Neural correlates underlying creative ideation associated with malevolent or benevolent intentions

Abstract Creativity is a multifaceted cognitive process that can be driven by either malevolent or benevolent intentions, leading to divergent social outcomes. There is still uncertainty about the similarities and differences in the underlying neural activities of creativity associated with malevolent and benevolent intentions. This study investigates how intentions shape creative ideation using functional magnetic resonance imaging during malevolent and benevolent creative tasks. Key findings include: (i) overlapping activation in the middle frontal gyrus and superior frontal gyrus across tasks, indicating a shared neural basis for creative thinking; (ii) distinct activation patterns, with the malevolent creative task showing greater activation and reduced functional connectivity in regions such as the right rolandic operculum and supramarginal gyrus compared to the benevolent creative task; (iii) similar neural activity patterns in regions like the middle frontal gyrus and lingual gyrus between the malevolent creative task and benevolent creative task may indicate overlapping cognitive processes. (iv) Correlations between task-specific neural activity and behavioral performance, including malevolence negatively correlating with functional connectivity in the rolandic operculum and middle cingulate cortex during the malevolent creative task, and benevolence correlating with functional connectivity in the parahippocampal gyrus and insula during the benevolent creative task. This study indicated distinct and shared neural correlates linked to malevolent and benevolent creativity.