School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China; School of Mathematics and Statistics, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16801, USA.
Neuroimage. 2019 Nov 15;202:116065. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116065. Epub 2019 Aug 7.
Hemispheric lateralization for creative thinking remains a controversial topic. Early behavioral and neuroimaging research supported right hemisphere dominance in creative thinking, but more recent evidence suggests the left hemisphere plays an equally important role. In addition, the extent to which hemispheric lateralization in specific brain regions relates to individual creative ability, and whether hemispheric dominance relates to distinct task performance, remain poorly understood. Here, using multivariate predictive modeling of resting-state functional MRI data in a large sample of adults (N = 502), we estimated hemispheric segregation and integration for each brain region and investigated these lateralization indices with respect to individual differences in visuospatial and verbal divergent thinking. Our analyses revealed that individual visuospatial divergent thinking performance could be predicted by right-hemispheric segregation within the visual network, sensorimotor network, and some regions within the default mode network. High visuospatial divergent thinking was related to stronger functional connectivity between the visual network, fronto-parietal network, and default mode network within the right hemisphere. In contrast, high verbal divergent thinking performance could be predicted by inter-hemispheric balance within regions mainly involved in complex semantic processing (e.g., lateral temporal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus) and cognitive control processing (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal cortex, and superior parietal lobule). The current study suggests that two distinct forms of functional lateralization support individual differences in visuospatial and verbal divergent thinking. These findings have important implications for our understanding of hemispheric interaction mechanisms of creative thinking.
大脑半球在创造性思维中的偏侧化仍然是一个有争议的话题。早期的行为和神经影像学研究支持创造性思维右半球优势，但最近的证据表明左半球也起着同样重要的作用。此外，特定脑区的半球偏侧化与个体创造性能力的关系程度，以及半球优势与特定任务表现的关系程度，仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们使用大量成年人（N=502）静息态功能磁共振成像数据的多元预测建模，估计了每个脑区的半球分离和整合，并针对视空间和言语发散思维的个体差异研究了这些侧化指标。我们的分析表明，个体视空间发散思维表现可以通过视觉网络、感觉运动网络和默认模式网络内的右半球分离来预测。高视空间发散思维与右半球视觉网络、额顶网络和默认模式网络之间更强的功能连接有关。相比之下，高言语发散思维表现可以通过主要涉及复杂语义处理（如外侧颞叶和额下回）和认知控制处理（如额下回、额中回和顶下小叶）的区域之间的半球间平衡来预测。本研究表明，两种不同形式的功能侧化支持视空间和言语发散思维的个体差异。这些发现对我们理解创造性思维的半球相互作用机制具有重要意义。
