Creativity involves the subjective valuation of ideas via the Brain Valuation System

Poster Session D - Monday, April 15, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Sarah Moreno Rodriguez¹ (sarahmorenorodriguez@gmail.com), Emmanuelle Volle¹, Alizée Lopez-Persem¹; ¹Paris Brain Institute, INSERM, CNRS, AP-HP, Sorbonne University

Creativity is thought to rely on a generation phase associated with the default-mode network (DMN) and an evaluation phase supported by the executive control network (ECN). In the current study, we aimed to show the involvement of subjective valuation (or preferences) in creativity, as suggested by Lopez-Persem et al. (2023). At the neural level, we wanted to find which regions support these processes during creativity. We conducted creativity tasks, decision-making tasks and fMRI imaging on forty healthy participants. We performed behavioral model fitting and whole-brain parametric modulation analyses. Results show that: (i) the subjective value of an idea depends on its originality and adequacy: value = (𝛼 x originality^δ + (1- 𝛼 ) x adequacy^δ)^(1/δ) (ii) preferences vary between subjects: some value originality more than adequacy (𝛼>0.5) and vice-versa (iii) during the creative process, valuation is supported by the brain valuation system (BVS), a network classically involved in decision-making (iv) surprisingly, originality and adequacy evaluation are respectively supported by the DMN and the ECN and (v) preferences parameters (𝛼 and δ) correlate with real-life creative abilities, as measured by a battery of tests. Overall, we replicate the behavioral results of Lopez-Persem et al. (2023), showing the involvement of subjective valuation in creativity. At the neural level, we demonstrate which regions encode the originality, adequacy and the subjective value of ideas. Overall, this study completes the current understanding of the neurocognitive bases of creativity and demonstrates the involvement of the BVS in creativity.

Topic Area: THINKING: Decision making