Creativity

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of some key background issues and recent trends in the experimental and cognitive neuroscience study of creativity. Despite its status as a hallmark of higher order thinking, research on creativity has not progressed with the same rigor as the study of other aspects of human cognition. Among the challenges for creativity researchers are concerns with the operational definition and measurement of this seemingly elusive ability. Research on the neurocognitive bases of creative thinking suggests that creativity is highly multifaceted and requires intricate interhemispheric interactions among a widely distributed network of brain regions. Recent theoretical and methodological perspectives highlight the importance of moving away from approaching creativity as a unitary construct, synonymous to the abstract concept of divergent thinking. Instead, they focus on specific cognitive and neural processes underlying creative thought, which may rely on trade‐offs between spontaneous and regulatory brain networks.

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

“…Creative cognition—cognition manifesting in ideas that are both novel and useful (Barron, 1955 ; Runco and Jaeger, 2012 )—comprises two primary processes: (1) idea generation; and (2) idea selection (Christoff et al, 2001 ; Smallwood, 2014 ; Beaty et al, 2016 ; Chrysikou, in press ). Assessments of creativity sometimes examine elements of both of these processes, yet several creativity tasks rely more heavily on one process over the other.…”