Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Neural Activity Associated with Information Selection in Open-ended Creativity. (10th February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Siyuan; Chen, Shi; Wang, Shuang; Zhao, Qingbai; Zhou, Zhijin; Lu, Chunming
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience. Volume 371(2018)
• Page Start: 268
• Page End: 276
• Publication Date: 2018-02-10
• Subjects: ANOVA analysis of variance -- EEG electroencephalograph -- fMRI functional magnetic resonance imaging; information selection -- open-ended creativity -- EEG power -- EEG coherence -- lower and upper alpha; Neurochemistry -- Periodicals; Neurophysiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurochimie -- Périodiques; Neurophysiologie -- Périodiques; Neurochemistry; Neurophysiology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.12.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4522

Abstract

Highlights: Creativity induced higher alpha1 and alpha2 power in frontal and temporal area. Frontal–temporal alpha coherence was higher in creative solution. Lower alpha power in temporal area decreased with time. Frontal–temporal and temporal–temporal alpha2 coherence increased with time. The advantage of right brain in frontal–temporal connectivity was not found. Abstract: Novel information selection is a crucial process in creativity and was found to be associated with frontal–temporal functional connectivity in the right brain in closed-ended creativity. Since it has distinct cognitive processing from closed-ended creativity, the information selection in open-ended creativity might be underlain by different neural activity. To address this issue, a creative generation task of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings was adopted, and the trials were classified into novel and normal solutions according to participants' self-ratings. The results showed that (1) novel solutions induced a higher lower alpha power in the temporal area, which might be associated with the automatic, unconscious mental process of retrieving extensive semantic information, and (2) upper alpha power in both frontal and temporal areas and frontal–temporal alpha coherence were higher in novel solutions than in normal solutions, which might reflect the selective inhibition of semantic information. Furthermore, lower alpha power in the temporal area showed a reduction with time, while the frontal–temporal and temporal–temporal coherence in the upper alpha band appeared to increase from the early to the middle phase. These dynamic changes in neural activity might reflect the transformation from divergent thinking to convergent thinking in the creative progress. The advantage of the right brain in frontal–temporal connectivity was not found in the present work, which might result from the diversity of solutions in open-ended creativity.