Genetic influences on creativity: an exploration of convergent and divergent thinking

PeerJ

article

Wei Han¹  Mi Zhang¹  Xue Feng²  Guihua Gong³  Kaiping Peng¹  Dan Zhang¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University;Education College, Yangtze University;Repconex, Inc

关键词: Creativity;    Convergent thinking;    Gene;    Divergent thinking;    Cognition;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5403

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Previous studies on the genetic basis of creativity have mainly focused on the biological mechanisms of divergent thinking, possibly limiting the exploration of possible candidate genes. Taking a cognition-based perspective, the present study investigated the genetic basis for both the divergent and the convergent thinking components of creativity. A total of 321 Chinese university students were recruited to complete the Guildford Unusual Using Test (UUT) for divergent thinking capability and the Remote Associates Test (RAT) for convergent thinking capability. The polymorphism of rs2576037 in KATNAL2 was related to the fluency and originality component scores of UUT, and the polymorphism of rs5993883 in COMT, rs362584 in SNAP25 was related to the RAT performance. These effects remained significant after considering the influence of age, gender and intelligence. Our results provide new evidence for the genetic basis of creativity and reveal the important role of gene polymorphisms in divergent and convergent thinking.

【 授权许可】

CC BY