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Newswise — Have you ever had the solution for a tough problem suddenly hit you when you’re thinking about something entirely different? Creative thought is a hallmark of humanity, but it’s an ephemeral, almost paradoxical ability, striking unexpectedly when it’s not sought out. And the neurological source of creativity—what’s going on in our brains when we think outside the box—is similarly elusive. But now, a research team led by a University of Utah Health researcher and based in Baylor College of Medicine has used a precise method of brain imaging to unveil how different parts of the brain work together in order to produce creative thought.

Their findings published in BRAIN on June 18. The new results could ultimately help lead to interventions that help spark creative thought or aid people who have mental illnesses that disrupt these regions of the brain. Outside the box Higher cognitive processes like creativity are especially hard to study.



“Unlike motor function or vision, they’re not dependent on one specific location in the brain,” says Ben Shofty, MD, PhD , assistant professor of neurosurgery in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine and senior author on the paper. “There’s not a creativity cortex.” But there’s evidence that creativity is a distinct brain function.

Localized brain injury caused by stroke can lead to changes in creative ability—both positive and negative. That discovery suggests that narrowing down the neurological ba.

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