Cerebellum and Creativity

Cerebellum and Creativity

ping Mani Saint-Victor 

Originally shared by ****

Historically, the cerebellum has been thought of as part of the brain's movement control center, but a new study in Scientific Reports from investigators at Stanford University reveals that the cerebellum plays an important role in creative problem solving. The researchers asked participants to play a version of the game 'Pictionary' and draw words like "vote" and "salute" for other players to guess. In the control condition, they were asked to draw zigzag lines, an activity that required lots of motor control but not much creativity. Their brains were scanned using fMRI during both processes, and the researchers measured the Pictionary drawings for both accuracy and creativity. High creativity scores were associated with increased activity in the cerebellum but decreased activity in the brain's executive control centers. The researchers believe that these results show that not only do the brain's 'higher' executive functions inhibit creativity, but the cerebellum may help coordinate activity throughout the brain. Read more: bit.ly/1HUrIn2

Publication: Pictionary-based fMRI paradigm to study the neural correlates of spontaneous improvisation and figural creativity. Scientific Reports, 2015. doi:10.1038/srep10894
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