Jeremy R. Gray

Openness to Experience and Intellect Differentially Predict Creative Achievement in the Arts and Sciences

The Big Five personality dimension Openness/Intellect is the trait most closely associated with creativity and creative achievement. Little is known, however, regarding the discriminant validity of its two aspects-Openness to Experience (reflecting cognitive engagement with perception, fantasy, aesthetics, and emotions) and Intellect (reflecting cognitive engagement with abstract and semantic information, primarily through reasoning)-in relation to creativity. In four demographically diverse samples totaling 1,035 participants, we investigated the independent predictive validity of Openness and Intellect by assessing the relations among cognitive ability, divergent thinking, personality, and creative achievement across the arts and sciences. We confirmed the hypothesis that whereas Openness predicts creative achievement in the arts, Intellect predicts creative achievement in the sciences. Inclusion of performance measures of general cognitive ability and divergent thinking indicated that the relation of Intellect to scientific creativity may be due at least in part to these abilities. Lastly, we found that Extraversion additionally predicted creative achievement in the arts, independently of Openness. Results are discussed in the context of dual-process theory.

Fluid intelligence and brain functional organization in aging yoga and meditation practitioners

Numerous studies have documented the normal age-related decline of neural structure, function, and cognitive performance. Preliminary evidence suggests that meditation may reduce decline in specific cognitive domains and in brain structure. Here we extended this research by investigating the relation between age and fluid intelligence and resting state brain functional network architecture using graph theory, in middle-aged yoga and meditation practitioners, and matched controls. Fluid intelligence declined slower in yoga practitioners and meditators combined than in controls. Resting state functional networks of yoga practitioners and meditators combined were more integrated and more resilient to damage than those of controls. Furthermore, mindfulness was positively correlated with fluid intelligence, resilience, and global network efficiency. These findings reveal the possibility to increase resilience and to slow the decline of fluid intelligence and brain functional architecture and suggest that mindfulness plays a mechanistic role in this preservation.

Frontopolar activity and connectivity support dynamic conscious augmentation of creative state

No ability is more valued in the modern innovation‐fueled economy than thinking creatively on demand, and the “thinking cap” capacity to augment state creativity (i.e., to try and succeed at thinking more creatively) is of broad importance for education and a rich mental life. Although brain‐based creativity research has focused on static individual differences in trait creativity, less is known about changes in creative state within an individual. How does the brain augment state creativity when creative thinking is required? Can augmented creative state be consciously engaged and disengaged dynamically across time? Using a novel “thin slice” creativity paradigm in 55 fMRI participants performing verb‐generation, we successfully cued large, conscious, short‐duration increases in state creativity, indexed quantitatively by a measure of semantic distance derived via latent semantic analysis. A region of left frontopolar cortex, previously associated with creative integration of semantic information, exhibited increased activity and functional connectivity to anterior cingulate gyrus and right frontopolar cortex during cued augmentation of state creativity. Individual differences in the extent of increased activity in this region predicted individual differences in the extent to which participants were able to successfully augment state creative performance after accounting for trait creativity and intelligence. Hum Brain Mapp 36:923–934, 2015.

A combined effect of two Alzheimer's risk genes on medial temporal activity during executive attention in young adults

A recent history of failed clinical trials suggests that waiting until even the early stages of onset of Alzheimers disease may be too late for effective treatment, pointing to the importance of early intervention in young people. Early intervention will require markers of Alzheimers risk that track with genotype but are capable of responding to treatment. Here, we sought to identify a functional MRI signature of combined Alzheimers risk imparted by two genetic risk factors. We used a task of executive attention during fMRI in participants genotyped for two Alzheimers risk alleles: APOE-ε4 and CLU-C. Executive attention is a sensitive indicator of the progression of Alzheimers even in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment, but has not yet been investigated as a marker of Alzheimers risk in young adults. Functional MRI revealed that APOE-ε4 and CLU-C had an additive effect on brain activity such that increased combined genetic risk was associated with decreased brain activity during executive attention, including in the medial temporal lobe, a brain area affected early in Alzheimers pathogenesis.

Subcortical intelligence: Caudate volume predicts IQ in healthy adults

This study examined the association between size of the caudate nuclei and intelligence. Based on the central role of the caudate in learning, as well as neuroimaging studies linking greater caudate volume to better attentional function, verbal ability, and dopamine receptor availability, we hypothesized the existence of a positive association between intelligence and caudate volume in three large independent samples of healthy adults (total Nu2009=u2009517). Regression of IQ onto bilateral caudate volume controlling for age, sex, and total brain volume indicated a significant positive correlation between caudate volume and intelligence, with a comparable magnitude of effect across each of the three samples. No other subcortical structures were independently associated with IQ, suggesting a specific biological link between caudate morphology and intelligence. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1407–1416, 2015.

Neural correlates of the essence of conscious conflict: fMRI of sustaining incompatible intentions

The study of intrapsychic conflict has long been central to many key theories about the control of behavior. More recently, by focusing on the nature of conflicting processes in the brain, investigators have revealed great insights about controlled versus automatic processes and the nature of self-control. Despite these advances, many theories of cognitive control or self-control remain agnostic about the function of subjective awareness (i.e., basic consciousness). Why people consciously experience some conflicts in the nervous system but not others remains a mystery. One hypothesis is that people become conscious only of conflicts involving competition for the control of skeletal muscle. To test one aspect of this larger hypothesis, in the present study, 14 participants were trained to introspect the feeling of conflict (the urge to make an error during a Stroop color-word interference task) and then were asked to introspect in the same way while sustaining simple compatible and incompatible intentions during fMRI scanning (to move a finger left or right). As predicted, merely sustaining incompatible skeletomotor intentions prior to their execution produced stronger systematic changes in subjective experience than sustaining compatible intentions, as indicated by self-report ratings obtained in the scanner. Similar ratings held for a modified Stroop-like task when contrasting incompatible versus compatible trials also during fMRI scanning. We use subjective ratings as the basis of parametric analyses of fMRI data, focusing a priori on the brain regions involved in action-related urges (e.g., parietal cortex) and cognitive control (e.g., dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, lateral PFC). The results showed that subjective conflict from sustaining incompatible intentions was consistently related to activity in the left post-central gyrus.

Intelligence moderates neural responses to monetary reward and punishment.

The relations between intelligence (IQ) and neural responses to monetary gains and losses were investigated in a simple decision task. In 94 healthy adults, typical responses of striatal blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal after monetary reward and punishment were weaker for subjects with higher IQ. IQ-moderated differential responses to gains and losses were also found for regions in the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and left inferior frontal cortex. These regions have previously been identified with the subjective utility of monetary outcomes. Analysis of subjects behavior revealed a correlation between IQ and the extent to which choices were related to experienced decision outcomes in preceding trials. Specifically, higher IQ predicted behavior to be more strongly correlated with an extended period of previously experienced decision outcomes, whereas lower IQ predicted behavior to be correlated exclusively to the most recent decision outcomes. We link these behavioral and imaging findings to a theoretical model capable of describing a role for intelligence during the evaluation of rewards generated by unknown probabilistic processes. Our results demonstrate neural differences in how people of different intelligence respond to experienced monetary rewards and punishments. Our theoretical discussion offers a functional description for how these individual differences may be linked to choice behavior. Together, our results and model support the hypothesis that observed correlations between intelligence and preferences may be rooted in the way decision outcomes are experienced ex post, rather than deriving exclusively from how choices are evaluated ex ante.

Can video game dynamics identify orthopaedic surgery residents who will succeed in training

For those involved in orthopaedic surgery post-graduate education, it is imperative to identify and select the highest quality candidates to fill their programs. One of the most important considerations is selecting residents who will achieve clinical competence and pass the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons (ABOS) certifying examination. Many candidates are also selected for their presumed future ability to contribute to the field through leadership, research, and education. Several studies have attempted to identify potential resident quality in an effort to maximize success during residency.1-4 Pre-residency academic achievements have been shown to correlate with higher Orthopaedic In-Training Exam (OITE) scores during residency, and well-rounded applicants (history of charity work and varsity sport participation) scored highly on faculty clinical evaluations.3 It has also been reported that candidates with higher United States Medical Licensing examination (USMLE) scores performed better on their board exams.4 In an editorial, it was remarked that the Orthopaedic Residency Review Committee’s expanded role within the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has enabled the orthopaedic education community to attain a number of important goals in postgraduate education with respect to interviewing and selecting candidates for residency.5 Therefore, it is important for orthopaedic surgery programs to evaluate and update the means by which they identify and select the candidates who are most likely to succeed during residency, fellowship, and practice. Furthermore, identifying predictors or factors associated with success during residency would represent critical knowledge for program directors, selection committees, and applicants. Most orthopaedic residency programs currently conduct residency selection based on faculty committee decisions. This process is commonly based on applicant interviews and CV review followed by a consensus ranking of the applicants. Such decisions are subjective and specific to each institution. To date, no substantial innovation has been introduced into the process of residency selection. Advances in personality assessment now permit the identification of a wide range of skills, abilities, and dispositions that correlate with job success, including intelligence, conscientiousness, and social skills.6 Unfortunately, traditional measures of these constructs are time-consuming (sometimes costly and labor intensive) to administer, prone to self-reporting biases, and can potentially introduce error due to test anxiety and/or stereotype threat.7,8 An emerging trend in human resources, is the use of predictive tools to differentiate among employees or potential employees on the basis of subtle cues (not readily observable by a person) identified through data mining and machine learning.9 With the advent of near-universal availability of video game technology via the platforms of smart phones and other mobile devices, it has become possible to apply the same general approach to residency selection in an effort to predict job performance based on the nuances of how applicants play specifically-designed video games.10 Details of game-play can be used to generate statistically valid models of job performance. The purpose of this perspective is to describe our experience in determining whether a video game-based approach is capable of predicting success in residency training. We evaluated if a specific behavioral-trait signature could be identified that would reliably predict successful performance in an orthopaedic training program.