T9.3.

Dynamics of brain cortical activity in gifted high school seniors

developing own creativity: A longitudinal study

Pavel Ermakov and Liudmila Dikaya *

Psychology faculty, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

dikaya@sfedu.ru

Abstract

Objective: As a cognitive ability, creativity lies at the core of numerous discoveries.

Cerebral interhemispheric interaction is known to be the psychophysiological basis of

creativity. The cerebral mechanisms regulating the development of creativity have not yet

been practically studied. Therefore, the longitudinal study of creativity and its cerebral

mechanisms is necessary. The objective of this study is to examine the dynamics of

creativity and of cerebral hemispheric activity in intellectually gifted high school seniors

(15-17 years old).

Methods: The subjects were 68 intellectually gifted high school seniors divided into two

groups – experimental and control. Subjects of the experimental group were taught with

the help of a special creativity development program (psychological training of creative

thinking, EEG alpha feedback training, etc.) and with the help of the usual school program

as well. Subjects of the control group were taught only with the help of the usual school

program. We tested the level of creativity and EEG power in subjects of both groups at the

beginning (15 years old) and at the end (17 years old) of our longitudinal research. EEG was

recorded at a resting state from 21 scalp electrodes according to the 10-20 system.

Results: The highly significant creativity increase in the experimental group suggests that it

may be possible for a wide range of people to become more creative. The distinguishing

characteristics of EEG-patterns in subjects of the experimental group compared to controls

at the end of the longitudinal study are: 1) Significantly lower level of the brain cortical

activation (at alpha-1 band) and higher level of beta-1 EEG power, 2) Significantly higher

level of theta power in frontal and central brain cortical regions that testifies to the fact of

actualization of past experience in creative subjects, 3) Activation decrease of the left

frontal cortical area provides the situation of defocused attention process.

Conclusion: The obtained results received practical application at the educational

establishments of Rostov region (Russia) for elaborating methods of teaching, for

enhancing teaching high school seniors and organizing a psycho-physiological basis for the

development of their creativity.

Longitudinal and Life Course Studies 2010 Volume 1 Issue 3 Supplement

270