Neural dynamics of semantic control underlying generative storytelling

Storytelling has been pivotal for the transmission of knowledge across human history, yet the role of semantic control and its associated neural dynamics has been poorly investigated. Here, human participants generated stories that were either appropriate (ordinary), novel (random), or balanced (creative), while recording functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Deep language models confirmed participants adherence to task instructions. At the neural level, linguistic and visual areas exhibited neural synchrony across participants regardless of the semantic control level, with parietal and frontal regions being more synchronized during random ideation. Importantly, creative stories were differentiated by a multivariate pattern of neural activity in frontal and fronto-temporo-parietal cortices compared to ordinary and random stories. Crucially, similar brain regions were also encoding the features that distinguished the stories. Moreover, we found specific spatial frequency patterns underlying the modulation of semantic control during story generation, while functional coupling in default, salience, and control networks differentiated creative stories with their controls. Remarkably, the temporal irreversibility between visual and high-level areas was higher during creative ideation, suggesting the enhanced hierarchical structure of causal interactions as a neural signature of creative storytelling. Together, our findings highlight the neural mechanisms underlying the regulation of semantic exploration during narrative ideation.