ArticleCommunications biology2025
Dynamic switching between brain networks predicts creative ability.
Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Lower engagement of cognitive control in children on ChatGPT.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2026Article
- Changes in resting-state functional connectivity between large-scale brain networks after an intensive arts intervention for adolescents with depression.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Accelerated DMN-targeted cTBS improves processing speed deficits in schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Comparing Aha! Moments in Problem Solving and Generative Ideation.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Neural Correlates of Extraversion and Trait Creativity: A Graph Theory-Based Whole-Brain Functional Network Modularity Analysis.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Review
- Set-shifting and task-switching make differential contributions to divergent thinking in adolescence.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Accelerated DMN-Targeted cTBS Improves Processing Speed Deficits in Schizophrenia.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Are Adolescents with Higher Openness More Creative Under Stress? The Mediating Role of Stress Perception and Cognitive Flexibility.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Precuneus hyperexcitability mediates inflammatory-driven pain hypersensitivity following sleep disruption: a multimodal neuroimaging study.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Neural mechanisms underpinning the association between visual arts education and creativity.NPJ science of learning · 2025Article
- The transformational power of psychedelics: catalysts for creativity, consciousness, and mental health.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Neural dynamics during the generation and evaluation of creative and non-creative ideas.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Mapping the brain networks underlying creativity enhancement via aesthetic experience.European journal of medical research · 2025Review
- Adaptive proximity to criticality underlies amplification of ultra-slow fluctuations during free recall.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Cognitive and neural mechanisms of mental imagery supporting creative cognition.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Changing cognitive chimera states in human brain networks with age: Variations in cognitive integration and segregation.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Artificial Creativity: from predictive AI to Generative System 3.Frontiers in artificial intelligence · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Creativity is hypothesized to arise from a mental state which balances spontaneous thought and cognitive control, corresponding to functional connectivity between the brain's Default Mode (DMN) and Executive Control (ECN) Networks. Here, we conduct a large-scale, multi-center examination of this hypothesis. Employing a meta-analytic network neuroscience approach, we analyze resting-state fMRI and creative task performance across 10 independent samples from Austria, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States (N = 2433)-constituting the largest and most ethnically diverse creativity neuroscience study to date. Using time-resolved network analysis, we investigate the relationship between creativity (i.e., divergent thinking ability) and dynamic switching between DMN and ECN. We find that creativity, but not general intelligence, can be reliably predicted by the number of DMN-ECN switches. Importantly, we identify an inverted-U relationship between creativity and the degree of balance between DMN-ECN switching, suggesting that optimal creative performance requires balanced brain network dynamics. Furthermore, an independent task-fMRI validation study (N = 31) demonstrates higher DMN-ECN switching during creative idea generation (compared to a control condition) and replicates the inverted-U relationship. Therefore, we provide robust evidence across multi-center datasets that creativity is tied to the capacity to dynamically switch between brain networks supporting spontaneous and controlled cognition.
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