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Plasticity of the resting-state brain: static and dynamic functional connectivity change induced by divergent thinking training

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Abstract

Creativity is very important and is linked to almost all areas of our everyday life. Improving creativity brings great benefits. Various strategies and training paradigms have been used to stimulate creative thinking. These training approaches have been confirmed to be effective. However, whether or not training can reshape the resting-state brain is still unclear. The present study examined whether or not the divergent thinking training intervention can reshape the resting-state brain functional connectivity (FC). Static seed-based and dynamic approaches were used to explore this problem. Results demonstrate significant changes in static and dynamic FCs. FCs, such as dorsal anterior cingulate cortex-inferior parietal lobule, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex-precuneus and left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, was significantly improved through the training. Furthermore, the temporal variability of the supplementary motor area and middle temporal gyrus was improved. These results indicate that divergent thinking training may lead to resting-state brain plasticity. Considering the role of these regions in brain networks, the present study further confirms the close relationship between the brain networks’ dynamic interactions and divergent thinking processes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470981; 31571137; 31500885; 31600878; 31771231), Project of the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Special Zone, Chang Jiang Scholars Program, National Outstanding Young People Plan, the Program for the Top Young Talents by Chongqing, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU1709568, SWU1609177), the Postgraduate Science Innovation Foundation of Chongqing (CYB18109), Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (cstc2015jcyjA10106), Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation (151023), the Research Program Funds of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality at Beijing Normal University.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Jiangzhou Sun, Qinglin Zhang, Yu Li, Jie Meng, Qunlin Chen, Wenjing Yang, Dongtao Wei & Jiang Qiu

  2. Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No.2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Jiangzhou Sun, Qinglin Zhang, Yu Li, Jie Meng, Qunlin Chen, Wenjing Yang, Dongtao Wei & Jiang Qiu

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  1. Jiangzhou Sun
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  2. Qinglin Zhang
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  3. Yu Li
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Sun, J., Zhang, Q., Li, Y. et al. Plasticity of the resting-state brain: static and dynamic functional connectivity change induced by divergent thinking training. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14, 1498–1506 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00077-9

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