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The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity
1Centre for Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar, India.
Journal of Experimental Neuroscience
|November 20, 2018
Summary
Design cognition involves solving vague problems, a skill not fully understood. Neuroscience studies reveal unique brain networks for design creativity, distinct from other creative processes.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Design Studies
Background:
- Design cognition is a complex human ability involving multi-faceted skills for ill-structured problem-solving.
- The cognitive processes underlying design creativity are not completely understood.
- Cognitive neuroscience approaches to studying design creativity are emerging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate defining features of design creativity.
- To highlight cognitive neuroscience studies on design creativity and underlying brain networks.
- To argue for design creativity as a unique subset of creativity.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing cognitive neuroscience studies.
- Analysis of experiments using ill-structured tasks.
- Utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.
Main Results:
- Design creativity involves unique cognitive skills for ill-defined problems.
- Neuroimaging studies show distinct brain networks for design creativity.
- These networks partially overlap with those of other creative domains.
Conclusions:
- Design creativity utilizes partially unique neural networks compared to other creative endeavors.
- Further research using real-world design processes is needed.
- Design creativity should be studied as a distinct cognitive ability.
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