Neuroanatomical Correlates of Creativity: Evidence From Voxel-Based Morphometry

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Wenfu Li¹  Gongying Li¹  Bingyuan Ji¹  Qinglin Zhang²  Jiang Qiu² 

[1] School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University;School of Psychology, Southwest University

关键词: creativity;    remote associates test;    voxel-based morphometry;    anterior superior temporal gyrus;    gray matter density;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00155

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Creativity was a special cognitive capacity which was crucial to human survival and prosperity. Remote associates test (RAT), identifying the relationships among remote ideas, was one of the most frequently used methods of measuring creativity. However, the structural characteristics associated with RAT remains unclear. In the present study, the relationship between gray matter density (GMD)/white matter density (WMD) and RAT was explored using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in a larger healthy college student sample (144 women and 117 men). Results showed that the score of RAT was significantly positively related with the GMD in the right anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG) and negatively correlated with the GMD in the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Meanwhile, results also showed that the score of RAT was significantly positively related with the WMD in the right dACC and negatively correlated with the WMD in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). These findings indicate that individual creativity, as measured by the RAT, was mainly related to the regional gray /white matter density of brain regions in the aSTG, dACC and IFG, which might have been involved in the forming of novel combinations, breaking of mental set, monitoring of conflict and semantic integration.

【 授权许可】

CC BY