title: Pictionary-based fMRI paradigm to study the neural correlates of spontaneous improvisation and figural creativity.
abstract: A novel game-like and creativity-conducive fMRI paradigm is developed to assess the neural correlates of spontaneous improvisation and figural creativity in healthy adults. Participants were engaged in the word-guessing game of Pictionary(TM), using an MR-safe drawing tablet and no explicit instructions to be "creative". Using the primary contrast of drawing a given word versus drawing a control word (zigzag), we observed increased engagement of cerebellum, thalamus, left parietal cortex, right superior frontal, left prefrontal and paracingulate/cingulate regions, such that activation in the cingulate and left prefrontal cortices negatively influenced task performance. Further, using parametric fMRI analysis, increasing subjective difficulty ratings for drawing the word engaged higher activations in the left pre-frontal cortices, whereas higher expert-rated creative content in the drawings was associated with increased engagement of bilateral cerebellum. Altogether, our data suggest that cerebral-cerebellar interaction underlying implicit processing of mental representations has a facilitative effect on spontaneous improvisation and figural creativity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saggar
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Eve-Marie
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Quintin
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305 [2] Pacific Graduate School of Psychology-Stanford University Psy.D. Consortium, 1791 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.
authors.forename: Eliza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kienitz
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305 [2] Pacific Graduate School of Psychology-Stanford University Psy.D. Consortium, 1791 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.
authors.forename: Nicholas T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Bott
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305 [2] Brain and Language Lab, School of English for International Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, 510420.China.
authors.forename: Zhaochun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chen
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305 [2] Taipei City Hospital, Zhong-Xing Branch, No. 145, Datong Rd, 10341, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yin-hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 420, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.affiliation: Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, Stanford University, Building 550, 416 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Royalty
authors.affiliation: Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, Stanford University, Building 550, 416 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hawthorne
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305 [2] Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Road, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: Allan L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Reiss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis