Neurologists have identified the origins of creativity in the brain

Creativity is a unique brain function. Local damage to the brain as a result of a stroke can lead to changes in creative ability—both positive and negative. This discovery suggests that the neurological basis of creativity can be narrowed down.

Electrodes in different areas of the brain reveal brain activity in real time. The colored dots show the locations of all electrodes in all patients, color coded by brain region. The red dots in the lower images show the electrode locations in the DMN. From the study.
Electrodes in different areas of the brain reveal brain activity in real time. The colored dots show the locations of all electrodes in all patients, color coded by brain region. The red dots in the lower images show the electrode locations in the DMN. From the study.

A joint study, conducted by researchers from the University of Utah Health, Baylor College of Medicine and the Technion, revealed the crucial role of the default mode network (DMN) in creativity through advanced brain imaging, highlighting possibilities for future therapeutic interventions.

Unexpected problem solving

Have you ever found a solution to a difficult problem when you were thinking about something completely different? Creative thought is a hallmark of humanity, but it is an elusive and surprising ability that appears precisely when it is not needed.

The neurological source of creativity—what happens in our brains when we think outside the box—is also difficult to identify.

Now, a research team led by a researcher from the University of Utah Health and based at Baylor College of Medicine has used a precise brain imaging method to reveal how different parts of the brain work together to generate creative thought.

Their findings were recently published in the journal "Brain".

The new results may lead to interventions that stimulate creative thought or help people with mental illnesses that disrupt these areas of the brain.

Thinking outside the box

Complex cognitive processes, such as creativity, are particularly difficult to research. "Unlike motor function or vision, they don't depend on a specific location in the brain," says Dr. Ben Shofti, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine and lead author of the paper. "Creativity doesn't just appear in the cerebral cortex."

But there is evidence that creativity is a unique brain function. Local damage to the brain as a result of a stroke can lead to changes in creative ability—both positive and negative. This discovery suggests that the neurological basis of creativity can be narrowed down.

Judges suspected that creative thought may rely heavily on parts of the brain that are also activated during meditation, daydreaming, and other types of internal thinking. This network of brain cells is the default mode network (DMN), so named because it is linked to the "default" thinking patterns that occur in the absence of specific mental tasks. "Unlike most of the functions we have in the brain, it is not goal-directed," Shofti says. "It's a network that works all the time and maintains our spontaneous stream of consciousness."

The DMN is spread over many scattered areas of the brain, making tracking its activity in real time more difficult. The researchers used an advanced imaging method of brain activity to understand what the network does moment by moment during creative thought. In a method mainly used to locate the location of seizures in patients with severe epilepsy, small electrodes are implanted in the brain to precisely track the electrical activity of different areas of the brain.

Study participants already underwent such seizure monitoring, which allowed the research team to also use electrodes to measure brain activity during creative thinking. This provided a much more detailed picture of the neurological basis of creativity than researchers could previously grasp. "We could see what was happening within a few milliseconds of trying to do creative thinking," Shofti says.

Two steps towards originality

The researchers observed that during a creative thinking task in which the participants were asked to list new uses for an everyday item, such as a chair or a cup, the DMN was first awakened to activity. Its activity then became synchronized with other areas of the brain, including those involved in solving complex problems and making decisions. Shofti believes this means that creative ideas are generated in the DMN before they are evaluated by other regions.

Moreover, the researchers were able to show that parts of the network are specifically required for creative thinking. When the researchers used electrodes to temporarily suppress the activity of certain areas of the DMN, the people thought of uses for the items they saw that were less creative. Their other brain functions, such as daydreaming, remained completely normal.

Dr. Eleonora Bartoli, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, and first co-author of the paper, explains that this result shows that creativity is not only linked to the network but fundamentally dependent on it. "We have moved beyond correlative evidence by using direct brain stimulation," she says. "Our findings highlight the causal role of the DMN in creative thinking."

Network activity is altered in some disorders, such as persistent depression, in which the DMN is more active than usual, possibly due to an increased focus on negative internal thoughts. Shofti says that more understanding about how the network works normally could lead to better treatments for people in such situations.

By characterizing the areas of the brain involved in creative thinking, Shofti hopes to eventually lead to interventions that can help stimulate creativity. "Ultimately, the goal will be to understand what's happening online in a way that will allow us to work toward increased creativity."

Prof. Yoad Kenneth from the Technion also participated in the study.

for the scientific article

The brain, creativity, neurology, University of Utah, Technion, cognitive neurology, brain imaging, brain research, epilepsy, , brain stimulation, mental illness, creativity and the brain,

2 תגובות

  1. A summary of Asbar's work in the last 30 years appears in the article "The Real Theory of Geometry and Physics"
    Follow the books of Asbar published by Niv Publishing.

  2. It happens to me all day, from the ways in which I build a tower from the various tools, a creative, non-stop way, "chess pieces" from all kinds of pizza boxes, continue with works of plastic art and finish, yes, in the square of the circle;
    A=Adam=1/4
    claim; There is a constant ratio! between [4]r and [1]A
    When, the diagonal of the square ! = 2r+2A

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