Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the bilateral IFG alters cognitive processes during creative...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Creativity is a complex cognitive function.
• The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) plays a role in creative processes.
• Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like tDCS offer a way to investigate neural mechanisms of cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) on the cognitive processes and neural underpinnings of creativity.
• To determine how different tDCS protocols impact performance on a creativity task (compound remote associates - CRA).

Main Methods:

• Participants underwent three tDCS conditions: left cathodal/right anodal (L+R-), right cathodal/left anodal (L-R+), and Sham.
• Performance on the CRA task was analyzed based on semantic trial features.
• Task-related functional connectivity was modeled using 80 prediction models for each group.

Main Results:

• L+R- tDCS improved performance on CRA trials with high semantic similarity.
• L-R+ tDCS enhanced performance on CRA trials with greater semantic distance.
• Alpha-band functional connectivity models in the L+R- group showed poorer performance and increased left frontal lateralization.

Conclusions:

• tDCS targeting the bilateral IFG can alter cognitive processes involved in creative ideation.
• The effects of tDCS depend on the stimulation protocol and the semantic characteristics of the creative task.
• These findings suggest tDCS modulates, rather than enhances or impairs, established creative thinking processes.