Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
NeuroImaging Network (NIN), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran.
Brain Behav. 2020 Dec;10(12):e01895. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1895. Epub 2020 Oct 15.
Creativity is one of the most complex functions of the human brain. The corticostriatal pathways have been implicated in creative thinking, yet few studies have addressed the microstructural underpinnings of creative ability, especially those related to the corticostriatal dopaminergic circuitry. We hypothesized that performance in creativity tests can be predicted based on diffusion metrics of the corticostriatal pathways and basal ganglia.
A total of 37 healthy adults were included. Neuropsychological tests of creativity, including the alternative uses task (AUT), test of creative imagery abilities (TCIA), remote associates test (RAT), and creative achievement questionnaire (CAQ), as well as diffusion MRI data were acquired for each participant.
We demonstrated an independent effect of TCIA originality and TCIA transformativeness subscores, and RAT score in predicting the mean diffusivity (MD), mean axial diffusivity (AD), mean fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean generalized FA of the right corticostriatal pathway. We also observed independent effects of AUT elaboration subscore in predicting the AD of the right substantia nigra, and radial diffusivity (RD) of the right globus pallidus.
Our results put a further spin on the "creative right brain" notion and question the presence of high-creative and low-creative networks in the brain.
创造力是人类大脑最复杂的功能之一。皮质纹状体通路与创造性思维有关，但很少有研究涉及创造性能力的微观结构基础，特别是与皮质纹状体多巴胺能回路有关的基础。我们假设，基于皮质纹状体通路和基底神经节的扩散度量，可以预测创造力测试的表现。
共纳入 37 名健康成年人。对每位参与者进行了认知创造力测试，包括替代用途测试（AUT）、创造性想象能力测试（TCIA）、远程联想测试（RAT）和创造性成就问卷（CAQ），以及扩散 MRI 数据。
我们证明了 TCIA 创意性和 TCIA 转化性分量表以及 RAT 分数对右侧皮质纹状体通路的平均弥散度（MD）、平均轴向弥散度（AD）、平均各向异性分数（FA）和平均广义 FA 的独立预测作用。我们还观察到 AUT 阐述分量表对右侧黑质 AD 和右侧苍白球 RD 的独立预测作用。
我们的结果进一步说明了“创造性右脑”的概念，并质疑大脑中是否存在高创造性和低创造性网络。
