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An investigation of the cognitive and neural correlates of semantic memory search related to creative ability

Poster C30 in Poster Session C, Friday, October 7, 10:15 am - 12:00 pm EDT, Millennium Hall

Yoed Kenett¹, Marcela Ovando-Tellez², Mathias Benedek³, Thomas Hills⁴, Sarah Bouanane², Matthieu Bernard², Joan Belo², Theophile Bieth^2,5, Emmanuelle Volle²; ¹Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, ²Sorbonne University, ³University of Graz, ⁴University of Warwick, ⁵Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital

Creative ideas likely result from searching and combining semantic memory knowledge, yet the mechanisms acting on memory to yield creative ideas remain unclear. Here, we identified the neurocognitive correlates of semantic search components related to creative abilities. We designed an associative fluency task based on polysemous words and distinguished two search components related to clustering and switching between the different meanings. Clustering correlated with divergent thinking, while switching correlated with the ability to combine remote associates. Furthermore, switching correlated with semantic memory structure and executive abilities, and was predicted by connectivity between the default, control, and salience networks. In contrast, clustering relied on interactions between control, salience, and attentional networks. Our results suggest that switching captures interactions between memory structure and control processes guiding the search whereas clustering may capture attentional controlled processes for persistent search, and that alternations between exploratory search and focused attention support creativity.

Topic Areas: Meaning: Lexical Semantics, Computational Approaches