Creativity comes in waves: an EEG-focused exploration of the creative brain

Electroencephalographic (EEG) methodology in creativity research has been remarkably fruitful, establishing the potential of EEG to illuminate complex and transient creativity-related neural processes. Here we synthesize recent advances in the field, highlighting empirical work on creativity as divergent thinking, remote associations, musical creativity, and visual imagery. There is a general consensus that alpha-band activity plays a key role in the creative process, though other frequency bands, such as theta and gamma also serve critical functions. We further discuss evidence for electrical stimulation (tDCS and tACS) as a tool for improvements in creative thinking. EEG’s high temporal resolution is supremely suitable for studying creative cognition, and studies continuing to yield new and exciting evidence regarding the local and global neural processes underlying creativity.