Neural Correlates Of Malevolent Creativity

Malevolent creativity(MC)is a special kind of creativity that aims to cause damages through various ways.Until now,there is no research to investigate the neural correlates of MC directly.The current study used the functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)device to uncover the distinctive brain activity pattern of MC(included neural activation and neural coupling).In study 1,participants were required to solve three types of creativity tasks: malevolent creativity task(MCT),benevolent creativity task(BCT)and alternative uses task(AUT),during which individual neural activity was recorded by the fNIRS.In MCT and BCT,participants were asked to solve different problems that involves social interaction in antisocially or prosocially creative ways.In AUT,participants were asked to find the creative uses for a common object.Results of neural activation revealed weaker activations in the right postcentral gyrus and right superior parietal lobule(rSPL)in the MCT than in the other tasks.Results of neural coupling revealed higher coupling between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(l-DLPFC)and r-SPL in the MCT and BCT than in the AUT.In study 2,we further explore the neural substrate of different MC.Participants were asked to solve three malevolent creativity tasks including Hurting People Task(HPT),Lying Task(LYT)and Playing Trick Task(PTT).In HPT,participants were required to find a creative way to harming(physically and mentally),threatening and manipulating people.In LYT,participants were required to find a creative way to lying,concealing and imputing.In PTT,participants were required to find a creative way to implement a practical joke.Results of neural activation revealed stronger activations in the right frontopolar(r-FP)in the LYT than in the other tasks.Results of neural coupling found weaker coupling between l-DLPFC and right precentral gyrus,l-DLPFC and right premotor cortex,left frontopolar(l-FP)and right angular gyrus in HPT than in the other tasks.Results of neural coupling found stronger coupling between right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(r-DLPFC)and right postcentral gyrus,right inferior gyrus(r-IFG)and right precentral gyrus,r-FP and right supramarginal gyrus(r-SMG)in PTT than in the other tasks.In conclusion,the findings of study 1 may implicate that the brain region related to emotional processing would be inhibited when producing malevolent ideas.Results of study 2 may indicated that different types of MC have distinctive brain activity patterns.Right frontopolar(r-FP)may play a crucial role in constructing a scam.When individuals trying to find out a creative way to hurting people,neural coupling between brain region related to executive control and emotional perception would be weaken.Individuals inclined to processing the victim's state more actively when they were constructing a creative practical joke.The current study investigates the neural correlates of malevolent creativity directly by fNIRS device.The results of neural activation and neural coupling implicate the distinctive brain activity patterns of MC.It may provide a new direction for the subsequent studies of MC.