<p>Visual arts education has been linked to cognitive and neural benefits, yet the neural mechanisms associated with creativity remain unclear. This study examined how long-term engagement in design-related visual arts education relates to creative performance and brain function. Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching, we compared design majors to matched non-design majors. Participants completed visual art creative tasks (product and book cover design) and divergent thinking tasks (AUT, TTCT-figural) during fNIRS recording. The design group outperformed peers across tasks and showed greater left dorsolateral prefrontal activation during early idea generation, while non-design peers relied more on sensory and motor regions. Functional connectivity revealed reduced coupling within task-relevant circuits, indicating greater neural efficiency. Dynamic network analysis showed design majors spent more time in efficient states and switched between states more flexibly. These findings suggest that design-related visual arts education may support creativity through efficient and flexible brain network engagement.</p>

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Neural mechanisms underpinning the association between visual arts education and creativity

  • Jing Teng,
  • Xinuo Qiao,
  • Kelong Lu,
  • Tuo Liu,
  • Xinyue Wang,
  • Zhenni Gao,
  • Tingting Yu,
  • Ning Hao

摘要

Visual arts education has been linked to cognitive and neural benefits, yet the neural mechanisms associated with creativity remain unclear. This study examined how long-term engagement in design-related visual arts education relates to creative performance and brain function. Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching, we compared design majors to matched non-design majors. Participants completed visual art creative tasks (product and book cover design) and divergent thinking tasks (AUT, TTCT-figural) during fNIRS recording. The design group outperformed peers across tasks and showed greater left dorsolateral prefrontal activation during early idea generation, while non-design peers relied more on sensory and motor regions. Functional connectivity revealed reduced coupling within task-relevant circuits, indicating greater neural efficiency. Dynamic network analysis showed design majors spent more time in efficient states and switched between states more flexibly. These findings suggest that design-related visual arts education may support creativity through efficient and flexible brain network engagement.