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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
A rostral prefrontal mediolateral gradient predicts creativity in frontotemporal dementia
Victor Altmayer1,2, Marcela Ovando-Tellez1, Théophile Bieth1,2
1Sorbonne University, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, FrontLab, Inserm, CNRS, AP-HP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
Creative thinking involves generating and combining ideas, supported by brain networks. The rostromedial PFC aids idea generation, while the rostrolateral PFC combines them, with both crucial for overall creativity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Creative thinking relies on integrating and reconfiguring knowledge.
- The default mode network (DMN) and executive control network (ECN) support creative processes.
- The rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a proposed hub for DMN-ECN interaction in creativity.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the distinct roles of medial and lateral rostral PFC in creative cognition.
- Examine creative thinking in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) as a model.
- Characterize functional connectivity within the rostral PFC and its relation to creativity.
Main Methods:
- Employed whole-brain voxel-based morphometry to identify critical brain regions.
- Utilized resting-state functional connectivity and gradient mapping techniques.
- Assessed generation and combination of remote semantic associations and overall creative abilities.
Main Results:
- Rostromedial PFC is critical for generating remote semantic associations.
- Rostrolateral PFC is critical for combining semantic associates.
- A mediolateral functional gradient in rostral PFC segregates DMN and ECN connectivity, predicting creative abilities.
Conclusions:
- The rostral PFC's subdivisions play distinct roles in creative processes.
- Functional connectivity within the rostral PFC, along a DMN-ECN gradient, underpins creative cognition.
- Findings offer insights into creativity and its disruption in bvFTD.
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