THE CREATIVE INVESTIGATION OF BRAIN ACTIVITY WITH EEG FOR GENDER AND LEFT/RIGHT-HANDED DIFFERENCES

Abstract

This paper studied the differences of gender and left/right-handed groups from a neuroscience perspective through task-related power of alpha power changes during the generation of creative ideas. Aiming to investigate the effects of the differences, it will help understand the specific neural processes for different genders and left/right-handed groups. We used B-Alert X10®; electroencephalography (EEG) system, computed for left and right hemispheres, to determine if EEG metrics differentiated between the gender and left/right-handed groups. This study assessed EEG power spectral density (PSD) while 17 healthy participants worked on the alternative uses (AU) task. The results showed that (1) the creativity level has no relations with the gender; there is no obvious difference between males and females on the process of creative idea generation. (2) The creativity level is high related to the cultivation of innovative ability. There is obvious higher alpha power changes in posterior regions of the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere of the brain for high original group, and a stronger task-related alpha synchronization showed in the right hemisphere than that in the left one for the low original group. (3) There is comparatively lower alpha power in parietal region in the left hemisphere than that in the right one for the left-handed participants, and higher alpha power in the frontal region for the left-handed and in parietal region for right-handed participants. The comparison among different genders and left/right-handed participants can help us understand more about the creative thinking manifested in the human brain.