The interplay between spontaneous and controlled processing in creative cognition

Leh Woon Mok

Neural studies of creativity have yielded relatively little consistent results. For example, in functional neuroanatomical studies, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has often been implicated as a critical neural substrate. However, results in electrophysiological (EEG) studies have been inconsistent as to the role of the PFC. EEG results have more often implicated widespread alpha synchronization, particularly in posterior regions, in creative cognition. Recent fMRI evidence has indicated that the PFC may be activated as a part of and together with other components of a deliberate control brain network. Controlled processing is neurologically dissociated from, but may co-occur with, spontaneous cognition mediated by a subset of the default-mode network (e.g., the angular gyrus [BA 39] in the posterior parietal cortex, which has been increasingly implicated in creative cognition). When the demand for controlled processing is substantially increased, default-mode processing may be suppressed. There is now preliminary evidence to suggest an association between alpha synchronization and default-mode processing. Creative cognition likely emerges from an optimal balance between spontaneous processing and controlled processing.