Cited by 82Creativity in Education and NeuroscienceAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Neuroimaging predictors of creativity in healthy adults

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Sunavsky, Adam, Poppenk, Jordan·2020·NeuroImage

Abstract

Neuroimaging has revealed numerous neural predictors of individual differences in creativity; however, with most of these identified in only one study, sometimes involving very small samples, their reliability is uncertain. To contribute to a convergent cognitive neuroscience of creativity, we conducted a pre-registered conceptual replication and extension study in which we assessed previously reported predictors of creativity using a multimodal approach, incorporating volumetric, white matter, and functional connectivity neuroimaging data. We assessed sets of pre-registered predictors against prevailing measures of creativity, including visual and verbal tests of divergent thinking, everyday creative behaviour, and creative achievement. We then conducted whole-brain exploratory analyses. Greater creativity was broadly predicted by features of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and inferior parietal lobe (IPL), including both local grey matter and white matter predictors in the IFG, the superior longitudinal fasciculus that connects them, and IFG-IPL functional connectivity. As IFG and IPL are important nodes within executive control and default mode networks (DMN), respectively, this result supports the view that executive modulation of DMN activity optimizes creative ideation. Furthermore, white matter integrity of the basal ganglia was also a generalizable creativity predictor, and exploratory analyses revealed the anterior lobe of the cerebellum and the parahippocampal gyrus to both be reliable predictors of creativity across neuroimaging modalities. This pattern aligns with proposals ascribing roles of working and long-term memory to problem-solving and imagination. Overall, our findings help to consolidate some, but not all, neural correlates of individual differences that have been discussed in the cognitive neuroimaging of creativity, yielding a subset that appear particularly promising for focused future investigation.

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  • Higher creativity is broadly predicted by grey matter in the inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule and by white matter integrity in the basal ganglia.

    “greater creativity was broadly predicted by grey matter of the inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule as well as white matter integrity of the basal ganglia147.”

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Matorina, N., Poppenk, J., 2019. Sleep Promotes Relational Overlapping Memories for Long-Term Generalization. bioRxiv, p. 578492.
  2. Mountjoy, J., Poppenk, J., 2015. Introducing SuperPsychToolbox: an open-source tool to facilitate coding and analysis of psychology experiments. Can. J. Exp. Psychol. 69 (4), 332-332.

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Authors
Sunavsky, A., & Poppenk, J.
Affiliations
Queen's University (CA)
Corresponding author
Poppenk, Jordan
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-02
Volume
206
Pages
116292
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2981832395
Cited by
82
References
95
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 8
FWCI
10.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • QSpace (Queen's University Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
creativity, individual differences, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, superior longitudinal fasciculus, white matter integrity, functional connectivity, default mode network, executive function, basal ganglia, cerebellum, parahippocampal gyrus, divergent thinking, creative achievement, working memory, long-term memory, neural correlates of creativity
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Cerebellum, Creativity, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nerve Net, Parietal Lobe, Prefrontal Cortex, Parahippocampal Gyrus, Connectome, White Matter, Gray Matter

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