Key result
Log-transformed low frequency heart rate variability power during a creative task was negatively correlated with the number of divergent thinking words generated.
Why the study?
Does a relaxed state before a creative task improve divergent thinking performance, and is psychophysiological state correlated with divergent thinking?
Cross-Sectional (n=50)
No
Does a relaxed state before a creative task improve divergent thinking performance, and is psychophysiological state correlated with divergent thinking?
A person's psychophysiological state, specifically lower LF HRV power, is correlated with better divergent thinking performance, though initial relaxation does not predict creative performance.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Lower LF-HRV during creative tasks was associated with better divergent thinking; extends autonomic-cognition links while leaving pre-task relaxation effects open.
Our research studied the physiological response of participants during a creative task to investigate if a person’s psychophysiological state was correlated with divergent thinking performance. We used heart rate variability as our physiological measure. We asked 50 participants to perform a cognitive task that assessed their divergent thinking skills and recorded their heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) before and during the task. Frequency domain analysis was performed on the HRV. The results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between log-transformed low frequency HRV power and the number of “divergent thinking” words generated. Our results suggest that a person’s psychophysiological state is correlated with their divergent thinking performance, and that attention and motivation may be important factors, however this needs further research. Our findings also suggest that being in a relaxed state before the start of a creative task is not a predictor of creative performance.
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Loudon et al. (2016) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy (assessing creativity) (n=50). Log-transformed low frequency heart rate variability (ln LF) vs. Unexposed/reference (correlation analysis across all participants) was evaluated on Number of divergent thinking words generated (r = -0.47, p=<0.01). Log-transformed low frequency heart rate variability power during a creative task was negatively correlated with the number of divergent thinking words generated.
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