Alexander P. Christensen

Creative constraints: Brain activity and network dynamics underlying semantic interference during idea production☆

Abstract Functional neuroimaging research has recently revealed brain network interactions during performance on creative thinking tasks—particularly among regions of the default and executive control networks—but the cognitive mechanisms related to these interactions remain poorly understood. Here we test the hypothesis that the executive control network can interact with the default network to inhibit salient conceptual knowledge (i.e., pre‐potent responses) elicited from memory during creative idea production. Participants studied common noun‐verb pairs and were given a cued‐recall test with corrective feedback to strengthen the paired association in memory. They then completed a verb generation task that presented either a previously studied noun (high‐constraint) or an unstudied noun (low‐constraint), and were asked to “think creatively” while searching for a novel verb to relate to the presented noun. Latent Semantic Analysis of verbal responses showed decreased semantic distance values in the high‐constraint (i.e., interference) condition, which corresponded to increased neural activity within regions of the default (posterior cingulate cortex and bilateral angular gyri), salience (right anterior insula), and executive control (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) networks. Independent component analysis of intrinsic functional connectivity networks extended this finding by revealing differential interactions among these large‐scale networks across the task conditions. The results suggest that interactions between the default and executive control networks underlie response inhibition during constrained idea production, providing insight into specific neurocognitive mechanisms supporting creative cognition.

Robust prediction of individual creative ability from brain functional connectivity

Significance People’s capacity to generate creative ideas is central to technological and cultural progress. Despite advances in the neuroscience of creativity, the field lacks clarity on whether a specific neural architecture distinguishes the highly creative brain. Using methods in network neuroscience, we modeled individual creative thinking ability as a function of variation in whole-brain functional connectivity. We identified a brain network associated with creative ability comprised of regions within default, salience, and executive systems—neural circuits that often work in opposition. Across four independent datasets, we show that a person’s capacity to generate original ideas can be reliably predicted from the strength of functional connectivity within this network, indicating that creative thinking ability is characterized by a distinct brain connectivity profile. People’s ability to think creatively is a primary means of technological and cultural progress, yet the neural architecture of the highly creative brain remains largely undefined. Here, we employed a recently developed method in functional brain imaging analysis—connectome-based predictive modeling—to identify a brain network associated with high-creative ability, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from 163 participants engaged in a classic divergent thinking task. At the behavioral level, we found a strong correlation between creative thinking ability and self-reported creative behavior and accomplishment in the arts and sciences (r = 0.54). At the neural level, we found a pattern of functional brain connectivity related to high-creative thinking ability consisting of frontal and parietal regions within default, salience, and executive brain systems. In a leave-one-out cross-validation analysis, we show that this neural model can reliably predict the creative quality of ideas generated by novel participants within the sample. Furthermore, in a series of external validation analyses using data from two independent task fMRI samples and a large task-free resting-state fMRI sample, we demonstrate robust prediction of individual creative thinking ability from the same pattern of brain connectivity. The findings thus reveal a whole-brain network associated with high-creative ability comprised of cortical hubs within default, salience, and executive systems—intrinsic functional networks that tend to work in opposition—suggesting that highly creative people are characterized by the ability to simultaneously engage these large-scale brain networks.

Commentary: The Development of Creativity--Ability, Motivation, and Potential.

A major question for research on the development of creativity is whether it is interested in creative potential (a prospective approach that uses measures early in life to predict adult creativity) or in childrens creativity for its own sake. We suggest that a focus on potential for future creativity diminishes the fascinating creative world of childhood. The contributions to this issue can be organized in light of an ability × motivation framework, which offers a fruitful way for thinking about the many factors that foster and impede creativity. The contributions reflect a renewed interest in the development of creativity and highlight how this area can illuminate broader problems in creativity studies.

Reopening Openness to Experience: A Network Analysis of Four Openness to Experience Inventories

ABSTRACT Openness to Experience is a complex trait, the taxonomic structure of which has been widely debated. Previous research has provided greater clarity of its lower order structure by synthesizing facets across several scales related to Openness to Experience. In this study, we take a finer grained approach by investigating the item-level relations of four Openness to Experience inventories (Big Five Aspects Scale, HEXACO–100, NEO PI–3, and Woo et al.s Openness to Experience Inventory), using a network science approach, which allowed items to form an emergent taxonomy of facets and aspects. Our results (N = 802) identified 10 distinct facets (variety-seeking, aesthetic appreciation, intellectual curiosity, diversity, openness to emotions, fantasy, imaginative, self-assessed intelligence, intellectual interests, and nontraditionalism) that largely replicate previous findings as well as three higher order aspects: two that are commonly found in the literature (intellect and experiencing; i.e., openness), and one novel aspect (open-mindedness). In addition, we demonstrate that each Openness to Experience inventory offers a unique conceptualization of the trait, and that some inventories provide broader coverage of the network space than others. Our findings establish a broader consensus of Openness to Experience at the aspect and facet level, which has important implications for researchers and the Openness to Experience inventories they use.

Brain networks of the imaginative mind: Dynamic functional connectivity of default and cognitive control networks relates to openness to experience

Imagination and creative cognition are often associated with the brains default network (DN). Recent evidence has also linked cognitive control systems to performance on tasks involving imagination and creativity, with a growing number of studies reporting functional interactions between cognitive control and DN regions. We sought to extend the emerging literature on brain dynamics supporting imagination by examining individual differences in large‐scale network connectivity in relation to Openness to Experience, a personality trait typified by imagination and creativity. To this end, we obtained personality and resting‐state fMRI data from two large samples of participants recruited from the United States and China, and we examined contributions of Openness to temporal shifts in default and cognitive control network interactions using multivariate structural equation modeling and dynamic functional network connectivity analysis. In Study 1, we found that Openness was related to the proportion of scan time (i.e., “dwell time”) that participants spent in a brain state characterized by positive correlations among the default, executive, salience, and dorsal attention networks. Study 2 replicated and extended the effect of Openness on dwell time in a correlated brain state comparable to the state found in Study 1, and further demonstrated the robustness of this effect in latent variable models including fluid intelligence and other major personality factors. The findings suggest that Openness to Experience is associated with increased functional connectivity between default and cognitive control systems, a connectivity profile that may account for the enhanced imaginative and creative abilities of people high in Openness to Experience.

Network structure of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales–Short Forms: Examining psychometric network filtering approaches

Schizotypy is a multidimensional construct that provides a useful framework for understanding the etiology, development, and risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Past research has applied traditional methods, such as factor analysis, to uncovering common dimensions of schizotypy. In the present study, we aimed to advance the construct of schizotypy, measured by the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales–Short Forms (WSS-SF), beyond this general scope by applying two different psychometric network filtering approaches—the state-of-the-art approach (lasso), which has been employed in previous studies, and an alternative approach (information-filtering networks; IFNs). First, we applied both filtering approaches to two large, independent samples of WSS-SF data (ns = 5,831 and 2,171) and assessed each approach’s representation of the WSS-SF’s schizotypy construct. Both filtering approaches produced results similar to those from traditional methods, with the IFN approach producing results more consistent with previous theoretical interpretations of schizotypy. Then we evaluated how well both filtering approaches reproduced the global and local network characteristics of the two samples. We found that the IFN approach produced more consistent results for both global and local network characteristics. Finally, we sought to evaluate the predictability of the network centrality measures for each filtering approach, by determining the core, intermediate, and peripheral items on the WSS-SF and using them to predict interview reports of schizophrenia-spectrum symptoms. We found some similarities and differences in their effectiveness, with the IFN approach’s network structure providing better overall predictive distinctions. We discuss the implications of our findings for schizotypy and for psychometric network analysis more generally.

The Creative Self in Context: Experience Sampling and the Ecology of Everyday Creativity

Abstract This chapter explores how ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods can illuminate everyday creativity, the often humble creative acts people do in their natural environments. After describing the notion of everyday creativity that guides this work, the present chapter reviews some common research designs and salient methodological issues for readers interested in conducting EMA research. Later, we review studies that have applied EMA methods—particularly experience sampling studies—to understand creativity in everyday environments. For creativity researchers, the ability to study creativity naturalistically—people working on their own creative goals at the times and places of their choosing—will offer new insights into what creativity looks like in the real world and the kinds of environments that spark and sustain it.

Remotely Close Associations: Openness to Experience and Semantic Memory Structure: Remotely close associations

Openness to experience—the enjoyment of novel experiences and ideas—has many connections to cognitive processes. People high in openness to experience, for example, tend to be more creative and have broader general knowledge than people low in openness to experience. In the current study, we use a network science approach to examine if the organization of semantic memory differs between high and low groups of openness to experience. A sample of 516 adults completed measures of openness to experience (from the NEO Five–Factor Inventory–3 and Big Five Aspect Scales) and a semantic verbal fluency task. Next, the sample was split into half to form high (n = 258) and low (n = 258) openness to experience groups. Semantic networks were then constructed on the basis of their verbal fluency responses. Our results revealed that the high openness to experience groups network was more interconnected, flexible, and had better local organization of associations than the low openness to experience group. We also found that the high openness to experience group generated more responses on average and provided more unique responses than the low openness to experience group. Taken together, our results indicate that openness to experience is related to semantic memory structure.

Do People Have a Thing for Bling? Examining Aesthetic Preferences for Shiny Objects

Researchers in the evolutionary aesthetics tradition have suggested that people prefer shiny objects because glossiness connotes water. We consider some methodological issues in past research and present an experiment that manipulated the glossiness of metal objects. Young adults (n = 134) viewed silver coins that were either dull or in “brilliant uncirculated” condition as well as copper cylinders that were either rough and tarnished, polished with a brushed surface, or polished with a mirror finish. Ratings of attractiveness showed that people preferred the shiny over the tarnished coin and the glossy copper bar over the tarnished and brushed ones. These effects were not simply due to perceived quality or implied effort. The findings demonstrate that, after many potential confounds have been avoided or controlled for, people do seem to have a thing for bling.

Feeling Like Crying When Listening to Music: Exploring Musical and Contextual Features

Feeling like crying is a common response to music. Recent work suggests two forms of aesthetic crying: an awe-inspired, positive kind and a distressed, sad kind. Besides their emotional tone, what differentiates these experiences? The present research examined the context and subjective musical content of aesthetic crying. A sample of 961 adults described the emotional tone, musical features, and social and environmental contexts of a feeling like crying experience. Awe experiences more often involved religious or classical music that was complex and beautiful, and people were often with others and hearing the music live. Sad experiences more often involved popular genres (e.g., Pop, Soul or R&B, Country) that were cold and unpleasant, and people often noted that the music reminded them of someone or that they already felt like crying before listening to the music. The distinctions between these two kinds of experiences suggest that current theories of aesthetic crying could be fruitfully expanded.