Functional Realignment of Frontoparietal Subnetworks during Divergent Creative Thinking

Abstract

Creative cognition has been consistently associated with functional connectivity between frontoparietal control and default networks. However, recent research identified distinct connectivity dynamics for subnetworks within the larger frontoparietal system—one subnetwork (FPCNa) shows positive coupling with the default network and another subnetwork (FPCNb) shows negative default coupling—raising questions about how these networks interact during creative cognition. Here we examine frontoparietal subnetwork functional connectivity in a large sample of participants (n = 171) who completed a divergent creative thinking task and a resting-state scan during fMRI. We replicated recent findings on functional connectivity of frontoparietal subnetworks at rest: FPCNa positively correlated with the default network and FPCNb negatively correlated with the default network. Critically, we found that divergent thinking evoked functional connectivity between both frontoparietal subnetworks and the default network, but in different ways. Using community detection, we found that FPCNa regions showed greater coassignment to a default network community. However, FPCNb showed overall stronger functional connectivity with the default network—reflecting a reversal of negative connectivity at rest—and the strength of FPCNb-default network connectivity correlated with individual creative ability. These findings provide novel evidence of a behavioral benefit to the cooperation of typically anticorrelated brain networks.

An investigation of the cognitive and neural correlates of semantic memory search related to creative ability

“…This finding is consistent with the behavioral findings suggesting that interactions between associative and control processes support flexible search in memory. This interpretation is also in line with previous neuroimaging findings showing that DMN-ECN interactions reflect the top-down regulation of spontaneous and self-generated forms of cognition, with ECN guiding and constraining the DMN-related generative processes 15,89,124,125 . Their link with the salience network may allow them to trigger the switching between the engagement of controlled and associative modes of thought, supported by ECN and DMN, respectively 13,89,125,126 .…”

A voice without a mouth no more: The neurobiology of language and consciousness

“…Among other support for this proposal, a temporal connectivity analysis for novel metaphor production (a language task) shows that the 'default' and 'executive/cognitive control' networks are initially decoupled and then become coupled at later stages in processing (Beaty et al, 2017). Of the ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, the former includes the inferior frontal gyrus and shows stronger functional connectivity with the default network during creativity tasks involving verbal responses (Beaty et al, 2021). The inferior frontal gyrus has long been HOLISTIC Model 38 associated with verbal selection among competing alternatives (Hagoort, 2013;Lau et al, 2008;Moss et al, 2005;Skipper et al, 2007a;Thompson-Schill et al, 1997;Wang et al, 2021).…”

A voice without a mouth no more: The neurobiology of language and consciousness

“…Among other support for this proposal, a temporal connectivity analysis for novel metaphor production (a language task) shows that the default and executive/cognitive control networks are initially decoupled and then become coupled at later stages in processing (Beaty et al, 2017). Of the ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, the former includes the inferior frontal gyrus and shows stronger functional connectivity with the default network during creativity tasks involving verbal responses (Beaty et al, 2021). The inferior frontal gyrus has long been associated with verbal selection among competing alternatives (Hagoort, 2013;Lau et al, 2008;Moss et al, 2005;Skipper et al, 2007;Thompson-Schill et al, 1997;Wang et al, 2021).…”