Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41366220›Full record

ArticleNPJ science of learning2025

Neural mechanisms underpinning the association between visual arts education and creativity.

Jing Teng, Xinuo Qiao, Kelong Lu, Tuo Liu, Xinyue Wang, Zhenni Gao, Tingting Yu, Ning Hao

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ science of learning, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Expanding the toolkit: OPMs for studying the developing brain.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Jing Teng *Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for the Mental Health and Crisis Intervention of Children and Adolescents, School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
Xinuo Qiao *Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Kelong LuSchool of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
Tuo LiuInstitute of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Xinyue WangSchool of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
Zhenni GaoInstitute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
Tingting YuShanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Ning HaoShanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. nhao@psy.ecnu.edu.cn.

Funding

Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Zhejiang Province Y202456822Sino-German (CSC-DAAD) Postdoc Scholarship Program 2021 57575640STI 2030-Major Projects 2021ZD0200500
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Visual arts education has been linked to cognitive and neural benefits, yet the neural mechanisms associated with creativity remain unclear. This study examined how long-term engagement in design-related visual arts education relates to creative performance and brain function. Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching, we compared design majors to matched non-design majors. Participants completed visual art creative tasks (product and book cover design) and divergent thinking tasks (AUT, TTCT-figural) during fNIRS recording. The design group outperformed peers across tasks and showed greater left dorsolateral prefrontal activation during early idea generation, while non-design peers relied more on sensory and motor regions. Functional connectivity revealed reduced coupling within task-relevant circuits, indicating greater neural efficiency. Dynamic network analysis showed design majors spent more time in efficient states and switched between states more flexibly. These findings suggest that design-related visual arts education may support creativity through efficient and flexible brain network engagement.

Identifiers

PMID41366220
PMCPMC12804192

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.