Hidden Brain States Reveal the Temporal Dynamics of Neural Oscillations During Metaphor Generation and Their Role in Verbal Creativity.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the oscillatory brain processes while people generated metaphors for science concepts. Applying a hidden Markov model, we extracted brain states, representing temporally disentangled oscillatory processes, from EEG data. By associating the trial-by-trial occupancy of brain states with the creative quality, novelty, and aptness of the generated metaphors, we identified oscillatory processes that played a role in creative ideation in a data-driven manner. Metaphor novelty was positively associated with occupancy in a state featuring widespread alpha-band synchronization during the early trial stage and occupancy in a state featuring alpha-band desynchronization during the later trial stage. In addition, metaphor novelty was negatively associated with gamma-band power. Our res

SUBMITTER: Yu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11826972 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature