Stability of Local Coherence at Rest Indicates Dopamine Modulation Underlying Creativity

Motivation: It remains unclear how dopamine pathways affect brain network coherence and facilitate creativity behaviors. Goal(s): We aim to characterize the stability of neural coherence modulated by dopamine and investigate how it affects creativity. Approach: We introduce a novel resting-state fMRI measure, ReCo, in a theory-driven manner. First, we perform a spatial correlation analysis between ReCo and dopamine receptors/transporter. Then, we conduct a regression analysis between ReCo and creativity. Results: (a) ReCo shows a high spatial correlation with dopamine receptors/transporter, demonstrating superior specificity and reproducibility. (b) ReCo in key brain regions of the mesocortical pathway shows a significant contribution to creativity score. Impact: This study is the first to provide empirical support for the dopamine theory of creativity, revealing how local coherence modulated by dopamine influences creativity. For clinical applications, ReCo may serve as a sensitive, specific and reproducible proxy for dopamine receptors/transporters.