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Neural mechanisms underpinning the association between visual arts education and creativity
Jing Teng1,2, Xinuo Qiao2, Kelong Lu3
1Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for the Mental Health and Crisis Intervention of Children and Adolescents, School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
NPJ Science of Learning
|December 9, 2025
Summary
Long-term visual arts education enhances creativity by optimizing brain function. Design majors showed improved creative performance and more efficient, flexible neural network engagement compared to non-design peers.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Art Education
Background:
- Visual arts education is associated with cognitive benefits, but the underlying neural mechanisms of creativity are not fully understood.
- Understanding how sustained engagement in art influences brain function is crucial for educational and therapeutic applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between long-term design-related visual arts education and creative performance.
- To examine the neural mechanisms, specifically brain activity and functional connectivity, associated with creativity in design majors versus non-design majors.
Main Methods:
- A quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching was employed to compare design majors and matched non-design majors.
- Participants completed creative tasks (product design, book cover design) and divergent thinking tasks (Alternative Uses Test, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-figural) while undergoing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recording.
- Analysis included comparing task performance, regional brain activation (fNIRS), functional connectivity, and dynamic network states.
Main Results:
- Design majors demonstrated superior performance on creative and divergent thinking tasks compared to non-design majors.
- Design majors exhibited greater activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during early idea generation.
- Functional connectivity analysis revealed reduced coupling in task-relevant neural circuits for design majors, suggesting enhanced neural efficiency and more flexible dynamic network engagement.
Conclusions:
- Long-term engagement in design-related visual arts education is linked to enhanced creative performance.
- This enhancement appears to be mediated by more efficient and flexible engagement of brain networks, particularly involving the prefrontal cortex.
- Findings suggest that art education can sculpt neural pathways supporting creativity.
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