Conférence CRNL Alizée Lopez-Persem "Motivational cognitive and neural mechanisms in creativity"

What drives us to search for creative ideas, and why does it feel good to find one? While previous studies demonstrated the positive influence of motivation on creative abilities, how reward and subjective values play a role in creativity remains unknown. I will first present a study that proposes to characterize the role of individual preferences (how people value ideas) in creative ideation via behavioral experiments and computational modeling. Using the Free Generation of Associates Task coupled with rating tasks, we demonstrate the involvement of valuation processes during idea generation: preferred ideas are provided faster. Using computational modelling, we found that valuation depends on the adequacy and originality of ideas and guides response selection and creativity. Then, I will present preliminary results demonstrating that these valuation processes occur in any kind of creativity task. Finally, I will present preliminary neuroimaging results demonstrating the involvement of the Brain Valuation System during creative idea generation.

Bio:

Alizée Lopez-persem is an INSERM researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the Paris Brain Institute (ICM), in the FrontLab, Crea Team. Her research focuses on the neural bases of decision-making and creativity. 

Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, APHP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France

https://sites.google.com/view/alizeelopezpersem/
https://sites.google.com/view/frontlab-icm