tDCS Anodal Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Improves Creative Performance in Real-World Problem Solving

Abstract

Brain regions associated with creativity is a focal point in research related to the field of cognitive neuroscience. Previous studies have paid more attention to the role of activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in creativity tasks, which are mostly abstract conceptual tasks, and less attention to real-world creativity tasks. The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in functions such as visuospatial processing, which may have a positive impact on innovative solutions to real-world problems. In this study, tDCS technology was used to explore the effect of anodal stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on design creativity performance in a real-word problem-solving task related to product design. The experimental task comprised three stages, of which the first two were idea generation stages based on divergent thinking using text and graphics, respectively, whereas the third was the creative evaluation stage based on convergent thinking. Thirty-six design students were recruited to partake in the experiment. They were randomly assigned into anodal stimulation and sham stimulation groups. The results showed that anodal stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex produced a significant positive effect during the creative evaluation stage, promoting the usefulness of ideas (p = 0.009); thus, improving product creativity scores. However, there was no significant impact on the idea generation stage (p > 0.05), which is dominated by divergent thinking. The results suggest that activating the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with tDCS can improve people's performance in creative activities by promoting convergent thinking rather than divergent thinking. It also provides further evidence that the right hemisphere of the brain has an advantage in solving complex problems that require the participation of visuospatial information.

Keywords: convergent thinking; creativity; design; divergent thinking; right DLPFC; tDCS.

Figure 1

Electrode configuration and current flow in the cathodal tDCS group. Pictures are executed using the software Neuroelectrics^® Instrument Controller (NIC, version 2.1.0).

Figure 2

Experimental procedure.

Figure 3

Design method and design example.