Baseline Measures of EEG Power as Correlates of the Verbal and Nonverbal Components of Creativity and Intelligence

Intense studies of the neurophysiological correlates of creativity in recent years have identified a connection between baseline brain activity (including the DMN (default mode network)) and measures of creativity. However, the specific components of this activity determining high levels of verbal and nonverbal creativity and the importance of intellectual abilities for successful solution of experimental creative tasks still remain unclear. The balance in the baseline activity of the frontal and rear parts of the cortex may reflect individual problem-solving style while oscillations in different frequency ranges may serve as indicators of this balance. We analyzed the frequency-spatial organization of the baseline EEG and identified power differences in the δ, θ, α2, and β2 rhythms in groups differing in terms of measures of the originality of responses on testing for verbal and nonverbal creativity. Higher creative capacities corresponded to higher power levels of low-frequency biopotentials in the frontal parts of the cortex and decreases in α-rhythm power in the rear sectors. “Pretuning” of cortical activity to verbal originality was apparent mainly in the temporal and central-parietal areas of the cortex, and pretuning to imaginal originality was apparent for the parietal-occipital areas. The contribution of the visuospatial component of intelligence to changes in cortical activity linked with imaginal creativity was greater in the δ and α2 rhythms, while the contribution of the verbal component of intelligence to “pretuning” of cortical neural systems to verbal creativity was greater in the θ and β2 ranges. Thus, analysis of the frequency-spatial organization of cerebral cortical activity may be a useful tool for detecting the role of intellectual abilities and emotional-motivational regulation in the formation of different strategies for achieving high levels of creativity. © 2022, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.