Using Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation with Concurrent EEG to Examine the Role of Alpha- and Gamma-band Oscillations in Creative Thinking

Poster Session E - Monday, April 15, 2024, 2:30 – 4:30 pm EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Necla Ece Yilmaz¹, Evangelia G. Chrysikou¹; ¹Drexel University

Creative cognition involves the orchestration of various cognitive processes that support the generation of previously non-existent ideas or solutions. Creative problem-solving is often characterized by an interplay between two main processes: creative ideation and idea evaluation. These processes have been shown to represent different states executive control and are generally supported by different large-scale neural networks. With respect to neural dynamics, alpha- and gamma-band oscillations have been reliably associated with the neural mechanisms underlying creative thinking: Alpha-band synchronization has been consistently observed during tasks requiring creative ideation, whereas gamma-band synchronization has been reported predominantly during tasks requiring creative idea evaluation. Previous research has shown that non-invasive brain stimulation techniques offer a way to modulate these specific neuronal dynamics underpinning creative cognition. Despite this, very few studies have manipulated neural synchronization through non-invasive brain stimulation as a tool to enhance creative cognition. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) together with electroencephalography (EEG) over executive control regions to induce targeted neural oscillations during creative thinking. Healthy adult native English speakers participated in a within-subjects study, where they performed a creative ideation task under tACS in (a) the alpha-band range (10Hz), (b) the gamma-band range (40 Hz), or (c) sham stimulation. EEG measures were used to examine the impact of tACS on task-based oscillatory activity. Our analyses revealed results consistent with the facilitatory role of alpha oscillations in creative ideation, thus supporting a potentially causal link between synchronized brain activity and creative cognition.

Topic Area: THINKING: Problem solving