A meta‐analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of divergent thinking using activation likelihood estimation

• Published in: Human brain mapping Vol. 41; no. 17; pp. 5057 - 5077
• Main Authors: Cogdell‐Brooke, Lucy S., Sowden, Paul T., Violante, Inês R., Thompson, Hannah E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-12-2020
• Subjects: Activation analysis; ALE; Brain; Brain mapping; Cerebellum; Creativity; divergent; fMRI; Frontal gyrus; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical imaging; Meta-analysis; Neuroimaging; Parietal lobe; Precentral gyrus; Review; semantic control network; Semantics; Shamans; meta-analysis; fMRI; semantic control network; ALE; divergent
• ISSN: 1065-9471; 1097-0193
• DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25170

There are conflicting findings regarding brain regions and networks underpinning creativity, with divergent thinking tasks commonly used to study this. A handful of meta‐analyses have attempted to synthesise findings on neural mechanisms of divergent thinking. With the rapid proliferation of research and recent developments in fMRI meta‐analysis approaches, it is timely to reassess the regions activated during divergent thinking creativity tasks. Of particular interest is examining the evidence regarding large‐scale brain networks proposed to be key in divergent thinking and extending this work to consider the role of the semantic control network. Studies utilising fMRI with healthy participants completing divergent thinking tasks were systematically identified, with 20 studies meeting the criteria. Activation Likelihood Estimation was then used to integrate the neuroimaging results across studies. This revealed four clusters: the left inferior parietal lobe; the left inferior frontal and precentral gyrus; the superior and medial frontal gyrus and the right cerebellum. These regions are key in the semantic network, important for flexible retrieval of stored knowledge, highlighting the role of this network in divergent thinking.
A meta‐analysis of fMRI studies into divergent thinking, with a comparison to default mode, multiple demand and semantic control networks. This found four clusters; the left inferior parietal lobe; the left inferior frontal and precentral gyrus; the superior and medial frontal gyrus and the right cerebellum. The largest overlap is with the semantic control network, highlighting the role of this network in divergent thinking.