Into the Square and out of the Box: The effects of Quadrato Motor Training on Creativity and Alpha Coherence

Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan,Abraham Goldstein,Opher Donchin,Aviva Berkovich-Ohana,Joseph Glicksohn,Alessandro Antonietti

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055023

Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan, Abraham Goldstein + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055023

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Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the body-cognitive relationship through behavioral and electrophysiological measures in an attempt to uncover the underlying mediating neuronal mechanism for movement-induced cognitive change. To this end we examined the effects of Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), a new whole-body training paradigm on cognitive performance, including creativity and reaction time tasks, and electrophysiological change, using a within-subject pre-post design. Creativity was studied by means of the Alternate Uses Task, measuring ideational fluency and ideational flexibility. Electrophysiological effects were measured in terms of alpha power and coherence. In order to determine whether training-induced changes were driven by the cognitive or the motor aspects of the training, we used two control groups: Verbal Training (VT, identical cognitive training with verbal response) and Simple Motor Training (SMT, similar motor training with reduced choice requirements). Twenty-seven participants were randomly assigned to one of the groups. Following QMT, we found enhanced inter-hemispheric and intra-hemispheric alpha coherence, and increased ideational flexibility, which was not the case for either the SMT or VT groups. These findings indicate that it is the combination of the motor and cognitive aspects embedded in the QMT which is important for increasing ideational flexibility and alpha coherence.

Highlights

Philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists who study embodied cognition propose that cognition, ranging from high level mental constructs, such as creativity, to performance on various cognitive tasks, is shaped by the body, and its interactions with the environment [1,2,3]
In order to determine whether training-induced changes were driven by the cognitive or the motor aspects of the Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), we used two control groups: 1) Verbal Training (VT) - identical cognitive training with verbal response - this was meant to control for the motor load while keeping the same cognitive load and uncertainty, by instructing participants to only make verbal responses; and 2) Simple Motor Training (SMT) - similar motor training with reduced choice requirements, or the number of optional directions of movement at each choice point - this was meant to control for the cognitive load by reducing task complexity and uncertainty, while keeping the same motor load
We investigated whether the increased ideational flexibility and faster reaction time (RT) were positively correlated with the observed changes in bilateral frontal (F3–F4) alpha coherence, or frontal alpha left and right power, by a Pearson correlation

Summary

Introduction

Philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists who study embodied cognition propose that cognition, ranging from high level mental constructs, such as creativity, to performance on various cognitive tasks (e.g. reaction time), is shaped by the body (motor and sensory systems), and its interactions with the environment [1,2,3]. It further argues that concepts arise from sensory-motor systems activation, which in turn form the building blocks of abstract and creative thought (for reviews see [4] and [5]). It relies on a body of literature emphasizing the embodiment of consciousness [6,7,8,9]. Diverse neuroscientific fields support the embodied cognition hypothesis. Parkinson patients, in parallel to the severe motor deficits, suffer from cognitive decline and decreased mental flexibility [12], [13]

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