Major
Psychology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2024
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Creative thinking involves generating and evaluating new ideas in response to problems. Generation of new ideas, or divergent thinking has recently been shown to be associated with activity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain. In this project we attempted to demonstrate the causal role of the DMN in divergent thinking by using α-tACS to stimulate alpha brain waves in Posterior Cingulate Cortex and enhance DMN connectivity while participants completed an array of creativity tasks. Resting state EEG was recorded before and after stimulation to determine whether changes in brain activity mediated the relationship between stimulation and creativity.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Robert G. Morrison, Department of Psychology; Dr. George K. Thiruvathukal, Department of Computer Science
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Enhancing Creativity Through Stimulation of the Default Mode Network: Experimental Neuroscience and Computational Methods
Creative thinking involves generating and evaluating new ideas in response to problems. Generation of new ideas, or divergent thinking has recently been shown to be associated with activity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain. In this project we attempted to demonstrate the causal role of the DMN in divergent thinking by using α-tACS to stimulate alpha brain waves in Posterior Cingulate Cortex and enhance DMN connectivity while participants completed an array of creativity tasks. Resting state EEG was recorded before and after stimulation to determine whether changes in brain activity mediated the relationship between stimulation and creativity.