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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 30, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities

Published on: September 11, 2021

Evaluative and generative modes of thought during the creative process.

Melissa Ellamil¹, Charles Dobson, Mark Beeman

¹Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. melissa@psych.ubc.ca

|August 23, 2011

Summary

Creative thinking involves generating novel ideas and evaluating their usefulness. This study used fMRI to show distinct brain regions for idea generation (medial temporal lobe) and evaluation (executive and default networks).

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 30, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities

Published on: September 11, 2021

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Brain Imaging

Background:

Creativity is theorized to involve distinct idea generation and evaluation processes.
Understanding the neural basis of these creative components is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To differentiate the neural correlates of creative idea generation and evaluation using fMRI.
To investigate the brain networks supporting distinct phases of the creative process.

Main Methods:

Utilized a novel fMRI paradigm with an fMRI-compatible drawing tablet.
Participants alternated between generating and evaluating ideas for book cover designs.
Analyzed brain activity and functional connectivity during creative tasks.

Main Results:

Creative idea generation preferentially activated medial temporal lobe regions.
Creative evaluation involved executive and default brain networks, including the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, insula, and temporopolar cortex.
Positive functional connectivity was observed between executive and default regions during the task.

Conclusions:

The medial temporal lobe is central to generating novel ideas.
Creative evaluation involves both analytical executive functions and spontaneous affective/viscerosensory processes from default and limbic regions.
Creative thinking recruits a unique neural configuration distinct from traditional problem-solving tasks.