An fMRI Study of Relationship between Scientific Creativity and Emotional Susceptibility

We investigated the brain activity in perceiving the emotional stimuli between a science invention group(n=13) and a general group(n=13). The science invention group, which mostly consisted of recipients of creativity prizes, scored 96% on creative personality tests(WKOPAY, SAM), whereas the general group performed at an average level on these tests. Analyzing the brain activity in perceiving the emotional stimuli(IAPS pictures), the science invention group than the general group showed higher activity in certain areas, such as MTG, STG, and so on. When correlation analysis was performed on the creative personality score and brain activity, MTG, STG, and so on areas showed significant correlations. There were more correlation areas in valence than in arousal. These results show that scientific creativity is related to emotional susceptibility. Thus, we insist that emotion be considered in the assessment and education programs for the gifted in science.