The findings are based on a study of nearly 900 men and women who underwent functional MRI scans of their brains. During the scans, the participants engaged in a variety of creative tasks, including drawing, music, writing, and more. The resulting data helped map the neural circuits involved in creative thinking. The findings are published on the Brigham and Women's Hospital website.
"Complex forms of human behavior, such as creativity, are not associated with specific areas of the brain, but are associated with brain circuits. Now we know which ones," the scientists commented.
Interestingly, some of the volunteers had neurodegenerative diseases or traumatic brain injuries. As part of the experiment, the scientists also sought to find out how injuries and diseases affect creativity. The result was quite unexpected: if the disease or TBI affected the target brain circuit, then the creativity of these volunteers was higher.
There are known cases of active creativity in some people precisely after the development of neurological diseases. Now the first explanations are emerging as to why this happens.
The findings provide a better understanding of the creative nature of humans and open up new possibilities in studying the brain.
In another study, scientists previously found that gut bacteria influence brain function. It turned out that they can cause profound molecular changes in the brain and disrupt the functioning of proteins.