Using a shoe as a plant pot: Neural correlates of passive conceptual expansion

Kröger, Sören; Rutter, Barbara; Stark, Rudolf; Windmann, Sabine; Hermann, Christiane; Abraham, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2011.10.031

Cited by 54 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…That is, greater rGMV in the right pMTG in subjects with higher SWCAT might aid the generation of novel, unique connections between ideas. Many previous studies have indicated that the lateral temporal cortex (including the right pMTG) might play key roles in semantic processing such as metaphor understanding (the right posterior middle/superior temporal gyrus) (Goel and Dolan, 2001;Cardillo et al, 2012), semantic representation and control (Badre et al, 2005;Whitney et al, 2011), conceptual integration and comprehension (pMTG) (Hickok and Poeppel, 2004;Turken and Dronkers, 2011), and novel association (the right posterior superior temporal sulcus) (Jung-Beeman et al, 2004;Kröger et al, 2012). In addition, Abraham et al (2012) have recently stated that divergent thinking could involve brain regions implicated in declarative memory and semantic cognition, such as the lateral inferior temporal cortex (BA 20/21), hippocampus and medial PFC (Cappa, 2008;Binder et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain structure links trait creativity to openness to experience

Li¹,

Li²,

Huang³

et al. 2014

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

129

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Creativity is crucial to the progression of human civilization and has led to important scientific discoveries. Especially, individuals are more likely to have scientific discoveries if they possess certain personality traits of creativity (trait creativity), including imagination, curiosity, challenge and risk-taking. This study used voxel-based morphometry to identify the brain regions underlying individual differences in trait creativity, as measured by the Williams creativity aptitude test, in a large sample (n ¼ 246). We found that creative individuals had higher gray matter volume in the right posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), which might be related to semantic processing during novelty seeking (e.g. novel association, conceptual integration and metaphor understanding). More importantly, although basic personality factors such as openness to experience, extroversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness (as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory) all contributed to trait creativity, only openness to experience mediated the association between the right pMTG volume and trait creativity. Taken together, our results suggest that the basic personality trait of openness might play an important role in shaping an individuals trait creativity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain structure links trait creativity to openness to experience

Li¹,

Li²,

Huang³

et al. 2014

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

129

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“…As this animal task cannot be optimally implemented in its original form for neuroimaging research, three alternative experimental paradigms were developed to assess conceptual expansion. These have now been implemented in fMRI (Abraham et al, 2012b; Kröger et al, 2012; Rutter et al, 2012b) and EEG settings (Rutter et al, 2012a; Kröger et al, 2013). …”

Section: Conceptual Expansionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brain regions that were commonly activated across all three paradigms would be considered to be reliably involved in creative conceptual expansion. Two approaches were adopted when developing these paradigms 2 where one was devised to assess “active” conceptual expansion (Abraham et al, 2012b) while the other assessed “passive” conceptual expansion (Kröger et al, 2012; Rutter et al, 2012b). Participants shouldered the task of expanding the concepts themselves (generate novel uses for a newspaper) in the volitionally generated or active conceptual expansion paradigm.…”

Section: Conceptual Expansionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creative thinking as orchestrated by semantic processing vs. cognitive control brain networks

Abraham

2014

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

Self Cite

120

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Creativity is primarily investigated within the neuroscientific perspective as a unitary construct. While such an approach is beneficial when trying to infer the general picture regarding creativity and brain function, it is insufficient if the objective is to uncover the information processing brain mechanisms by which creativity occurs. As creative thinking emerges through the dynamic interplay between several cognitive processes, assessing the neural correlates of these operations would enable the development and characterization of an information processing framework from which to better understand this complex ability. This article focuses on two aspects of creative cognition that are central to generating original ideas. “Conceptual expansion” refers to the ability to widen one’s conceptual structures to include unusual or novel associations, while “overcoming knowledge constraints” refers to our ability to override the constraining influence imposed by salient or pertinent knowledge when trying to be creative. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence is presented to illustrate how semantic processing and cognitive control networks in the brain differentially modulate these critical facets of creative cognition.

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“…This study included 34 articles reporting 44 different experiments that employed the different creative paradigms aforementioned, i.e., divergent thinking tasks (Seger et al, 2000; Howard-Jones et al, 2005; Asari et al, 2008; Fink et al, 2009, 2010; Chrysikou and Thompson-Schill, 2011; Abraham et al, 2012; Ellamil et al, 2012; Kröger et al, 2012; Rutter et al, 2012) combination tasks and problem solving (Jung-Beeman et al, 2004; Luo et al, 2004; Geake and Hansen, 2005; Vartanian and Goel, 2005; Kounios et al, 2006; Mashal et al, 2007; Siebörger et al, 2007; Aziz-Zadeh et al, 2009; Qiu et al, 2010; Tian et al, 2011; Aziz-Zadeh et al, 2012; Cardillo et al, 2012; Green et al, 2012; Huang et al, 2013), as well as ecological tasks attempting to capture real life creativity instead of hypothesized cognitive processes (Bechtereva et al, 2004; Howard-Jones et al, 2005; Bengtsson et al, 2007; Berkowitz and Ansari, 2008; Limb and Braun, 2008; Kowatari et al, 2009; Ellamil et al, 2012; de Manzano and Ullen, 2012; Shah et al, 2013). …”

Section: Experimental Studies On the Neural Correlates Of Creativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontal lobe neurology and the creative mind

et al. 2014

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Concepts from cognitive neuroscience strongly suggest that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in the cognitive functions necessary for creative thinking. Functional imaging studies have repeatedly demonstrated the involvement of PFC in creativity tasks. Patient studies have demonstrated that frontal damage due to focal lesions or neurodegenerative diseases are associated with impairments in various creativity tasks. However, against all odds, a series of clinical observations has reported the facilitation of artistic production in patients with neurodegenerative diseases affecting PFC, such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD). An exacerbation of creativity in frontal diseases would challenge neuroimaging findings in controls and patients, as well as the theoretical role of prefrontal functions in creativity processes. To explore this paradox, we reported the history of a FTD patient who exhibited the emergence of visual artistic productions during the course of the disease. The patient produced a large amount of drawings, which have been evaluated by a group of professional artists who were blind to the diagnosis. We also reviewed the published clinical cases reporting a change in the artistic abilities in patients with neurological diseases. We attempted to reconcile these clinical observations to previous experimental findings by addressing several questions raised by our review. For instance, to what extent can the cognitive, conative, and affective changes following frontal damage explain changes in artistic abilities? Does artistic exacerbation truly reflect increased creative capacities? These considerations could help to clarify the place of creativity—as it has been defined and explored by cognitive neuroscience—in artistic creation and may provide leads for future lesion studies.

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Using a shoe as a plant pot: Neural correlates of passive conceptual expansion

Cited by 54 publications

References 38 publications

Brain structure links trait creativity to openness to experience

Brain structure links trait creativity to openness to experience

Creative thinking as orchestrated by semantic processing vs. cognitive control brain networks

Frontal lobe neurology and the creative mind

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