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. 2015 Aug 11:6:1195.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01195. eCollection 2015.

Where do bright ideas occur in our brain? Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies of domain-specific creativity

Maddalena Boccia  1 , Laura Piccardi  2 , Liana Palermo  3 , Raffaella Nori  4 , Massimiliano Palmiero  5
Affiliations

Where do bright ideas occur in our brain? Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies of domain-specific creativity

Maddalena Boccia et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Many studies have assessed the neural underpinnings of creativity, failing to find a clear anatomical localization. We aimed to provide evidence for a multi-componential neural system for creativity. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 45 fMRI studies. Three individual ALE analyses were performed to assess creativity in different cognitive domains (Musical, Verbal, and Visuo-spatial). The general ALE revealed that creativity relies on clusters of activations in the bilateral occipital, parietal, frontal, and temporal lobes. The individual ALE revealed different maximal activation in different domains. Musical creativity yields activations in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus, in the left cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule and in the right postcentral and fusiform gyri. Verbal creativity yields activations mainly located in the left hemisphere, in the prefrontal cortex, middle and superior temporal gyri, inferior parietal lobule, postcentral and supramarginal gyri, middle occipital gyrus, and insula. The right inferior frontal gyrus and the lingual gyrus were also activated. Visuo-spatial creativity activates the right middle and inferior frontal gyri, the bilateral thalamus and the left precentral gyrus. This evidence suggests that creativity relies on multi-componential neural networks and that different creativity domains depend on different brain regions.

Keywords: creativity; divergent thinking; executive functions; idea generation; musical improvisation; open-ended problems; verbal processing; visuo-spatial processing.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Results of general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on creativity.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Results of single ALE meta-analysis on studies assessing Musical (green patches), Verbal (blue patches), and Visuo-spatial (red patches) creativity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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