The Interaction Between Intelligence and Creativity at the Neural Level
Arman Bordbar
Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Biology - Neurobiology, grade: 7/10, University of Trento, language: English, abstract: Intelligence and creativity are two complementary ability of thinking whose combination forms the foundation of adaptive thinking developed during the history of human evolution. These two fundaments of adaptive thinking have some characteristics which raise the question of whether they interact at the neural level. The divergent attribute of creative thinking versus convergent property of intelligent thinking can be an example. Another question regards to developing both abilities and how brain anatomy can support this possibility. The present study tries to investigate this interaction and explain how brain connectivity can be associated with one ability taking into account the other one. Thirtynine adults participated while intelligence and creativity measured through inferential and creative thinking scales of ASK test. To evaluate the brain connectivity, DTI was applied, and FA (Fractional Anisotropy) values have been analyzed through TBSS (Tract-based Spatial Statistics) protocol. The results support the idea that developing both thinking abilities is associated with less connectivity of some brain areas which up to a threshold, their connections support the development of each skill.
