Default and Executive Network Coupling Leads to Higher Creative Thinking: A Neurofeedback Study
Open Access
- Author:
- White, Ryan
- Area of Honors:
- Interdisciplinary in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Roger Beaty, Thesis Supervisor
Justin Lee Brown, Thesis Honors Advisor
Sonia Angele Cavigelli, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- fNIRS
neurofeedback
functional connectivity
default mode network
executive control network
creativity - Abstract:
- Creativity is a widely studied yet poorly understood phenomenon of the human brain. Several methods have been used to study creative cognition on a neural level, but few have been successful at identifying a specific mechanism of action. Recent work involving divergent thinking tasks has identified a promising lead in creativity neuroscience which suggests that neural coupling between two commonly anti-correlated brain networks, the default mode network (DMN) and the executive control network (ECN) may be largely implicated in creative cognition through a dual-process model. The purpose of this project is to determine a causal relationship between DMN-ECN functional connectivity and creative cognition using a neurofeedback training program. Participants were tested on consecutive days using the go/no-go task and the alternative uses task (AUT). During the first session, participants completed these tasks and either a neurofeedback training task or a sham neurofeedback task. During the second session, participants only repeated the go/no-go task and the AUT. Statistical analysis revealed that participants who underwent the neurofeedback training task exhibited significantly higher levels of DMN-ECN neural coupling during the AUT in the second session. These neural changes were accompanied by significant increases in mean originality ratings of responses generated in the AUT when compared to ratings from the first session. There was no apparent effect on reaction time observed in the go/no-go task nor the AUT between sessions for the experimental group, but the control group showed significantly decreased mean reaction time in both tasks. Cumulatively, these effects provide support for the role of DMN-ECN neural coupling in creative cognition.