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Intelligence and creativity share a common cognitive and neural basis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Frith, E; Elbich, DB; Christensen, AP; Rosenberg, MD; Chen, Q; Kane, MJ; Silvia, PJ; Seli, P; Beaty, RE
Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. General
April 2021

Are intelligence and creativity distinct abilities, or do they rely on the same cognitive and neural systems? We sought to quantify the extent to which intelligence and creative cognition overlap in brain and behavior by combining machine learning of fMRI data and latent variable modeling of cognitive ability data in a sample of young adults (N = 186) who completed a battery of intelligence and creative thinking tasks. The study had 3 analytic goals: (a) to assess contributions of specific facets of intelligence (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence) and general intelligence to creative ability (i.e., divergent thinking originality), (b) to model whole-brain functional connectivity networks that predict intelligence facets and creative ability, and (c) to quantify the degree to which these predictive networks overlap in the brain. Using structural equation modeling, we found moderate to large correlations between intelligence facets and creative ability, as well as a large correlation between general intelligence and creative ability (r = .63). Using connectome-based predictive modeling, we found that functional brain networks that predict intelligence facets overlap to varying degrees with a network that predicts creative ability, particularly within the prefrontal cortex of the executive control network. Notably, a network that predicted general intelligence shared 46% of its functional connections with a network that predicted creative ability-including connections linking executive control and salience/ventral attention networks-suggesting that intelligence and creative thinking rely on similar neural and cognitive systems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

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Published In

Journal of experimental psychology. General

DOI

EISSN

1939-2222

ISSN

0096-3445

Publication Date

April 2021

Volume

150

Issue

4

Start / End Page

609 / 632

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Machine Learning
  • Latent Class Analysis
  • Intelligence
  • Humans
  • Functional Neuroimaging
  • Female
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Frith, E., Elbich, D. B., Christensen, A. P., Rosenberg, M. D., Chen, Q., Kane, M. J., … Beaty, R. E. (2021). Intelligence and creativity share a common cognitive and neural basis. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 150(4), 609–632. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000958
Frith, Emily, Daniel B. Elbich, Alexander P. Christensen, Monica D. Rosenberg, Qunlin Chen, Michael J. Kane, Paul J. Silvia, Paul Seli, and Roger E. Beaty. “Intelligence and creativity share a common cognitive and neural basis.Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 150, no. 4 (April 2021): 609–32. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000958.
Frith E, Elbich DB, Christensen AP, Rosenberg MD, Chen Q, Kane MJ, et al. Intelligence and creativity share a common cognitive and neural basis. Journal of experimental psychology General. 2021 Apr;150(4):609–32.
Frith, Emily, et al. “Intelligence and creativity share a common cognitive and neural basis.Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, vol. 150, no. 4, Apr. 2021, pp. 609–32. Epmc, doi:10.1037/xge0000958.
Frith E, Elbich DB, Christensen AP, Rosenberg MD, Chen Q, Kane MJ, Silvia PJ, Seli P, Beaty RE. Intelligence and creativity share a common cognitive and neural basis. Journal of experimental psychology General. 2021 Apr;150(4):609–632.

Published In

Journal of experimental psychology. General

DOI

EISSN

1939-2222

ISSN

0096-3445

Publication Date

April 2021

Volume

150

Issue

4

Start / End Page

609 / 632

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Machine Learning
  • Latent Class Analysis
  • Intelligence
  • Humans
  • Functional Neuroimaging
  • Female