The inferior frontal gyrus supports category switching during creative associations: A pattern similarity analysis

Creativity involves the association of distant semantic concepts in memory, yet how the brain supports this associative process remains unclear. When generating multiple associates, people typically engage in either category switching-retrieving successive concepts from different semantic categories (e.g., restaurant and computer in association with the word server)-or category clustering-retrieving exemplars from the same category (e.g., restaurant and waiter). This study aims to characterize the brain activity associated with the generation of creative (remote) associations when switching and clustering. We devised a word association task based on polysemous words (with multiple meanings) requiring the generation of two creative associations, a first remote association and a second one with the instruction to either switch or stay in the same meaning or context as the first one. We administered this task to participants in an fMRI scanner (N = 19). A ROI-based pattern similarity analysis (PSA) revealed that activity in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) differs between switching and clustering. We observed that, during the second creative association compared to generating the first one, switching involves more dissimilar brain patterns than clustering. However, when controlling for semantic distance, only the right IFG maintained significant sensitivity to switching. Our results indicate that when generating successive remote associations, switching induces larger changes in neural patterns than clustering, providing insight into key cognitive mechanisms underlying creativity.