The light side of gaming: creativity and brain plasticity.

Could gaming enhance brain plasticity and executive functions (EFs) by fostering creativity? We identify vital benefits from further research exploring the relationship between games, brain plasticity, and creativity. The ongoing progress in neuroscience research in these three disciplines offers many possibilities and prospects for impactful therapy. Therefore, we emphasize the significance of investigating the untapped potentials of using games in creative therapy-our perspective on the often-overlooked neuroscientific aspect of creativity concerning health and wellbeing.

Individual differences and creative ideation: neuromodulatory signatures of mindset and response inhibition.

This study addresses the modulatory role of individual mindset in explaining the relationship between response inhibition (RI) and divergent thinking (DT) using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Forty undergraduate students (22 male and 18 female), aged between 18 and 23 years (average age = 19 years, SD = 1.48), were recruited.

Less might be more: 1 mA but not 1.5 mA of tDCS improves tactile orientation discrimination.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a frequently used brain stimulation method; however, studies on tactile perception using tDCS are inconsistent, which might be explained by the variations in endogenous and exogenous parameters that influence tDCS.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effect of one of these endogenous parameters-the tDCS amplitude-on tactile perception.

Methods: We conducted this experiment on 28 undergraduates/graduates aged 18-36 years.

Creative therapy in health and disease: Inner vision.

Can we better understand the unique mechanisms of de novo abilities in light of our current knowledge of the psychological and neuroscientific literature on creativity? This review outlines the state-of-the-art in the neuroscience of creativity and points out crucial aspects that still demand further exploration, such as brain plasticity. The progressive development of current neuroscience research on creativity presents a multitude of prospects and potentials for furnishing efficacious therapy in the context of health and illness. Therefore, we discuss directions for future studies, identifying a focus on pinpointing the neglected beneficial practices for creative therapy.

A neurocomputational model of creative processes.

Creativity is associated with finding novel, surprising, and useful solutions. We argue that creative cognitive processes, divergent thinking, abstraction, and improvisation are constructed on different novelty-based processes. The prefrontal cortex plays a role in creative ideation by providing a control mechanism.

Correction to: Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation of left and right inferior frontal gyrus on creative divergent thinking are moderated by changes in inhibition control.

The caption of Fig. 2 is incorrect.

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation of left and right inferior frontal gyrus on creative divergent thinking are moderated by changes in inhibition control.

Divergent thinking (DT) as one component of creativity is the ability to search for multiple solutions to a single problem and is reliably tested with the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). DT depends on activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a prefrontal region that has also been associated with inhibitory control (IC). Experimentally manipulating IC through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) led to alterations in DT.

Neuropeptide-S-receptor deficiency affects sex-specific modulation of safety learning by pre-exposure to electric stimuli.

Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a neuropeptide involved in the regulation of fear. Because safety learning is impaired in patients suffering from anxiety-related psychiatric disorders, and polymorphisms of the human neuropeptide S receptor (NPSR) gene have also been associated with anxiety disorders, we wanted to investigate whether NPSR-deficiency interferes with safety learning, and how prior stress would affect this type of learning. We first investigated the effect of pre-exposure to two different types of stressors (electric stimuli or immobilization) on safety learning in female and male C57Bl/6 mice, and found that while stress induced by electric stimuli enhanced safety learning in males, there were no differences in safety learning following immobilization stress.

The Link Between Creativity, Cognition, and Creative Drives and Underlying Neural Mechanisms.

Having a creative mind is one of the gateways for achieving fabulous success and remarkable progress in professional, personal and social life. Therefore, a better understanding of the neural correlates and the underlying neural mechanisms related to creative ideation is crucial and valuable. However, the current literature on neural systems and circuits underlying creative cognition, and on how creative drives such as motivation, mood states, and reward could shape our creative mind through the associated neuromodulatory systems [i.

Rhodiola rosea root extract has antipsychotic-like effects in rodent models of sensorimotor gating.

Unlabelled: ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The plant arctic root (Rhodiola rosea, L.) is growing in northern regions of Europe, Asia and North America. Extracts of R.

Dynamic Communications Between GABA Switch, Local Connectivity, and Synapses During Cortical Development: A Computational Study.

Several factors regulate cortical development, such as changes in local connectivity and the influences of dynamical synapses. In this study, we simulated various factors affecting the regulation of neural network activity during cortical development. Previous studies have shown that during early cortical development, the reversal potential of GABA shifts from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing.

Social decision making in autism: On the impact of mirror neurons, motor control, and imitative behaviors.

The Mirror Neuron System (MNS) plays a crucial role in action perception and imitative behavior, which is suggested to be impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). In this review, we discuss the plausibility and empirical evidence of a neural interaction between the MNS, action perception, empathy, imitative behavior, and their impact on social decision making in ASDs. To date, there is no consensus regarding a particular theory in ASDs and its underlying mechanisms.

The effects of dynamical synapses on firing rate activity: a spiking neural network model.

Accumulating evidence relates the fine-tuning of synaptic maturation and regulation of neural network activity to several key factors, including GABA signaling and a lateral spread length between neighboring neurons (i.e., local connectivity).

Why Is 10 Past 10 the Default Setting for Clocks and Watches in Advertisements? A Psychological Experiment.

Have you ever noticed that in watch advertisements the time is usually set at 10:10? The reasons and psychological effects of this default time setting are elusive. In Experiment 1, we hypothesized that watches showing a time setting resembling a smiling face (10:10) would enhance emotional valence and intention to buy compared to a neutral time setting (11:30), whereas a time setting resembling a sad face (8:20) would have the opposite effect. Moreover, we investigated a possible interaction effect with the gender of the participants.

How Knowledge of Ancient Egyptian Women Can Influence Today's Gender Role: Does History Matter in Gender Psychology?

A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are considered desirable or appropriate for a person based on their sex. However, socially constructed gender roles can lead to equal rights between genders but also to severe disadvantages and discrimination with a remarkable variety between different countries. Based on social indicators and gender statistics, "women in the Arab region are on average more disadvantaged economically, politically, and socially than women in other regions.

Decision making under uncertainty in a spiking neural network model of the basal ganglia.

The mechanisms of decision-making and action selection are generally thought to be under the control of parallel cortico-subcortical loops connecting back to distinct areas of cortex through the basal ganglia and processing motor, cognitive and limbic modalities of decision-making. We have used these properties to develop and extend a connectionist model at a spiking neuron level based on a previous rate model approach. This model is demonstrated on decision-making tasks that have been studied in primates and the electrophysiology interpreted to show that the decision is made in two steps.

Increased anxiety but normal fear and safety learning in orexin-deficient mice.

The loss of orexin neurons in humans leads to the disease narcolepsy, characterized by daytime sleepiness and cataplexy. Recent data suggest that orexin is also involved in emotional processing. The goal of the present study was to evaluate fear and safety learning as well as unconditioned fear (anxiety) in orexin-deficient animals.

Acquired equivalence associative learning in GTC epileptic patients: experimental and computational study.

Previous cognitive behavioral studies based on Acquired Equivalence Associative learning Task (AEALT) showed a strong relation between hippocampus and basal ganglia in associative learning. However, experimental behavioral studies of patients with Generalized Tonic Clonic (GTC) epilepsy remained sparse. The aim of the present study is to integrate a classical behavioral cognitive analysis with a computational model approach to investigate cognitive associative learning impairments in patients with GTC epilepsy.