Creative tendency with brain network efficiency: A graph theory analysis

Abstract

Creativity is divided into two levels: cognition and affect. Existing brain neuroimaging research has analyzed the cognitive processes involved in creative products. Thus, the connection between creative tendency and brain structure remains limited. This study explored the connection between white matter network structure and creative tendency. The diffusion tensor images of brain white matter and the Creative Tendency Scale scores of 60 healthy adults were evaluated. Graph theory was used to analyze the topological properties of the brain white matter network. After excluding the influences of gender and age, the relationship between the connectivity efficiency (CE) of the brain white matter network and creative tendencies (risk-taking, curiosity, imagination, and preference for complexity) was calculated. Curiosity, imagination, and the total score of creative tendencies were positively correlated with standardized clustering efficiency and small-worldness. In terms of node efficiency, risk-taking was significantly negatively correlated with the left middle temporal gyrus, posterior central gyrus, and right inferior parietal lobe; curiosity was negatively correlated with the right inferior parietal lobe; imagination was negatively correlated with the left middle frontal gyrus; and preference for complexity was negatively correlated with the left cuneus. These findings show that the brain white matter networks affect creative tendencies differently.