Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Enhance Creative Cognition: Interactions between Task, Polarity, and Stimulation Site

Abstract

Creative cognition is frequently described as involving two primary processes, idea generation and idea selection. A growing body of research has used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to examine the neural mechanisms implicated in each of these processes. This literature has yielded a diverse set of findings that vary depending on the location and type (anodal, cathodal, or both) of electrical stimulation employed, as well as the task’s reliance on idea generation or idea selection. As a result, understanding the interactions between stimulation site, polarity and task demands is required to evaluate the potential of tDCS to enhance creative performance. Here, we review tDCS designs that have elicited reliable and dissociable enhancements for creative cognition. Cathodal stimulation over the left inferior frontotemporal cortex has been associated with improvements on tasks that rely primarily on idea generation, whereas anodal tDCS over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and frontopolar cortex has been shown to augment performance on tasks that impose high demands on creative idea selection. These results highlight the functional selectivity of tDCS for different components of creative thinking and confirm the dissociable contributions of left dorsal and inferior lateral frontotemporal cortex for different creativity tasks. We discuss promising avenues for future research that can advance our understanding of the effectiveness of tDCS as a method to enhance creative cognition.

Improvement in creativity after transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

“…The authors 17 explained this divergent priming as a way of inducing people to adopt a particular attitude towards a creative task by visualizing themselves using an object in an unusual way. In other words, a similar creative output might be reached through both the inhibition of left inferior frontotemporal cortex (involved in inhibitory control and retention of previous experiences) 5 and the stimulation over the left DLPFC (by enhancing one's thoughts towards a specific aim under an increase in selection demands).…”

“…An increasing number of studies have attempted to investigate the neurological basis for creativity using either MRI 2,3 or EEG techniques 4 . Additional evidence of brain areas and networks related to creativity performance has come from studies that included noninvasive transcranial stimulation A review recently carried out by Weinberger et al 5 indicated that creative cognition may involve two main processes: idea generation (which depends on the availability of unfiltered information), and idea selection (which includes task-directed thoughts and integration of semantically distant concepts). Each of these processes has been suggested to rely primarily on different neural mechanisms 6 .More specifically, idea generation has been mostly related to cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the left inferior frontotemporal cortex, including the anterior temporal lobe 7,8 , inferior frontal gyrus 9 and prefrontal cortex 10 .…”

“…The RAT has been considered to be a measure of verbal convergent thinking, which involves finding a single solution to a problem in a deductive way 15 . This test is supposed to contain both a generative component (since participants are asked to produce a remotely related word), and selectivity (participants must select a correct solution among the possible words generated) 5 . Additional evidence of verbal convergent thinking improvement after anodal stimulation over the left DLPFC came from the study carried out by Zmigrod et al 15 , who reported significantly better performance in a similar version of the RAT (Compound Remote Associates Task) 16 .…”

“…This last finding suggests that stimulation of the left DLPFC may also induce higher divergent thinking scores by asking participants to deliberately search for more unusual answers. This additional cognitive demand may increase the need for selectivity 5 , which may be a reason for being positively affected by left DLPFC stimulation.…”

Alternative Strategies for Managing Insomnia: The Case of Physical Exercise and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. A Narrative Review

“…tDCS has been used for multiple health purposes [48][49][50][51][52][53]. Regarding the use of tDCS in insomnia, the role of prefronto-thalamic-cerebellar circuit on cognitive dysfunctions and sleep quality in euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) patients have showed that tDCS (2 mA) for 20 min/day during 3 consecutive weeks applied to left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and right cerebellar cortex improved sleep [54].…”