Originality in creative ideation evolves along nonlinear axes in the human brain

Default mode network activity geometry in humans shifts with instantaneous cognitive state, and dorsal attention network representations form a neural creativity axis linked to more original responses.

• Why it matters: Creativity relies on coordinated large-scale brain networks, yet the neural representations that separate creative thinking from other cognitive states are unclear.
• What they did: Using multiscale intracranial electrophysiology in humans, including single-unit recordings and local field potentials, they compared creative ideation with non-creative arithmetic and analyzed default mode and dorsal attention network activity.
• The result: Cortical activity patterns differentiate creative from arithmetic states, default mode network geometry tracks cognitive state, and dorsal attention network nonlinear high-dimensional representations of moment-by-moment creative performance define a shared neural creativity axis.

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