Zhenni Gao

• Sichuan Normal University

This study explored the origins of creative ideas in groups, validating the triple-pathway model of group creative ideation with behavioral and neuroscientific evidence. A total of 123 college student dyads completed a creative ideation task and a contrast task while their brain activity was simultaneously recorded using functional near-infrared sp...

Previous studies tend to focus on two facets of creativity: everyday creativity (little‐C) and actual creative achievement (Big‐C). While little‐C and Big‐C both involve divergent thinking (DT), the role of DT in their relationship remains unclear. Here, we assessed the creativity scores of 64 adults, including the Creative Behavior Inventory (CBI)...

Creativity is a multifaceted cognitive process that can be driven by either malevolent or benevolent intentions, leading to divergent social outcomes. There is still uncertainty about the similarities and differences in the underlying neural activities of creativity associated with malevolent and benevolent intentions. This study investigates how i...

Gestures accent and illustrate our communication. Although previous studies have uncovered the positive effects of gestures on communication, little is known about the specific cognitive functions of different types of gestures, or the instantaneous multi-brain dynamics. Here we used the fNIRS-based hyperscanning technique to track the brain activi...

Levodopa (L-dopa) therapy is the most effective pharmacological treatment for motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, its effect on brain functional network dynamics is still unclear. Here, we recruited 26 PD patients and 24 healthy controls, and acquired their resting-state functional MRI data before (PD-OFF) and after (PD-ON) receivi...

Malevolent creativity (MC) is defined as a manifestation in which people propose to materially, mentally, or physically harm themselves or others in a novel manner. Malevolent creative ideation can be inhibited by high moral emotions (i.e., sympathy, guilt, and shame) and low negative emotions, which promote prosocial behaviors. Given that the righ...

This hyperscanning study aimed to identify a neural coupling profile that distinguishes high-creative group dynamics through functional near infrared spectroscopy. A total of 123 dyads completed one creativity task (alternative uses task, AUT) and contrast task (objective characteristics task). A K-means clustering analysis on AUT performance group...

The Dark Triad has been found to be associated with malevolent creativity (MC) in terms of trait level, and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. Based on the cognitive–affective processing system theory and the existing studies, the current study aimed to explore the internal mechanism between the Dark Triad and MC behavioral tendencies/perfor...

Non-verbal cues tone our communication. Previous studies found that non-verbal factors, such as spatial distance and gaze direction, significantly impact interpersonal communication. However, little is known about the behind multi-brain neural correlates and whether it could affect high-level creative group communication. Here, we provided a new, s...

Malevolent creativity, as one dark side of creativity, refers to manifestations people propose to harm themselves or others materially, mentally, or physically in an innovative way. This study aimed to explore the neural correlates of malevolent creative idea generation using task-based static and dynamic functional connectivity (FC) analysis acros...

This study aimed to explore the neural correlates underlying idea generation during malevolent creativity (MC) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Participants were asked to solve problems during three types of creativity tasks: malevolent creativity task (MCT), benevolent creativity task (BCT), and alternative uses task (AUT). fNI...

An increasing number of studies have found that a few, specific subcortical regions are involved in creative visual divergent thinking. In addition, creative thinking is heavily reliant on the fronto-striatal dopaminergic pathways. This study aimed to explore whether spontaneous fluctuations in the subcortex, which contribute to our creative abilit...

This study aimed to testify whether spontaneous fluctuations in the subcortex contribute to creative divergent thinking. Individuals at high- and low levels of creativity were recruited and the resting-state fMRI data was collected. Seed-wise and dynamic functional connectivity (FC) were used to identify differences between the two groups. The topo...

Abstract Recent research has shown that the cerebellum is involved not only in motor control but also in higher-level activities, which are closely related to creativity. This study aimed to explore the role of the cerebellum in visual divergent thinking based on its intrinsic activity. To this end, we selected the resting-state fMRI data of high-...

Brain neocortex is usually dominated by visual input (with eyes open [EO]), whereas this visual predominance could be reduced by closing eyes. Cutting off visual input from the eyes (with eyes closed [EC]) would also benefit other sensory performance; however, the neural basis underlying the state-switching remains unclear. In this study, we invest...

Visual creative imagery (VCI) manipulation is the key component of visual creativity; however, it remains largely unclear how it occurs in the brain. The present study investigated the brain neural response to VCI manipulation and its relation to intrinsic brain activity. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets related to...

The present study aimed to explore the association between resting-state functional connectivity and creativity ability. Toward this end, the figural Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) scores were collected from 180 participants. Based on the figural TTCT measures, we collected resting-state fMRI data for participants with two different lev...

Previous studies have indicated a tight linkage between resting-state functional connectivity of the human brain and creative ability. This study aimed to further investigate the association between the topological organization of resting-state brain networks and creativity. Therefore, we acquired resting-state fMRI data from 22 high-creativity par...

Creativity is thought to require the flexible reconfiguration of multiple brain regions that interact in transient and complex communication patterns. In contrast to prior emphases on searching for specific regions or networks associated with creative performance, we focused on exploring the association between the reconfiguration of dynamic functi...