Neuroscientists have identified a large neural network in the brain that is key to maintaining each individual’s creativity.
Unlike reactions related to movement and sensation, an individual’s creative thinking does not reside in a specific part of the cortex. A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, USA, has discovered neural pathways that are essential for certain forms of creativity.
Electrodes of the default network in the brain (Photo: Bartoli, Brain).
In their research experiment, volunteers had their brains stimulated deeply to temporarily inhibit specific parts of the default mode network (DMN). As a result, they lost the ability to think of anything new.
The DMN is activated when the mind freely transitions from one thought to another and can generate new ideas, creating connections between “seemingly fantastical concepts” to produce novel and unique ideas or solutions in a natural and unrestricted manner.
Previous studies had linked DMN activity with creative thoughts, but in 2022, neurosurgeon Ben Shofty at Tel Aviv University in Israel and his colleagues became the first to establish a causal relationship between DMN activity and creative thoughts.
During the removal of brain tumors from awake volunteer patients, scientists observed that inhibiting DMN activity blocked the creative flow in these patients’ brains. They could no longer think of new ways to use familiar everyday objects like chairs or cups, only using them as they had in the past.
Working with a research team at the University of Utah, USA, Professor Shofty and his group demonstrated similar results in volunteers participating in deep brain stimulation experiments using implanted electrodes.
Unlike fMRI studies that only monitor brain activity through blood oxygen flow and EEG that directly measures the electrical activity of neurons, the new experiment implanted electrodes directly into the brain, making it much more sensitive than surface electrodes on the skull.
The dots indicate the positions of all implanted electrodes in the patient’s brain, colored according to different brain regions. The red dots in the image below represent the positions of electrodes in the DMN (Photo: Bartoli, Devara, Brain).
Patients with epilepsy who had electrodes implanted in their brains were asked to come up with new uses for everyday objects within one minute.
Professor Shofty noted that by monitoring through the electrodes, researchers could observe what happens in the first milliseconds when the brain tries to generate creative thoughts. The DMN is the first part of the brain to be activated. Shortly thereafter, this network synchronizes its activity with other brain regions, such as those involved in problem-solving and decision-making.
According to Professor Shofty, this is a sign that the DMN is retrieving and filtering various types of information to generate novel ideas before sending them for evaluation by other brain regions involved in critical thinking.
This “top-down” awareness allows the brain to analyze through disparate associations and select new, useful thoughts.
These new findings help scientists explain why activities like taking a shower and allowing the mind to “wander” can be very beneficial for generating new ideas and solutions.
During the experiment, some parts of the DMN were closely linked with peripheral thinking, while other parts were more strongly connected with wandering thoughts. Temporarily inhibiting parts of the DMN associated with peripheral thinking made it difficult for patients to come up with new uses for everyday objects. However, their wandering thoughts remained intact.
The research team concluded that the electrode implantation method yielded better results than comparative methods, confirming the causal role of the DMN in the brain’s creative thinking.
