The association between visual creativity and cortical thickness in healthy adults

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Visual creativity is crucial for human advancement and well-being.
• Previous neuroimaging studies have explored the neural basis of creativity, but the link between cortical structure and visual creativity remains unclear.
• The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is a widely used measure for assessing creative potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between cortical thickness and visual creativity in healthy adults.
• To identify specific brain regions whose structure correlates with visual creative performance.

Main Methods:

• A large sample of 310 healthy adults participated in the study.
• Cortical thickness was measured and analyzed in relation to visual creativity scores obtained from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.
• Multiple regression analysis was employed, controlling for gender, age, and general intelligence.

Main Results:

• Visual creativity showed a significant negative correlation with cortical thickness in several brain regions.
• Specifically, thinner cortex was observed in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right supplementary motor cortex (SMA), and left insula.
• These findings suggest that reduced cortical thickness in these areas is associated with enhanced visual creative abilities.

Conclusions:

• A thinner prefrontal cortex (PFC), including the IFG and MFG, SMA, and insula, corresponds to higher visual creative performance.
• These brain regions are implicated in executive attention, cognitive control, motor planning, and dynamic switching, suggesting their role in visual creativity.
• The study provides novel insights into the structural neural correlates of visual creativity.