Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T11:24:14.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - Brain Aging and Creativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2019

By
Ira S. Fischler  and
Kenneth M. Heilman
Edited by
Kenneth M. Heilman  and
Stephen E. Nadeau
Kenneth M. Heilman
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Stephen E. Nadeau
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Get access

Summary

Creativity is among our greatest human gifts. Scientific interest in creativity goes back at least a century, but only recently have the tools of cognitive neuropsychology and neuroscience been available to explore creativity. In this chapter, we review the stages and processes of creative ability, and how these are instantiated in the brain –in terms of both specific neural regions and anatomically distributed networks. We focus on whether and how creative abilities may decline with aging, and consider how, as we grow older, they may be sustained or even enhanced.

Keywords

creativityagingcognitionbrainnetworkconnectivitydivergent thinkinginsightfrontal lobe
Type
Chapter
Information
Cognitive Changes and the Aging Brain , pp. 188 - 202
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dietrich, A, Kanso, R. A review of EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies of creativity and insight. Psychol Bull 2010; 136: 822–48.Google Scholar
Bronowski, J. Science and Human Values. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.Google Scholar
Heilman, KM, Nadeau, SE, Beversdorf, DO. Creative innovation: Possible brain mechanisms. Neurocase 2003; 9: 369–79.Google Scholar
Heilman, KM. Creativity and the Brain. New York: Psychology Press, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simonton, DK. Quality, quantity and age: The careers of 10 distinguished psychologists. Int J Aging Hum Dev 1985; 21: 241–54.Google Scholar
Simonton, DK. Greatness: Who Makes History and Why? New York: Guilford Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Cohen, GD. The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life. New York: Avon, 2000.Google Scholar
Abra, J. Changes in creativity with age: Data, explanations, and further predictions. Int J Aging Hum Dev 1989; 28: 105–26.Google Scholar
Lehman, HC. Age and Achievement. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953.Google Scholar
Cole, S. Age and scientific performance. Amer J Sociol 1979; 84: 958–77.Google Scholar
Eysenck, HJ. Genius: The Natural History of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Wallas, G. The Art of Thought. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1926.Google Scholar
Sio, UN, Ormerod, TC. Does incubation enhance problem solving? A meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 2009; 135: 94–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ritter, SM, Dijksterhuis, A. Creativity – The unconscious foundations of the incubation period. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8: Article ID 215.Google Scholar
Drago, V, Foster, PS, Heilman, KM, et al. Cyclic alternating pattern in sleep and its relationship to creativity. Sleep Med 2011; 12: 361–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. The Principles of Psychology. New York: Holt, 1890.Google Scholar
Denny-Brown, D, Chambers, RA. The parietal lobe and behavior. Res Publ – Assoc Res Nerv Mental Dis 1958; 36: 35–117.Google Scholar
Luria, AR. Frontal lobe syndrome. In: Vinkin, PJ, Bruyn GW, , eds. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, vol. 2. Amsterdam: North Holland, 1969, 725–57.Google Scholar
Berg, EA. A simple objective technique for measuring flexibility in thinking. J Gen Psychol 1948; 39: 15–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milner, B. Behavioural effects of frontal-lobe lesions in man. Trends Neurosci 1984; 7: 403–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guilford, JP. Creativity: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. J Creative Behav 1967, 1: 3–14.Google Scholar
Torrance, EP. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service, 1974.Google Scholar
Weinberger, DR, Berman, KF, Zec, RF. Physiologic dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia: I. Regional cerebral blood flow evidence. Arch Gen Psychiatr 1986; 43: 114–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlsson, I, Wendt, PE, Risberg, J. On the neurobiology of creativity: Differences in frontal activity between high and low creative subjects. Neuropsychologia 2000; 38: 873–85.Google Scholar
Pandya, DN, Barnes, CL. Architecture and connections of the frontal lobe. In: Perecman, E, ed. The Frontal Lobes Revisited. New York: IRBN Press, 1987, 41–72.Google Scholar
Benedek, M, Jauk, E, Fink, A., et al. To create or to recall? Neural mechanisms underlying the generation of creative new ideas. Neuroimage 2014; 88: 125–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broca, P. Localisation des functions cerebrales siege du language articule. Bull Société d’Anthropol 1863; 4: 200–8.Google Scholar
Lewis, RT. Organic signs, creativity, and personality characteristics of patients following cerebral commissurotomy. Clin Neuropsychol 1979; 1: 29–33.Google Scholar
Bogen, JE, Bogen, GM. Creativity and the corpus callosum. Psychiatr Clin 1988; 11: 293–301.Google Scholar
Moore, DW, Bhadelia, RA, Billings, RL, et al. Hemispheric connectivity and the visual–spatial divergent-thinking component of creativity. Brain Cognit 2009; 70: 267–72.Google Scholar
Takeuchi, H, Taki, Y, Sassa, Y, et al. White matter structures associated with creativity: Evidence from diffusion tensor imaging. Neuroimage 2010; 51: 11–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martindale, C. Creativity and connectionism. In: Smith, SE, Ward, TB, Fink, RA, eds. The Creative Cognition Approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995, 249–68.Google Scholar
Mednick, SA. The associative basis of the creative process. Psychol Rev 1962; 69: 220–32.Google Scholar
Petsche, H. Approaches to verbal, visual and musical creativity by EEG coherence analysis. Int J Psychophys 1996; 24: 145–59.Google Scholar
Jausovec, N, Jausovec, K. Differences in resting EEG related to ability. Brain Topogr 2000; 12: 229–40.Google Scholar
Kounios, J, Fleck, JI, Green, DL, et al. The origins of insight in the resting brain. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46: 281–91.Google Scholar
Gentner, D, Bowdle, B. Metaphor as structure-mapping. In: Gibbs, RW Jr., ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 109–28.Google Scholar
Glucksberg, S. How metaphors create categories – quickly. In Gibbs, RW Jr., ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 67–83.Google Scholar
Lindauer, MS. Aging, Creativity and Art. New York: Plenum, 2003.Google Scholar
Sternberg, RJ, O’Hara, LA. Creativity and intelligence. In: Sternberg, RJ, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, 251–72.Google Scholar
Guilford, JP, Christensen, PW. The one-way relationship between creative potential and IQ. J Creative Behav 1973; 7: 247–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barron, F, Harrington, DM. Creativity, intelligence and personality. Annu Rev Psychol 1981; 32: 439–76.Google Scholar
Catell, RB. The theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment. J Educ Psychol 1963; 54: 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silvia, PJ. Another look at creativity and intelligence: Exploring higher-order models and probable confounds. Pers Indiv Differ 2008; 44: 1012–21.Google Scholar
Lee, CS, Therriault, DJ. The cognitive underpinnings of creative thought: A latent variable analysis exploring the roles of intelligence and working memory in three creative thinking processes. Intelligence 2013; 41: 306–20.Google Scholar
Lee, CS, Therriault, DJ, Fischler, IS, et al. The role of intelligence in creative thinking processes and behavior. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL, 2012 Aug 2–5.Google Scholar
Storandt, M. Age, ability level, and method of administering and scoring the WAIS. J Gerontol 1977; 32: 175–8.Google Scholar
Ryan, JJ, Sattler, JM, Lopez, SJ. Age effects on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III subtests. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2000; 15: 311–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, ZA, Miller, BL. Artistic creativity and dementia. Prog Brain Res 2013; 204: 99–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pakkenberg, B, Pelvig, D, Marner, L, et al. Aging and the human neocortex. Exp Gerontol 2003; 38: 95–9.Google Scholar
Tang, Y, Whitman, GT, Lopez, I, Baloh, RW. Brain volume changes on longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging in normal older people. J Neuroimaging 2001; 11: 393–400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hopper, KD, Patel, S, Cann, TS, et al. The relationship of age, gender, handedness, and sidedness to the size of the corpus callosum. Acad Radiol 1994; 1: 243–8.Google Scholar
Reuter-Lorenz, PA, Stanczak, L. Differential effects of aging on the functions of the corpus callosum. Dev Neuropsychol 2000; 18: 113–37.Google Scholar
Sawyer, K. The cognitive neuroscience of creativity: A critical review. Creativ Res J 2011; 23: 137–54.Google Scholar
Jung, RE, Vartanian, O, eds. The Cambridge Handbook of the Neuroscience of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018.Google Scholar
Beaty, RE, Benedek, M, Silvia, PJ, Schacter, DL. Creative cognition and brain network dynamics. Trends Cognit Neurosci 2016; 20: 87–95.Google Scholar
Bressler, SL, Menon, V. Large-scale brain networks in cognition: Emerging methods and principles. Trends Cognit Neurosci 2010; 14: 277–90.Google Scholar
Fischler, IS, Heilman, KM, Williamson, J. Creative cognition in younger and older participants. Paper presented at the meeting of the Center for Neuropsychological Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, 2015 May 15.Google Scholar
Takeuchi, H, Taki, Y, Nouchi, R, et al. Creative females have larger white matter structures: Evidence from a large sample study. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38: 414–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ridderinkhof, KR, Span, MM, van der Molen, MW. Perseverative behavior and adaptive control in older adults: Performance monitoring, rule induction, and set shifting. Brain Cognit 2002; 49: 382–401.Google Scholar
Mittenberg, W, Seidenberg, M, O’Leary, DS, DiGiulio, DV. Changes in cerebral functioning associated with normal aging. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 1989; 11: 918–32.Google Scholar
Volkow, ND, Logan, J, Fowler, JS, et al. Association between age-related decline in brain dopamine activity and impairment in frontal and cingulate metabolism. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157: 75–80.Google Scholar
Takeuchi, H, Taki, Y, Sassa, Y, et al. Regional gray matter volume of dopamine rich system associate with creativity: Evidence from voxel-based morphology. Neuroimage 2010; 51: 578–85.Google Scholar
Leon, SA, Altmann, L, Abrams, L, et al. Divergent task performance in older adults: Declarative memory or creative potential? Creativ Res J 2014; 26: 21–9.Google Scholar
Olds, J, Milner, P. Positive reinforcement produced by electrical stimulation of septal area and other regions of rat brain. J Comp Physiol Psychol 1954; 47: 419–27.Google Scholar
Rutledge, RB, Smittenaar, P, Zeidman, P, et al. Risk taking for potential reward decreases across the lifespan. Curr Biol 2016; 26: 1634–9.Google Scholar
Deakin, J, Aitken, M, Robbins, T, Sahakian, BJ. Risk taking during decision-making in normal volunteers changes with age. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004; 10: 590–8.Google Scholar
Sternberg, RJ. A triangular theory of creativity. Psychol Aesth Creativ Arts 2018; 12: 50–67.Google Scholar
Sharp, ES, Reynolds, CA, Pedersen, NL, Gatz, M. Cognitive engagement and cognitive aging: Is openness protective? Psychol Aging 2010; 25: 60–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dolcos, F, Rice, HJ, Cabeza, R. Hemispheric asymmetry and aging: Right hemisphere decline or asymmetry reduction? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2002; 26: 819–25.Google Scholar
Koss, E, Haxby, JV, DeCarli, C, et al. Patterns of performance preservation and loss in healthy aging. Dev Neuropsychol 1991; 7: 99–113.Google Scholar
Read, DE. Age-related changes in performance on a visual-closure task. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 1988; 10: 451–66.Google Scholar
Fink, GR, Marshall, JC, Halligan, PW, et al. Hemispheric specialization for global and local processing: The effect of stimulus category. Proc Biol Sci 1997; 264: 487–94.Google Scholar
Gur, RC, Packer, IK, Hungerbuhler, JP, et al. Differences in the distribution of gray and white matter in human cerebral hemispheres. Science 1980; 207: 1226–8.Google Scholar
Denney, NW. Classification criteria in middle and old age. Dev Psychol 1974; 10: 901–6.Google Scholar
Breedin, S, Saffran, EM, Coslett, HB. Reversal of the concreteness effect in a patient with semantic dementia. Cognitive Neuropsychology 1994; 11: 617–60.Google Scholar
Nadeau, SE. The Neural Architecture of Grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Fischler, I. Semantic facilitation without association in a lexical decision task. Mem Cognit 1977; 5: 335–9.Google Scholar
Badham, SP, Estes, Z, Maylor, EA. Integrative and semantic relations equally alleviate age-related associative memory. Psychol Aging 2012; 27: 141–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simon, E. Depth and elaboration of processing in relation to age. J Exp Psychol Hum Learn Mem 1979; 5: 115–24.Google ScholarPubMed
Bonem, EM, Ellsworth, PC, Gonzalez, R. Age differences in risk: Perceptions, intentions and domains. J Behav Dec Making 2015; 28: 317–30.Google Scholar
Faust-Socher, A, Kenett, YN, Cohen, OS, et al. Enhanced creative thinking under dopaminergic therapy in Parkinson disease. Ann Neurol 2014; 75: 935–42.Google Scholar
Huffmeijer, R, IJzendoorn, MH, Bakermans-Kranenburg, MJ. Aging and oxytocin: A call for extending human oxytocin research to aging populations – A mini-review. Gerontology 2013; 59: 32–59.Google Scholar
De Dreu, KW, Baas, M, Roskes, M, et al. Oxytonergic circuitry sustains and enables creative cognition in humans. Soc Cogn Affect Neur 2014; 9: 1159–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chapman, SB, Spence, JS, Aslan, S, Keebler, MW. Enhancing innovation and underlying neural mechanisms via cognitive training in healthy older adults. Front Aging Neurosci 2017; 9: Article ID 314.Google Scholar
Chapman, SB, Mudar, RA. Enhancement of cognitive and neural functions through complex reasoning training: Evidence from clinical and normal populations. Front Sys Neurosci 2014; 8: Article ID 69.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×