@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2228-5468    Education Strategies in Medical Sciences 2016;9(1):1-6

Background
Creativity with its meta-cognition aspect relates to higher mental processes such as thinking, intelligence, imagination, and data processing [1]. … [2-10]
Previous Studies
In order to consider creativity, 10-12Hz alpha-2 band changing in EEG [11], brain activities in response to divergent thinking [12], and 8-12Hz alpha band [13] have been studied.
Aim(s)
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of creative thinking on heart rate signal.
Research type
This is a semi-experimental study.
Research society, place and time
Medical engineering, electricity, and control students of Sahand Technology University were studied in 2012.
Sampling method and number
52 students were selected through available sampling method.
Used devices&materials
A Persian translation of Torrance creative thinking- B form (pictorial) [1] was used to assess the students’ creative thinking level. The test consists of three separate tasks which are picture making (1st activity), picture completeness (2nd activity), and parallel lines (3rd activity) each one lasting 10min and totally 30min [14]. During the test and 2min before, ECG signal of the students was recorded and then converted into HRV signal as hardware. All the participants were asked not to drink coffee before data recording and sleep fully. 50Hz notch filtering was done as hardware to remove urban electricity noise. 4-rank type II Chebychefv filtering with 0.3Hz disconnect frequency was used to remove external noise. 20-second blocks were used in signal windowing. Z transformation was done to normalize data. Scores over than 70 and lower than 30 scores were considered as high creativity and low creativity, respectively. Power linear characteristic was used to compare HRV signal changes between high and low creativities. Based on Cramer-von test, there was no normal data distribution. Wilcoxon non-parametric test was used to compare the variables between different groups based on gender, creativity level, and multi-language cases. … [15-17]
Findings by Text
The number of female and male students was 26 persons per gender group. 25 and 27 students were bi-lingual and tri-lingual, respectively. There were different creativity test scores based on Torrance test, which led to heterogeneous distributions of scores more than 70 scores (high creative persons) and lower than 30 scores (low creative persons). Average HRV signal power values for relaxation time, 1st Torrance’s activity, 2nd Torrance’s activity, and 3rd Torrance’s activity were 0.035±0.001, 0.0475±0.0012, 0.0369±0.0008, and 0.0367±0.0001, respectively. Therefore, there was a considerable increase in average domain of signal power during creative thinking than relaxation time. There was a manifest decrease in HRV signal power, passing time and the last stages of creativity test being done. There was an increase in heart rate in persons with high creativity than persons with low creativity. Considering structure and scoring, the second activity showed a considerable difference between persons with high and low creativity than other activities (Table 1). Based on the scores, there was a higher creativity level in all four Torrance criteria in females than males. Based on a comparison between HRV changes in total time, there was a considerable increase in heart rate in females than males (p=0.0398). Based on the scores of Torrance test in bi-lingual and tri-lingual groups, there were better functions in the tri-lingual persons than bi-lingual persons. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference in HRV signal between the groups (p>0.05; Table 2).
Main comparison to the similar studies
There was an increase in the heart rate in persons with high creativity than persons with low creativity. Female persons and tri-lingual persons were better than either male or bi-lingual persons. Based on the present results, creativity might be detected via heart signal, as well as brain signals. Concentration on the cognitive activities is going with a reduction in heart rate [18]. Participants in group plays are with higher creativity level than others [6]. Active frontal lobe in creative persons is manifestly distinguishable compared to persons with low creative level [19, 20]. Any stimulation of vagus nerve along with an increase in the heart rate leads to a disorder in test process, which results in a reduction in persons’ creativity level [16]. T gene plays an important role in creativity [19]. During 3 months, persons with RHO have shown a considerable reduction in creativity level [21]. … [22-24]
Suggestions
Usual tests might be useful to discover whether creativity is a specific domain of cognition or not. A greater sample size should be investigated. Spectrum analyses might be useful to determine creativity levels.
Limitations
Since there was a small sample size, the present results could not be significant in all age groups. In addition, TTCT parameters evaluations were complex.
Conclusions
Creative thinking leads to an increase in the heart rate in persons with high creativity than persons with low creativity. Therefore, the creativity level might be detected via heart signal.
Acknowledgments
Computational Neurosciences Laboratory of Sahand Technology University is appreciated.
Conflict of interest
Non-declared
Ethical Permissions
Non-declared
Funding Sources
The paper was derived from an MS thesis done by the corresponding author in Sahand Technology University.

TABLES and CHARTS

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