Abstract
Creativity is of central importance for human civilization, yet its neurocognitive bases are poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to integrate existing functional imaging data by using the meta-analysis approach. We reviewed 34 functional imaging studies that reported activation foci during tasks assumed to engage creative thinking in healthy adults. A coordinate-based meta-analysis using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) first showed a set of predominantly left-hemispheric regions shared by the various creativity tasks examined. These regions included the caudal lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), the medial and lateral rostral PFC, and the inferior parietal and posterior temporal cortices. Further analyses showed that tasks involving the combination of remote information (combination tasks) activated more anterior areas of the lateral PFC than tasks involving the free generation of unusual responses (unusual generation tasks), although both types of tasks shared caudal prefrontal areas. In addition, verbal and non-verbal tasks involved the same regions in the left caudal prefrontal, temporal, and parietal areas, but also distinct domain-oriented areas. Taken together, these findings suggest that several frontal and parieto-temporal regions may support cognitive processes shared by diverse creativity tasks, and that some regions may be specialized for distinct types of processes. In particular, the lateral PFC appeared to be organized along a rostro-caudal axis, with rostral regions involved in combining ideas creatively and more posterior regions involved in freely generating novel ideas.
Highlights
Everyone has their own idea of what creativity is
ALL STUDIES (SEE TABLE 2, FIGURE 1) The global Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) map revealed a network consistently associated with various creativity tasks, including the bilateral inferior and left superior prefrontal cortex (PFC) (BA 44, 47, 46, 9, 10), the medial PFC (BA 6, 9), the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula, the left anterior (BA 37) and posterior lateral temporal gyri (BA 22, 37), the right fusiform gyrus, the left supramarginal gyrus (BA 40) and precuneus (BA 7), the bilateral occipital cortex, the bilateral anterior and posterior cerebellum, and the left thalamus
Additional regions were observed in the left anterior temporal fusiform gyrus and in the posterior part of the lateral temporal region extending into the inferior parietal lobule (BA 39/40), in the middle temporal gyrus caudally, in the left fusiform gyrus, and the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG)
Summary
Everyone has their own idea of what creativity is. While the realm of artistic creation may be the first that comes to mind, creativity is obviously a cornerstone of many domains of human activity, including science (discovery), technology (invention), and economy (innovation). Finding new solutions to individual problems, achieving something novel, and thinking away from pre-established ideas are all common creative processes that take place in everyday life. According to this point of view, creativity results from a set of mental functions normally found in all humans, and can be studied experimentally. Various tasks related to four main theoretical frameworks of creativity have been used: divergent thinking, insight problem solving, combination of remote semantic associations, and artistic creativity These studies have led to diverse results, with no consensus yet in sight (Fink et al, 2007; Arden et al, 2010; Dietrich and Kanso, 2010; Sawyer, 2011). The present meta-analysis represents an attempt to clarify this small body of literature
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
