Enhancement of Divergent Creative Thinking After Transcranial Near-Infrared Photobiomodulation Over the Default Mode Network
J. Peña, M. Muthalib, R. Beaty, A. Sampedro, N. Ibarretxe-Bilbao, L. Zubiaurre-Elorza, M. A. García-Guerrero, I. Cortázar, M. Niso, N. Ojeda
Creativity Research Journal June 11, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2023.2219953 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Single-blind randomized between-subjects experiment Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 58 |
| Population | Healthy participants |
| Intervention | Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) |
| Dose | 810 nm, 40 Hz, 50% duty cycle, 240 J/cm2 in total, 20 min |
| Duration | 20 min stimulation session; assessments before (baseline) and after tPBM |
| Measures | Unusual Uses (UU), Picture Completion (PC), Remote Associates test (RAT) |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | tPBM over the default mode network produced significantly higher post-stimulation scores than sham on total Unusual Uses, Picture Completion, and total divergent thinking after controlling for baseline. No effect was found on convergent thinking as measured by the Remote Associates test, which the authors interpret as a specific link between the default mode network and divergent thinking. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) has been used for cognitive enhancement in healthy people. However, its effect on creativity has not been investigated. The default mode network (DMN) is associated with divergent thinking (DT; but not convergent thinking, CT), and also with anxiety, which in turn has been negatively related to creativity. We aimed to use tPBM over the DMN to assess the effect on DT compared to sham. Additionally, we assessed the possible mediating effect of anxiety between tPBM and DT. In this single-blind, between-subjects study, 58 healthy participants were randomly assigned to tPBM or sham group. tPBM was applied using near-infrared light (810 nm, 40 Hz; 50% duty cycle), through light-emitting diode devices combining transcranial plus intranasal PBM over the cortical nodes of the DMN for 20 min (240 J/cm2 in total). DT and CT were assessed before (baseline) and after tPBM with the Unusual Uses (UU), Picture Completion (PC) and Remote Associates test (RAT). ANCOVA (post-stimulation controlling for baseline) results showed that tPBM group had significantly higher scores compared to sham in total UU, PC, and total DT. tPBM may be effective for DT enhancement. The lack of effect on CT reveals a specific link between DMN and DT.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Ketamine Decreases Resting State Functional Network Connectivity in Healthy Subjects: Implications for Antidepressant Drug Action Healthy subjects | 2012 | Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover rsfMRI challenge | |
| Antidepressants Normalize the Default Mode Network in Patients With Dysthymia Subjects with dysthymic disorder and healthy control participants aged 18 to 53 years | 2013 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Functional Connectivity Measures After Psilocybin Inform a Novel Hypothesis of Early Psychosis Healthy volunteers | 2012 | Within-subject, placebo-controlled experimental study | n = 15 |