1 Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science of Guangdong Province, School of Psychology, South China Normal University , Guangzhou, China .
2 Guangdong Science Center , Guangzhou, China .
Brain Connect. 2017 Nov;7(9):590-601. doi: 10.1089/brain.2017.0510.
The present study aimed to explore the association between resting-state functional connectivity and creativity ability. Toward this end, the figural Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) scores were collected from 180 participants. Based on the figural TTCT measures, we collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data for participants with two different levels of creativity ability (a high-creativity group [HG, n = 22] and a low-creativity group [LG, n = 20]). For the aspect of group difference, this study combined voxel-wise functional connectivity strength (FCS) and seed-based functional connectivity to identify brain regions with group-change functional connectivity. Furthermore, the connectome properties of the identified regions and their associations with creativity were investigated using the permutation test, discriminative analysis, and brain-behavior correlation analysis. The results indicated that there were 4 regions with group differences in FCS, and these regions were linked to 30 other regions, demonstrating different functional connectivity between the groups. Together, these regions form a creativity-related network, and we observed higher network efficiency in the HG compared with the LG. The regions involved in the creativity network were widely distributed across the modality-specific/supramodality cerebral cortex, subcortex, and cerebellum. Notably, properties of regions in the supramodality networks (i.e., the default mode network and attention network) carried creativity-level discriminative information and were significantly correlated with the creativity performance. Together, these findings demonstrate a link between intrinsic brain connectivity and creative ability, which should provide new insights into the neural basis of creativity.
本研究旨在探索静息态功能连接与创造力之间的关系。为此，从 180 名参与者中收集了图形托兰斯创造性思维测验（TTCT）的分数。基于图形 TTCT 测量，我们为具有不同创造力水平的参与者（高创造力组 [HG，n=22] 和低创造力组 [LG，n=20]）收集了静息态功能磁共振成像数据。在组间差异方面，本研究结合了体素水平功能连接强度（FCS）和基于种子的功能连接，以确定具有组间功能连接变化的脑区。此外，还使用置换检验、判别分析和脑-行为相关性分析研究了所确定区域的连接体特性及其与创造力的关系。结果表明，有 4 个区域的 FCS 存在组间差异，这些区域与 30 个其他区域相连，表明组间的功能连接不同。这些区域共同构成了一个与创造力相关的网络，我们观察到 HG 的网络效率高于 LG。涉及创造力网络的区域广泛分布于模态特异性/超模态大脑皮层、皮层下和小脑。值得注意的是，超模态网络（即默认模式网络和注意网络）中区域的特性携带创造力水平的判别信息，并且与创造力表现显著相关。总之，这些发现表明内在脑连接与创造力之间存在联系，这应该为创造力的神经基础提供新的见解。
