The Influence of Right and Left Frontotemporal Stimulation on visuospatial Creativity

Objective: To test the hypothesis that visuospatial creativity will be increased by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right hemisphere and decreased by stimulation of the left hemisphere.Background: The frontal lobes mediate disengagement and divergent thinking. As the right hemisphere is important for visuospatial cognition, the right frontal lobe may be more important for visuospatial divergent thinking. Semantic dementia, characterized by atrophy of the left frontal and anterior temporal lobes, is sometimes associated with the development of visual artistic creativity, which may be related to right hemisphere disinhibition. tDCS at 2 mA has been shown to increase neuronal excitability under both the anode and cathode electrodes. Therefore stimulation of the left frontal and anterior temporal lobes may decrease visuospatial creativity, whereas stimulation of the right frontal and anterior temporal lobes may increase visuospatial creativity.Design/Methods: 19 healthy participants completed a version of the Abbreviated Torrance Test (of Creativity) for Adults (ATTA) following both tDCS (current=2 mA) and sham tDCS for 10 minutes. Electrodes were placed over the left or right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (anode) and ipsilateral anterior temporal lobe (cathode). Participants were split into two groups: right (n=9) and left (n=10) hemisphere stimulation.Results: There was a significant main effect of left versus right hemisphere stimulation on the ATTA figural (visuospatial) originality score (p=.035). This was primarily driven by a decrease in figural originality following left hemisphere stimulation (p=.039).Conclusions: These results show that visuospatial creativity can be modulated by stimulation of the left versus right frontal and anterior temporal lobes. The decrease in visuospatial originality following left hemisphere stimulation provides support for the hypothesis that dysfunction of the left hemisphere may lead to increased creativity, as seen in semantic dementia, potentially through disinhibition of the right hemisphere. Disclosure: Dr. Milano has nothing to disclose. Dr. Goldman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Woods has nothing to disclose. Dr. Williamson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Acosta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lamb has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zhang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Heilman has received personal compensation from AAN, Harvard Dementia as a speaker. Dr. Heilman has received royalities on books that he has written or edited.