Uncovering neural distinctions and commodities between two creativity subsets: A meta‐analysis of fMRI studies in divergent thinking and insight using activation likelihood estimation

Abstract

The dual‐process theory that two different systems of thought coexist in creative thinking has attracted considerable attention. In the field of creative thinking, divergent thinking (DT) is the ability to produce multiple solutions to open‐ended problems in a short time. It is mainly considered an associative and fast process. Meanwhile, insight, the new and unexpected comprehension of close‐ended problems, is frequently marked as a deliberate and time‐consuming thinking process requiring concentrated effort. Previous research has been dedicated to revealing their separate neural mechanisms, while few studies have compared their differences and similarities at the brain level. Therefore, the current study applied Activation Likelihood Estimation to decipher common and distinctive neural pathways that potentially underlie DT and insight. We selected 27 DT studies and 30 insight studies for retrospective meta‐analyses. Initially, two single analyses with follow‐up contrast and conjunction analyses were performed. The single analyses showed that DT mainly involved the inferior parietal lobe (IPL), cuneus, and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), while the precentral gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), parahippocampal gyrus (PG), amygdala (AMG), and superior parietal lobe were engaged in insight. Compared to insight, DT mainly led to greater activation in the IPL, the crucial part of the default mode network. However, insight caused more significant activation in regions related to executive control functions and emotional responses, such as the IFG, MFG, PG, and AMG. Notably, the conjunction analysis detected no overlapped areas between DT and insight. These neural findings implicate that various neurocognitive circuits may support DT and insight.

Investigating the neural substrate variations between easy and challenging creative association tasks during product design within an fMRI scanner

“…Additionally, connectivity analyses suggest a trend that the DMN and the SN that relate to bottom-up thinking attenuate as time proceeds, whereas the vlPFC, which relates to top-down thinking, becomes stronger at later stages. These findings provide support for dual-process theories ( Benedek and Jauk, 2018 , Dygert and Jarosz, 2020 , Kuang et al, 2022 ), suggesting that individuals employ both associative and controlled-attention processes to actively engage in creative thinking.…”

“…Key brain regions within the DMN include the medial prefrontal gyrus (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and right temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) ( Kleinmintz et al, 2019 ). On the other hand, the ECN is involved in evaluating the value of ideas ( Beaty et al, 2019 , Kleinmintz et al, 2019 , Kuang et al, 2022 ), working memory updating, inhibition ( Zhao et al, 2021 ), and error detection ( Kleinmintz et al, 2019 , Perchtold et al, 2018 , Vossel et al, 2014 ). It was also found that working memory is facilitated by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), attention involving the frontal eye fields (FEF), and TPJ ( Kleinmintz et al, 2019 , Vossel et al, 2014 ).…”

Human creativity: Functions, mechanisms, and social conditioning

“…Next to the DMN, there is evidence that cognitive flexibility and spontaneous idea generation rest on neural activity in the striatum, a brain region involved in reward processing, updating of goal representations and the shifting of task strategies (Figure 5A) (Ikemoto, 2007;Kehagia et al, 2010). For example, more rather than less-creative individuals had stronger functional connectivity between the components of the striatum (e.g., putamen, pallidum; Gao et al, 2021), and solving insight problems robustly tracked neural activity in striatal structures like the ventral tegmental area, the nucleus accumbens, and the caudate nucleus (Tik et al, 2018; also see Kuang et al, 2022;Oh et al, 2021;Van den Bergh et al, 2023).…”