Abstract
Creativity is thought to require the flexible reconfiguration of multiple brain regions that interact in transient and complex communication patterns. In contrast to prior emphases on searching for specific regions or networks associated with creative performance, we focused on exploring the association between the reconfiguration of dynamic functional connectivity states and creative ability. We hypothesized that a high frequency of dynamic functional connectivity state transitions will be associated with creative ability. To test this hypothesis, we recruited a high-creative group (HCG) and a low-creative group (LCG) of participants and collected resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) data and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) scores from each participant. By combining an independent component analysis with a dynamic network analysis approach, we discovered the HCG had more frequent transitions between dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) states than the LCG. Moreover, a confirmatory analysis using multiplication of temporal derivatives also indicated that there were more frequent dFC state transitions in the HCG. Taken together, these results provided empirical evidence for a linkage between the flexible reconfiguration of dynamic functional connectivity states and creative ability. These findings have the potential to provide new insights into the neural basis of creativity.
Highlights
Creativity is thought to require the flexible reconfiguration of multiple brain regions that interact in transient and complex communication patterns
We collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (R-fMRI) data from participants in a high-creative group (HCG, n = 22) and a low-creative group (LCG, n = 22), who were selected from 180 healthy volunteers after testing the volunteers using the figural version of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT-Figural)[32] and Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices test[33]
The TTCT-Figural consists of three activities: picture construction based on a pear shaped circle, picture completion based on incomplete figures, and picture construction based on repeated parallel lines
Summary
Creativity is thought to require the flexible reconfiguration of multiple brain regions that interact in transient and complex communication patterns. A confirmatory analysis using multiplication of temporal derivatives indicated that there were more frequent dFC state transitions in the HCG Taken together, these results provided empirical evidence for a linkage between the flexible reconfiguration of dynamic functional connectivity states and creative ability. A growing number of studies have indicated that FC shows noticeable variations over a range of seconds to minutes, even in the resting state without external stimuli[20,21,22] (for reviews, see refs 15, 17) This dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) exhibits highly structured spatiotemporal patterns in which a set of metastable FC patterns, known as dFC states, reliably recur across time and subjects[23]. The dynamics of state transitions enable multiple brain regions to engage and disengage flexibly in coordination without being locked into fixed interaction patterns, resulting in the plentiful repertoire of brain reconfigurations that are required to facilitate creative task performance
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