Functional Realignment of Frontoparietal Subnetworks during Divergent Creative Thinking

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Creative cognition is linked to frontoparietal and default brain network functional connectivity.
• Distinct frontoparietal subnetworks (FPCNa, FPCNb) exhibit differential resting-state coupling with the default network (positive for FPCNa, negative for FPCNb).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the functional connectivity dynamics between frontoparietal subnetworks and the default network during a divergent creative thinking task.
• To explore how these interactions relate to individual differences in creative ability.

Main Methods:

• fMRI was used to scan 171 participants during a divergent thinking task and resting-state.
• Functional connectivity analyses examined interactions between frontoparietal subnetworks (FPCNa, FPCNb) and the default network.
• Community detection was employed to analyze network organization.

Main Results:

• Resting-state connectivity patterns were replicated: FPCNa positively coupled, FPCNb negatively coupled with the default network.
• Divergent thinking induced functional connectivity between both FPCNa and FPCNb with the default network.
• FPCNb-default network connectivity strength positively correlated with individual creative ability, indicating a reversal of resting-state anti-correlation.

Conclusions:

• Divergent creative thinking involves dynamic interactions between typically anti-correlated brain networks.
• Cooperation between frontoparietal subnetworks and the default network, particularly FPCNb, is behaviorally relevant for creative cognition.
• These findings highlight the adaptive flexibility of brain network interactions during creative tasks.