title: The association between resting functional connectivity and creativity.
abstract: The analysis of functional connectivity at rest (rFC) enables us to know how brain regions within and between networks interact. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and a creativity test of divergent thinking (DT) to investigate the relationship between creativity measured by DT and rFC. We took the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to be the seed region and investigated correlations across subjects between the score of the DT test and the strength of rFC between the mPFC and other brain regions. Our results showed that the strength of rFC with the mPFC significantly and positively correlated with creativity as measured by the DT test in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). These results showed that higher creativity measured by DT is associated with rFC between the mPFC and the PCC, the key nodes of the default mode network (DMN). Increased rFC between these regions is completely opposite from that is generally expected from the association between higher creativity and reduced deactivation in DMN during an externally directed attention-demanding task shown in our previous study but is similar to the pattern seen in relatives of schizophrenia. These findings are comparable to the previously reported psychological associations between schizotypy and creativity.
authors.affiliation: Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. takehi@idac.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sassa
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagase
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nouchi
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult