Abstract
Problem finding (PF) is a crucial element of creative thinking. PF facility allows us to manage the rapidly changing world. Tolerance of ambiguity (AT) is a personality variable that plays a vital role in creative thinking. However, few studies have explored PF’s brain mechanisms and their relationship with AT. This study aimed to filled this gap using behavioral and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods. The behavioral results revealed a significant positive correlation between AT and PF. The VBM analysis found that novel PF positively correlated with the cluster’s regional gray matter density (GMD) involving the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and precentral cortex. Additionally, novel and appropriate PF was positively correlated with the GMD of the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and regional white matter density (WMD) of the bilateral thalamus. Further mediation analysis revealed that the rGMD of the right IFG mediated the relation between AT and PF, which showed that the right IFG is associated with inhibitory control and novelty-seeking. Individuals with high AT and regional GMD in right IFG had a greater novel and appropriate PF ability. These findings shed light on the correlation between AT and PF from the brain’s structural basis perspective.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the participants for this project. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This research was funded by STI2030-Major Projects+2021ZD0203804, the Young Doctoral Program of Higher Education Foundation in Gansu province (2021QB-013), the Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Fund of the Ministry of Education of China (19XJC190001), the Key Scientific Research Project for Double World-Class Initiative in Gansu Province(GSSYLXM-01), the Key Project of the 13th Five-Year Plan for Education Science in Gansu Province (GS[2020]GHBZ188), the Institutions of Higher Education Innovation Ability Improvement Foundation in Gansu province (2020B-083) and the Project of Shandong Province Higher Educational Youth Innovation Science and Technology Program (2019RWF003). We would like to thank Zhao Pengbo and Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing and sincerely reading.
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Dandan, T., Jingjing, S., Ruolin, Z. et al. Right inferior frontal gyrus gray matter density mediates the effect of tolerance of ambiguity on scientific problem finding. Curr Psychol 42, 31895–31907 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04007-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04007-9