Neurological Identification of Creativity Training Effects

• In Event: Classic and Novel Approaches in Creativity Assessment and Programming: Implications for Gifted Education

Abstract

Sternberg and Lubart defined creativity in 1996 as the ability to produce work that is both new and appropriate to the task. In a world where the race to innovate has become a priority, it is necessary to develop from an early age the ability to cope and be innovative. Studies highlight some fundamental factors that underlie creative thinking ability in individuals, such as personality traits (openness, extraversion) and biological parameters such as cortical thickness in brain regions underlying strategic thinking and, as was pointed out by Deshayes and colleagues in 2021, resting state connectivity.

Creativity is underpinned by multiple factors that interact with each other. The current work took a more comprehensive view of the individual, differentiating the level of creativity in 45 healthy adults on the basis of a model of cognitive functioning constructed through structural equation modeling. This model posits the influence of working memory and analytical thinking on creativity. The fMRI study of the resting state activity of these subjects revealed that highly creative individuals have increased functional connectivity in the Attentional Network (AN) and Default Mode Network (DMN). The results obtained by this approach are in line with cognitive theories that emphasize a strong involvement of working memory and attentional processes in creativity.

In the current work, we developed a problem-solving training program and administered it to 83 healthy adults, separated in 3 groups: 1) a control one with no training of 52 subjects, 2) a control training group with 15 subjects trained with crossword puzzles, 3) a third group of 16 subjects was trained on creative problem-solving. Our results showed that, for the control group and the crossword puzzle-trained group, innovative thinking is influenced by reasoning, while for the problem-solving group it is influenced by flexibility. This change is accompanied by an increase in resting state functional connectivity in the AN and visual network (VN). These results show that cognitive training based on problem solving promotes innovative thinking by changing the way the subject recruits the cognitive processes needed to solve the problem. This change is underpinned by changes in the functional connectivity of resting state networks.
All these results underscore that creativity is a malleable psychological attribute. As it is well known that childhood is a critical period to learn new skills, it is the perfect time to integrate creative training and develop students’ creative potential.

References

Deshayes, C., Paban, V., Ferrer, M.-H., Alescio-Lautier, B., & Chambon, C. (2021). A comprehensive approach to study the resting-state brain network related to creative potential. Brain Structure and Function, 226(6), 1743–1753. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02286-9

Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1996). Investing in creativity. American Psychologist, 51(7), 677–688. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.51.7.677

Author

• Claire Deshayes, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives
  Presenting Author