISC1) plays a role in both neural signalling and development and is associated with schizophrenia, although its links to altered brain structure and function in this disorder are not fully established. Here we have used structural and functional MRI to investigate links with six DISC1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We employed a brain-wide association analysis (BWAS) together with a Jacknife internal validation approach in 46 schizophrenia patients and 24 matched healthy control subjects. Results from structural MRI showed significant associations between all six DISC1 variants and gray matter volume in the precuneus, post-central gyrus and middle cingulate gyrus. Associations with specific SNPs were found for rs2738880 in the left precuneus and right post-central gyrus, and rs1535530 in the right precuneus and middle cingulate gyrus. Using regions showing structural associations as seeds a resting-state functional connectivity analysis revealed significant associations between all 6 SNPS and connectivity between the right precuneus and inferior frontal gyrus. The connection between the right precuneus and inferior frontal gyrus was also specifically associated with rs821617. Importantly schizophrenia patients showed positive correlations between the six DISC-1 SNPs associated gray matter volume in the left precuneus and right post-central gyrus and negative symptom severity. No correlations with illness duration were found. Our results provide the first evidence suggesting a key role for structural and functional connectivity associations between DISC1 polymorphisms and the precuneus in schizophrenia.

We demonstrate the possibility of reconstructing images from fNIRS brain activity and start building a prototype to match the required specs. By training an image reconstruction model on downsampled fMRI data, we discovered that cm-scale spatial resolution is sufficient for image generation. We obtained 71% retrieval accuracy with 1-cm resolution, compared to 93% on the full-resolution fMRI, and 20% with 2-cm resolution. With simulations and high-density tomography, we found that time-domain fNIRS can achieve 1-cm resolution, compared to 2-cm resolution for continuous-wave fNIRS. Lastly, we share designs for a prototype time-domain fNIRS device, consisting of a laser driver, a single photon detector, and a time-to-digital converter system.

Advances in neuroimaging techniques have provided us novel insights into understanding how the human mind works. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the most popular and widely used neuroimaging technique, and there is growing interest in fMRI-based markers of individual differences. However, its utility is often limited due to its high cost and difficulty acquiring from specific populations, including children and infants. Surrogate markers, or neural correlates of fMRI markers, would have important practical implications, but we have few stand-alone predictors for the fMRI markers. Here, using machine learning (ML) models and data augmentation, we predicted well-validated fMRI markers of human cognition from multivariate patterns of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a portable and relatively inexpensive optical neuroimaging technique. We recruited 50 human participants who performed two cognitive tasks (stop signal task and probabilistic reversal learning task), while neural activation was measured with either fNIRS or fMRI at each of the total two visits. Using ML models and data augmentation, we could predict the well-established fMRI markers of response inhibition or prediction error signals from 48-channel fNIRS activation in the prefrontal cortex. These results suggest that fNIRS might offer a surrogate marker of fMRI activation, which would broaden our understanding of various populations, including infants.

Academic achievement is a critical measure of intellectual ability, prompting extensive research into cognitive tasks as potential predictors. Neuroimaging technologies, such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), offer insights into brain hemodynamics, allowing understanding of the link between cognitive performance and academic achievement. Herein, we explored the association between cognitive tasks and academic achievement by analyzing prefrontal fNIRS signals. A novel quantum annealer (QA) feature selection algorithm was applied to fNIRS data to identify cognitive tasks correlated with CSAT scores. Twelve features (signal mean, median, variance, peak, number of peaks, sum of peaks, slope, minimum, kurtosis, skewness, standard deviation, and root mean square) were extracted from fNIRS signals at two time windows (10- and 60-second) to compare results from various feature variable conditions. The feature selection results from the QA-based and XGBoost regressor algorithms were compared to validate the former's performance. In a three-step validation process using multiple linear regression models, correlation coefficients between the feature variables and the CSAT scores, model fitness (adjusted R2), and model prediction error (RMSE) values were calculated. The quantum annealer demonstrated comparable performance to classical machine learning models, and specific cognitive tasks, including verbal fluency, recognition, and the Corsi block tapping task, were correlated with academic achievement. Group analyses revealed stronger associations between Tower of London and N-back tasks with higher CSAT scores. Quantum annealing algorithms have significant potential in feature selection using fNIRS data, and represents a novel research approach. Future studies should explore predictors of academic achievement and cognitive ability.

This study examined brain activation in graphic designers responding to pictorial stimulation during exploration tasks and determined the predictive effects of design exploration on designer creativity through a deep learning approach. The top and bottom 25% (10 each participants) were assigned high-creativity and low-creativity groups, respectively. The results provided the following indications. (i) Shallow architectures had higher prediction accuracy than deeper architectures. (ii) The prediction accuracy of shallow long short-term memory networks was higher than that of convolution neural networks. (iii) Bandpower exhibited increased prediction accuracy, and shallow LSTM networks with differing power spectra among independent components outperformed other deep learning methods. (iv) Direct acyclic graph networks did not improve prediction accuracy. (v) Design exploration could effectively predict designer creativity.

The volume of cortical tissue devoted to a function often influences the quality of a person's ability to perform that function. Up to now only white matter correlates of creativity have been reported, and we wanted to learn if the creative visuospatial performance on the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is associated with measurements of cerebral gray matter volume in the regions of the brain that are thought to be important in divergent reasoning and visuospatial processing. Eighteen healthy college educated men (mean age=40.78; 15 right-handers) were recruited (via advertisement) as participants. High-resolution MRI scans were acquired on a 1.5T MRI scanner. Voxel-based morphometry regression analyses of TTCT to cortical volume were restrained within the anatomic regions identified. One significant positive focus of association with TTCT emerged within the right parietal lobe gray matter (MNI coordinates: 44, -24, 63; 276 voxels). Based on theories of parietal lobe function and the requirements of the TTCT, the area observed may be related due to its dominant role in global aspects of attention and visuospatial processing including the capacity for manipulating spatial representations.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1114771.].

The neurological substrates of visual artistic creativity (VAC) are unknown. VAC is demonstrated here to occur early in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and multimodal neuroimaging is used to generate a novel mechanistic hypothesis involving dorsomedial occipital cortex enhancement. These findings may illuminate a novel mechanism underlying human visual creativity. To determine the anatomical and physiological underpinnings of VAC in FTD. This case-control study analyzed records of 689 patients who met research criteria for an FTD spectrum disorder between 2002 and 2019. Individuals with FTD and emergence of visual artistic creativity (VAC-FTD) were matched to 2 control groups based on demographic and clinical parameters: (1) not visually artistic FTD (NVA-FTD) and (2) healthy controls (HC). Analysis took place between September 2019 to December 2021. Clinical, neuropsychological, genetic, and neuroimaging data were analyzed to characterize VAC-FTD and compare VAC-FTD with control groups. Of 689 patients with FTD, 17 (2.5%) met VAC-FTD inclusion criteria (mean [SD] age, 65 [9.7] years; 10 [58.8%] female). NVA-FTD (n = 51; mean [SD] age, 64.8 [7] years; 25 [49.0%] female) and HC (n = 51; mean [SD] age, 64.5 [7.2] years; 25 [49%] female) groups were well matched to VAC-FTD demographically. Emergence of VAC occurred around the time of onset of symptoms and was disproportionately seen in patients with temporal lobe predominant degeneration (8 of 17 [47.1%]). Atrophy network mapping identified a dorsomedial occipital region whose activity inversely correlated, in healthy brains, with activity in regions found within the patient-specific atrophy patterns in VAC-FTD (17 of 17) and NVA-FTD (45 of 51 [88.2%]). Structural covariance analysis revealed that the volume of this dorsal occipital region was strongly correlated in VAC-FTD, but not in NVA-FTD or HC, with a volume in the primary motor cortex corresponding to the right-hand representation. This study generated a novel hypothesis about the mechanisms underlying the emergence of VAC in FTD. These findings suggest that early lesion-induced activation of dorsal visual association areas may predispose some patients to the emergence of VAC under certain environmental or genetic conditions. This work sets the stage for further exploration of enhanced capacities arising early in the course of neurodegeneration.

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.

Art was initially thought of as a single function linked mainly to spatial perception and right hemisphere functional specialization. Art was also considered to be diametrically opposed to language, further solidifying the right hemisphere specialization model. This view remained dominant for many decades. However, increase in published observations of artworks by professional artists following acquired unilateral hemispheric damage showed that quality artistic works can be produced when there is damage in either the left or the right hemisphere. With the advent of neuroimaging such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), light was shed on the neural underpinning of the esthetics of artworks revealing activation in multiple regions across both hemispheres. The bulk of recent data suggests complementary hemispheric contributions to art production and esthetic evaluation of numerous art expressions. Similarly, creativity and imagination, upon which art expression depends, both appear to recruit interhemispheric processes. Culturally, the early evolutionary origin of art is associated mainly with Homo sapiens (HS) but, despite evidence for cerebral asymmetry based on fossil skulls, their emergence did not coincide with visual art making. A significant lag of hundreds of thousands of years intervened before humans produced art consistently and abundantly. By now, the arts are practiced ubiquitously throughout the globe, in all human societies.

Scientists have for centuries tried to localize and define artistic talent. Modern diagnostic techniques that enable visualization and measurement of brain morphology and function are positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) and some biochemical methods. In the majority of people, the left hemisphere is dominant, but the right hemisphere is considered to be creative, visual, imaginative and intuitive. Right hemisphere is associated with musical skills and good three-dimensional orientation. It is also associated with good coordination and athletic skills. Creative people have less marked hemispheric dominance. Using the functional (fMRI) technique, the activation of visual cortex while watching different kinds of compositions was visible; the specific pattern of cortical activation was identified for looking at the landscapes, portraits, abstract compositions or different combination of colors. For music perception, the interplay of activity on both sides of the brain is necessary. In the right side, the centers for perceiving pitch, certain aspects of melody, harmony, timbre and rhythm are placed, and in the left side the processes of rapid changes in frequency and intensity, both in music and words are taking place. Adaptation of the brain, i.e. brain plasticity can arise upon listening or performing music. It is possible to use music, painting and dancing as an aid in the treatment of somatic, neurologic or psychiatric disorders.

Subjective inner experiences, such as mind-wandering, represent the fundaments of human cognition. Although the precise function of mind-wandering is still debated, it is increasingly acknowledged to have influence across cognition on processes such as future planning, creative thinking, and problem-solving and even on depressive rumination and other mental health disorders. Recently, there has been important progress in characterizing mind-wandering and identifying the associated neural networks. Two prominent features of mind-wandering are mental time travel and visuospatial imagery, which are often linked with the hippocampus. People with selective bilateral hippocampal damage cannot vividly recall events from their past, envision their future, or imagine fictitious scenes. This raises the question of whether the hippocampus plays a causal role in mind-wandering and, if so, in what way. Leveraging a unique opportunity to shadow people (all males) with bilateral hippocampal damage for several days, we examined, for the first time, what they thought about spontaneously, without direct task demands. We found that they engaged in as much mind-wandering as control participants. However, whereas controls thought about the past, present, and future, imagining vivid visual scenes, hippocampal damage resulted in thoughts primarily about the present comprising verbally mediated semantic knowledge. These findings expose the hippocampus as a key pillar in the neural architecture of mind-wandering and also reveal its impact beyond episodic memory, placing it at the heart of our mental life.

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.

Torrance Test of Creative Thinking is the most widely used form of creativity test. Although creativity assessed using the figural form of Torrance Test of Creative Thinking has been considered non-unidimensional, the structural correlates for each separable dimension have yet to be explored. The present study investigated the underlying cortical structure of separable dimensions for creativity using the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. To this end, we recruited healthy young adults and conducted a regression analysis of the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking scores of gray matter volume after factorizing the five subscales using exploratory factor analysis. As a result, two factors of the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking were identified: (1) 'FO' factor consisting of fluency and originality and (2) 'RAS' factor consisting resistance to premature closure, abstractness of titles, and sophistication/elaboration. Subsequently, the FO factor showed a positive association with cerebral volumes in the parieto-temporal regions of the left angular gyrus and the right inferior parietal lobule, inferior and middle temporal, and parahippocampal gyri, which overlapped the default network. The RAS factor showed a positive correlation with the fronto-temporal regions including the bilateral temporal area, the left inferior parietal, and the right dorsolateral prefrontal regions representing the semantic control network. Our findings revealed the morphological substrates for the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking depending on two creative dimensions. The implications of the results are discussed.

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.

This study aims to take higher-education students as examples to understand and compare artistic and engineering mindsets in creative processes using EEG. Fifteen Master of Fine Arts (MFA) visual arts and fifteen Master of Engineering (MEng) design engineering students were recruited and asked to complete alternative uses tasks wearing an EEG headset. The results revealed that (1) the engineering-mindset students responded to creative ideas faster than artistic-mindset students. (2) Although in creative processes both artistic- and engineering-mindset students showed Theta, Alpha, and Beta wave activity, the active brain areas are slightly different. The active brain areas of artistic-mindset students in creative processes are mainly in the frontal and occipital lobes; while the whole brain (frontal, oriental, temporal, and occipital lobes) was active in creative processes of engineering-mindset students. (3) During the whole creative process, the brain active level of artistic-mindset students was higher than that of engineering-mindset students. The results of this study fills gaps in existing research where only active brain areas and band waves were compared between artistic- and engineering-mindset students in creative processes. For quick thinking in terms of fluency of generating creative ideas, engineering students have an advantage in comparison to those from the visual arts. Also, the study provided more evidence that mindset can affect the active levels of the brain areas. Finally, this study provides educators with more insights on how to stimulate students' creative ability.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) was used because of its dimensional complexity to establish a differentiation of divergent versus convergent thought, considered fundamental modes of cortical processing. In 28 men, the EEG was recorded while solving tasks of divergent and convergent thinking and during mental relaxation. The EEG during divergent thought was compared between subjects achieving high versus low performance scores on this type of task. The dimensional complexity of the EEG was greater during divergent thinking than during convergent thinking. While solving tasks of divergent thinking, subjects with high performance scores had a lower EEG dimension than did subjects with low scores, in particular over frontal cortical areas. The changes were not reflected in single frequency bands of conventional EEG analysis. Based on Hebb's view of neuron assemblies as functional processing units, the higher EEG complexity during divergent than convergent thinking could be the result of the concurrent activation of a greater number of independently oscillating processing units.

This study explored brain responses to images that exploit incongruity as a creative technique, often used in advertising (i.e., surrealistic images). We hypothesized that these images would reveal responses akin to cognitive conflict resulting from incongruent trials in typical laboratory tasks (i.e., Stroop Task). Indeed, in many surrealistic images, common visual elements are juxtaposed to create un-ordinary associations with semantically conflicting representations. We expected that these images engage the conflict processing network that has been described in cognitive neuroscience theories. We addressed this hypothesis by measuring the power of mid-frontal Theta oscillations using EEG while participants watched images through a social media-like interface. Incongruent images, compared to controls, produced a significant Theta power increase, as predicted from the cognitive conflict theory. We also found increased memory for incongruent images one week after exposure, compared to the controls. These findings provide evidence for the incongruent images to effectively engage the viewer's cognitive control and boost memorability. The results of this study provide validation of cognitive theories in real-life scenarios (i.e., surrealistic ads or art) and offer insights regarding the use of neural correlates as effectiveness metrics in advertising.

No abstract

In work the features of the biopotentials spatial organization are surveyed at successful and unsuccessful (abandoning or bad quality of a product) implementation of creative imagination in conditions of information over saturation. Two groups of the examinees have taken part in experiments: "professionals" (23 able-bodied examinees--students of faculty of an art graphics) and "nonprofessionals" (34 men, which specialty were not linked to systematic visual imagination). During experiment the examinees should mentally frame a visual object on the basis of two simple graphics units--right angle and diagonal, and after EEG registration to draw it on a paper and to give a title. The total number of units exceeded 7 +/- 2, i.e. the possibility of information processing at a realized level was unreal that reduced in necessity of connection of mechanisms of not realized information processes. Estimated quality of a framed product from the point of view successful and unsuccessful of implementation of the job and conforming to each of these variants of a feature of the EEG spatial organization, which shunted with the help of portable telemeter installation "SIT-EEG" from 24 items convexital surface of a head. Is shown, that at successful performance of the job in comparison with unsuccessful for "professionals" biopotentials spatial organization parameters--spatial synchronization (linear processes) and spatial disorder (the nonlinear processes) strengthen (in relation to a background) in frontal-temporal areas of the right hemisphere and parietal-occipital left ones. For "nonprofessionals" the value of these parameters was enlarged in an inverse direction: in frontal-temporal areas of the left hemisphere and in the right parietal-occipital. At unsuccessful performance of the jobs for "professionals" the body height ofbiopotentials spatial disorder almost in all cortical zones was marked, for "nonprofessionals" of change were weak. The between group differences in all situations for parameters ofbiopotentials coherence and spectral power are found also for "Informational - power" parameter mirroring a level of power expenditures of a brain on implementation of information processes. The obtained data are treated from the point of view ofelectroencephalographic correlates of successful and unsuccessful implementation of the job by "professionals" and "nonprofessionals" for creative imagination in conditions of information over saturation.

Numerous studies find that creativity is not only associated with low effort and flexible processes but also associated with high effort and persistent processes especially when defensive behavior is induced by negative emotions. The important role of self-esteem is to buffer negative emotions, and individuals with low self-esteem are prone to instigating various forms of defensive behaviors. Thus, we thought that the relationships between trait creativity and executive control brain networks might be modulated by self-esteem. The resting-state electroencephalogram (RS-EEG) microstates can be divided into four classical types (MS1, MS2, MS3, and MS4), which can reflect the brain networks as well as their dynamic characteristic. Thus, the Williams Creative Tendency Scale (WCTS) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) were used to investigate the modulating role of self-esteem on the relationships between trait creativity and the RS-EEG microstates. As our results showed, self-esteem consistently modulated the relationships between creativity and the duration and contribution of MS2 related to visual or imagery processing, the occurrence of MS3 related to cingulo-opercular networks, and transitions between MS2 and MS4, which were related to frontoparietal control networks. Based on these results, we thought that trait creativity was related to the executive control of bottom-up processing for individuals with low self-esteem, while the bottom-up information from vision or visual imagery might be related to trait creativity for individuals with high self-esteem.

An important component of creativity is divergent thinking, which involves the ability to generate novel and useful problem solutions. In this study, we tested the relation between resting-state functional connectivity of brain areas activated during a divergent thinking task (i.e., supramarginal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus) and the effect of practice in 32 adolescents aged 15-16. Over a period of two weeks, an experimental group (n = 16) conducted an 8-session Alternative Uses Task (AUT) training and an active control group (n = 16) conducted an 8-session rule switching training. Resting-state functional connectivity was measured before (pre-test) and after (post-test) training. Across groups at pre-test, stronger connectivity between the middle temporal gyrus and bilateral postcentral gyrus was associated with better divergent thinking performance. The AUT-training, however, did not significantly change functional connectivity. Post hoc analyses showed that change in divergent thinking performance over time was predicted by connectivity between left supramarginal gyrus and right occipital cortex. These results provide evidence for a relation between divergent thinking and resting-state functional connectivity in a task-positive network, taking an important step towards understanding creative cognition and functional brain connectivity.

The question of whether creative insight varies across problem types has recently come to the forefront of studies of creative cognition. In the present study, to address the nature of creative insight, the coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) technique was utilized to individually conduct three quantitative meta-analyses of neuroimaging experiments that used the compound remote associate (CRA) task, the prototype heuristic (PH) task and the Chinese character chunk decomposition (CCD) task. These tasks were chosen because they are frequently used to uncover the neurocognitive correlates of insight. Our results demonstrated that creative insight reliably activates largely non-overlapping brain regions across task types, with the exception of some shared regions: the CRA task mainly relied on the right parahippocampal gyrus, the superior frontal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus; the PH task primarily depended on the right middle occipital gyrus (MOG), the bilateral superior parietal lobule/precuneus, the left inferior parietal lobule, the left lingual gyrus and the left middle frontal gyrus; and the CCD task activated a broad cerebral network consisting of most dorsolateral and medial prefrontal regions, frontoparietal regions and the right MOG. These results provide the first neural evidence of the task dependence of creative insight. The implications of these findings for resolving conflict surrounding the different theories of creative cognition and for defining insight as a set of heterogeneous processes are discussed.

Imagination involves episodic memory retrieval, visualization, mental simulation, spatial navigation, and future thinking, making it a complex cognitive construct. Prior studies of imagination have attempted to study various elements of imagination (e.g., visualization), but none have attempted to capture the entirety of imagination ability in a single instrument. Here we describe the Hunter Imagination Questionnaire (HIQ), an instrument designed to assess imagination over an extended period of time, in a naturalistic manner. We hypothesized that the HIQ would be related to measures of creative achievement and to a network of brain regions previously identified to be important to imagination/creative abilities. Eighty subjects were administered the HIQ in an online format; all subjects were administered a broad battery of tests including measures of intelligence, personality, and aptitude, as well as structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI). Responses of the HIQ were found to be normally distributed, and exploratory factor analysis yielded four factors. Internal consistency of the HIQ ranged from 0.76 to 0.79, and two factors ("Implementation" and "Learning") were significantly related to measures of Creative Achievement (Scientific-r = 0.26 and Writing-r = 0.31, respectively), suggesting concurrent validity. We found that the HIQ and its factors were related to a broad network of brain volumes including increased bilateral hippocampi, lingual gyrus, and caudal/rostral middle frontal lobe, and decreased volumes within the nucleus accumbens and regions within the default mode network (e.g., precuneus, posterior cingulate, transverse temporal lobe). The HIQ was found to be a reliable and valid measure of imagination in a cohort of normal human subjects, and was related to brain volumes previously identified as central to imagination including episodic memory retrieval (e.g., hippocampus). We also identified compelling evidence suggesting imagination ability linked to decreased volumes involving the nucleus accumbens and regions within the default mode network. Future research will be important to assess the stability of this instrument in different populations, as well as the complex interaction between imagination and creativity in the human brain.

Previous studies have investigated the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying insight problem solving (INPS). However, it is still unclear which mechanisms are common to both INPS and ordinary problem solving (ORPS), and which are distinctly involved in only one of these processes. In this study, we selected two types of Chinese character chunk decompositions, ordinary Chinese character chunk decomposition (OCD) and creative Chinese character chunk decomposition (CCD), as representatives of ORPS and INPS, respectively. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record brain activations when subjects executed OCD or CCD operations, we found that both ORPS and INPS resulted in significant activations in the widespread frontoparietal cognitive control network, including the middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobe. Furthermore, compared with ORPS, INPS led to greater activations in higher-level brain regions related to symbolic processing in the default mode network, including the anterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, and precuneus. Conversely, ORPS induced greater activations than INPS in more posterior brain regions related to visuospatial attention and visual perception, such as the inferior temporal gyrus, hippocampus, and middle occipital gyrus/superior parietal gyrus/fusiform gyrus. In addition, an ROI analysis corroborated the neural commonalities and differences between ORPS and INPS. These findings provide new evidence that ORPS and INPS rely on common as well as distinct cognitive processes and cortical mechanisms.

There is increasing research interest in the structural and functional brain correlates underlying creative potential. Recent investigations found that interindividual differences in creative potential relate to volumetric differences in brain regions belonging to the default mode network, such as the precuneus. Yet, the complex interplay between creative potential, intelligence, and personality traits and their respective neural bases is still under debate. We investigated regional gray matter volume (rGMV) differences that can be associated with creative potential in a heterogeneous sample of N=135 individuals using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). By means of latent variable modeling and consideration of recent psychometric advancements in creativity research, we sought to disentangle the effects of ideational originality and fluency as two independent indicators of creative potential. Intelligence and openness to experience were considered as common covariates of creative potential. The results confirmed and extended previous research: rGMV in the precuneus was associated with ideational originality, but not with ideational fluency. In addition, we found ideational originality to be correlated with rGMV in the caudate nucleus. The results indicate that the ability to produce original ideas is tied to default-mode as well as dopaminergic structures. These structural brain correlates of ideational originality were apparent throughout the whole range of intellectual ability and thus not moderated by intelligence. In contrast, structural correlates of ideational fluency, a quantitative marker of creative potential, were observed only in lower intelligent individuals in the cuneus/lingual gyrus.

Creative thinking relies on the ability to make remote associations and fruitfully combine unrelated concepts. Hence, original associations and bi-associations (i.e., associations to one and two concepts, respectively) are considered elementary cognitive processes of creative cognition. In this work, we investigated the cognitive and brain mechanisms underlying these association processes with tasks that asked for original associations to either one or two adjective stimuli. Study 1 showed that the generation of more original associations and bi-associations was related to several indicators of creativity, corroborating the validity of these association performances as basic processes underlying creative cognition. Study 2 assessed brain activity during performance of these association tasks by means of fMRI. The generation of original versus common associations was related to higher activation in bilateral lingual gyri suggesting that cued search for remote representatives of given properties are supported by visually-mediated search strategies. Parametric analyses further showed that the generation of more original associations involved activation of the left inferior frontal cortex and the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which are consistently implicated in constrained retrieval and evaluation processes, and relevant for making distant semantic connections. Finally, the generation of original bi-associations involved higher activation in bilateral hippocampus and inferior parietal lobe, indicating that conceptual combination recruits episodic simulation processes. Together, these findings suggest that the generation of verbally cued, original associations relies not only on verbal semantic memory but involves mental imagery and episodic simulation, offering new insights in the nuanced interplay of memory systems in creative thought.

A number of major inventions in history have been based on bionic imitation. Heuristics, by applying biological systems to the creation of artificial devices and machines, might be one of the most critical processes in scientific innovation. In particular, prototype heuristics propositions that innovation may engage automatic activation of a prototype such as a biological system to form novel associations between a prototype's function and problem-solving. We speculated that the cortical dissociation between the automatic activation and forming novel associations in innovation is critical point to heuristic creativity. In the present study, novel and old scientific innovations (NSI and OSI) were selected as experimental materials in using learning-testing paradigm to explore the neural basis of scientific innovation induced by heuristic prototype. College students were required to resolve NSI problems (to which they did not know the answers) and OSI problems (to which they knew the answers). From two fMRI experiments, our results showed that the subjects could resolve NSI when provided with heuristic prototypes. In Experiment 1, it was found that the lingual gyrus (LG; BA18) might be related to prototype heuristics in college students resolving NSI after learning a relative prototype. In Experiment 2, the LG (BA18) and precuneus (BA31) were significantly activated for NSI compared to OSI when college students learned all prototypes one day before the test. In addition, the mean beta-values of these brain regions of NSI were all correlated with the behavior accuracy of NSI. As our hypothesis indicated, the findings suggested that the LG might be involved in forming novel associations using heuristic information, while the precuneus might be involved in the automatic activation of heuristic prototype during scientific innovation.

Previous research has demonstrated a link between creative thinking and alpha oscillations, with individuals exhibiting stronger fronto-parietal alpha synchronization during creative tasks. Effective creative thinking is thought to rely on the coordinated activity of the default mode network (DMN) and the executive control network (ECN), particularly in the frontal and parieto-occipital regions, as reflected by variations in alpha oscillatory activity recorded via EEG. Prior studies have shown that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at the alpha frequency (α-tACS) can enhance DMN activity in the parieto-occipital cortex, and that 10 Hz tACS may increase both alpha power and creative performance. However, the precise effects of α-tACS on creative thinking remain to be fully elucidated. To investigate the effects of α-tACS applied to the parieto-occipital region on creative thinking and its underlying cognitive neural mechanisms, we employed a within-participant design using EEG and the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). 28 participants completed two experimental sessions-one with sham stimulation and one with α-tACS-separated by a 24 ~ 48 h interval. In each session, participants performed the AUT immediately following stimulation. Behavioral results showed that participants receiving α-tACS exhibited significantly greater levels of novelty, flexibility, fluency, originality, and elaboration compared to the sham condition. Time-frequency analysis of EEG data further revealed that α-tACS significantly increased alpha power in the parieto-occipital regions relative to sham stimulation. These findings suggest that α-tACS applied to the parieto-occipital cortex, with an inter-session interval of 24 to 48 h, enhances creative thinking performance. This supports the potential of α-tACS as a neuromodulatory technique for facilitating creative cognitive processes.

The correlation between search and creative behavior with parameters of bioelectric brain activity was observed in patients with addictive disorders. The prevalence of α- and θ-activities in the parietal-temporal-occipital areas of the cortex and increased θ-activity in the right hemisphere in addiction patients with high search and creative activities were associated with enhanced high-frequency activity in these brain areas. These changes can reflect the formation of a focus of pathologically increased excitation related to the pathogenic mechanisms of addictive disorders.

Chunk decomposition plays an important role in cognitive flexibility in particular with regards to representational change, which is critical for insight problem solving and creative thinking. In this study, we investigated the cognitive mechanism of decomposing Chinese character chunks through a parametric fMRI design. Our results from this parametric manipulation revealed widely distributed activations in frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex and negative activations in parietal and visual areas in response to chunk tightness during decomposition. To mentally manipulate the element of a given old chunk, superior parietal lobe appears to support element restructuring in a goal-directed way, whereas the negatively activated inferior parietal lobe may support preventing irrelevant objects from being attended. Moreover, determining alternative ways of restructuring requires a constellation of frontal areas in the cognitive control network, such as the right lateral prefrontal cortex in inhibiting the predominant chunk representations, the presupplementary motor area in initiating a transition of mental task set, and the inferior frontal junction in establishing task sets. In conclusion, this suggests that chunk decomposition reflects mental transformation of problem representation from an inappropriate state to a new one alongside with an evaluation of novel and insightful solutions by the caudate in the dorsal striatum.

The study considers correlates of figurative and verbal tasks performance during attention paid to visual stimuli. There are 34 subjects (20 female, mean age 21, 2.5 [SD]) took parts in the study. During subjects performance of the task, there was carried out EEG registration from 19 sites according to 10-20%. Performance of the figurative creative task in comparison with control non-creative task of the same modality was accompanied by activation of occipital and parietal zones of the cerebral cortex (decrease of EEG spectral power in alpha 1 (7.5-9.5 Hz) and alpha2 (10-12.5 Hz) frequency bands was observed) whereas performance of a verbal creative task in the similar test-control comparison was accompanied by decrease of activation in occipital zones (revealed through increase of EEG spectral in alphal and alpha2 frequency bands). As visual stimuli were shown during the whole time of the creative and control tasks fulfilment was made an assumption observed distinction can be connected with redistribution of attention focus at various types of creative activity (figurative or verbal).

Studies integrating functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with functional MRI (fMRI) employ heterogeneous methods in defining common regions of interest in which similarities are assessed. Therefore, spatial agreement and temporal correlation may not be reproducible across studies. In the present work, we address this issue by proposing a novel method for integration and analysis of fNIRS and fMRI over the cortical surface. Eighteen healthy volunteers (age mean±SD 30.55 ± 4.7, 7 males) performed a motor task during non-simultaneous fMRI and fNIRS acquisitions. First, fNIRS and fMRI data were integrated by projecting subject- and group-level source maps over the cortical surface mesh to define anatomically constrained functional ROIs (acfROI). Next, spatial agreement and temporal correlation were quantified as Dice Coefficient (DC) and Pearson's correlation coefficient between fNIRS-fMRI in the acfROIs. Subject-level results revealed moderate to substantial spatial agreement (DC range 0.43 - 0.64), confirmed at the group-level only for blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal vs. HbO The proposed method directly compares fNIRS and fMRI by projecting individual source maps to the cortical surface. Our results indicate spatial and temporal correspondence between fNIRS and fMRI, and promotes the use of fNIRS when more ecological acquision settings are required, such as longitudinal monitoring of brain activity before and after rehabilitation.

Graphical representations of quantitative data abound in our culture, and yet the brain mechanisms of graphicacy, by which viewers quickly extract statistical information from a data graphic, are unknown. Here, using scatterplots as stimuli, we tested two hypotheses about the brain areas underlying graphicacy. First, at the perceptual level, we hypothesized that the visual processing of scatterplots and their main trend recycles cortical regions devoted to the perception of the principal axis of objects. Second, at a higher level, we speculated that the math-responsive network active during arithmetic and mathematical truth judgments should also be involved in graphical perception. Using fMRI, we indeed found that the judgment of the trend in a scatterplot recruits a right lateral occipital area involved in detecting the orientation of objects, as well as a right anterior intraparietal region also recruited during mathematical tasks. Both behavior and brain activity were driven by the t value that indexes the statistical correlation in the data, and right intraparietal activation covaried with participants’ graphicacy level. On the basis of this first approach to the neural bases of graphical perception, we suggest that, like literacy and numeracy, graphicacy relies on the recycling of brain areas previously attuned to a similar problem, here the perception of object orientation.