Researchers have identified the neurological basis of creativity, providing insights that may lead to interventions for stimulating creative thought and aiding mental illnesses.
Creativity is often an enigma, an elusive ability that strikes unexpectedly. Yet, its origins in the human brain have remained largely mysterious — until now. Researchers from the University of Utah Health and Baylor College of Medicine have unlocked significant insights into how different brain regions work together to generate creative thought.
In a study published in the journal BRAIN, the team utilized advanced brain imaging techniques to isolate the default mode network (DMN) as a key player in creative cognition. Their novel approach could pave the way for interventions designed to foster creativity and offer new treatments for mental illnesses that disrupt brain function.
“Unlike motor function or vision, they’re not dependent on one specific location in the brain,” Ben Shofty, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of neurosurgery in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, said in a news release. “There’s not a creativity cortex.”
Shofty and his team postulated that creative thought heavily relies on the DMN — a network associated with meditative, daydreaming and other internally focused thinking. This network’s activity has been challenging to track due to its spread across multiple brain regions. Utilizing a method typically used for seizure monitoring in epilepsy patients, researchers implanted tiny electrodes to capture precise real-time electrical activity during creative tasks.
This innovative setup allowed the team to observe brain activity within the first few milliseconds of attempting to perform creative thought tasks. Participants were asked to brainstorm innovative uses for everyday items, revealing that initial activity flared in the DMN. This activity was then synchronized with other brain regions involved in complex problem-solving and decision-making.
“We could see what’s happening within the first few milliseconds of attempting to perform creative thinking,” added Shofty.
Using electrodes to temporarily dampen specific DMN regions provided further insight. Those participants who had their DMN activity reduced generated less creative responses without impacting other functions like mind-wandering.
“We moved beyond correlational evidence by using direct brain stimulation,” Eleonora Bartoli, the study’s co-author and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, said in the news release. “Our findings highlight the causal role of the DMN in creative thinking.”
The implications of these findings extend beyond creativity. The DMN’s altered activity is linked to disorders such as ruminative depression, where it is excessively active and possibly contributes to negative thought cycles. Understanding how the DMN functions normally could lead to advanced treatments for these conditions.
By mapping the brain regions responsible for creative thinking, Shofty and his team aspire to develop interventions to enhance creativity. “Eventually, the goal would be to understand what happens to the network in such a way that we can potentially drive it toward being more creative,” Shofty added.