Many studies have assessed the neural underpinnings of creativity, failing to find a clear anatomical localization. We aimed to provide evidence for a multi-componential neural system for creativity. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 45 fMRI studies. Three individual ALE analyses were performed to assess creativity in different cognitive domains (Musical, Verbal, and Visuo-spatial). The general ALE revealed that creativity relies on clusters of activations in the bilateral occipital, parietal, frontal, and temporal lobes. The individual ALE revealed different maximal activation in different domains. Musical creativity yields activations in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus, in the left cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule and in the right postcentral and fusiform gyri. Verbal creativity yields activations mainly located in the left hemisphere, in the prefrontal cortex, middle and superior temporal gyri, inferior parietal lobule, postcentral and supramarginal gyri, middle occipital gyrus, and insula. The right inferior frontal gyrus and the lingual gyrus were also activated. Visuo-spatial creativity activates the right middle and inferior frontal gyri, the bilateral thalamus and the left precentral gyrus. This evidence suggests that creativity relies on multi-componential neural networks and that different creativity domains depend on different brain regions.

The present mini-review was aimed at exploring the frontal EEG asymmetry of mood. With respect to emotion, interpreted as a discrete affective process, mood is more controllable, more nebulous and more related to mind/cognition; in addition, causes are less well defined than those eliciting emotion. Therefore, firstly, the rational for the distinction between emotion and mood was provided. Then, the main frontal EEG asymmetry models were presented, such as the motivational approach/withdrawal, valence/arousal, capability and inhibition asymmetric models. Afterward, the frontal EEG asymmetry of mood was investigated following three research lines, that is considering studies involving different mood induction procedures, dispositional mood (positive and negative affect) and mood alterations in both healthy and clinical populations. In general, results were found to be contradictory, no model is unequivocally supported regardless the research line considered. Different methodological issues were raised, such as: the composition of samples used across studies, in particular, gender and age were found to be critical variables that should be better addressed in future studies; the importance of third variables that might mediate the relationship between frontal EEG asymmetries and mood, for example bodily states and hormonal responses; the role of cognition, namely the interplay between mood and executive functions. In light of these issues, future research directions were proposed. Amongst others, the need to explore the neural connectivity that underpins EEG asymmetries, and the need to include both positive and negative mood conditions in the experimental designs have been highlighted.

Does visual creativity rely predominantly on visual abilities and verbal creativity on verbal abilities, or is there a cross-over between the domains? Participants (N = 25) performed several visual tasks and verbal ability tests, as well as visual and verbal creativity tests. Both correlation and multidimensional scaling analyses were performed. Visual creativity was found to be related to visual abilities, in particular to restructuring. Verbal creativity was related to verbal ability scores, such as vocabulary and comprehension, but also by vividness scores of the visual imagery questionnaire. These findings are consistent with the notion that visual creativity is largely domain- and task-specific, whereas verbal creativity, even though mostly domain-specific, may, to some extent, be sensitive to processes in the visual domain as well.