When a writer finds the perfect metaphor, or an engineer fixes a problem using two tools nobody thought to combine, or a child makes up an entirely new game, something remarkable is happening inside the brain. A new study from the Paris Brain Institute has brought scientists a step closer to answering that question, according to a study published in the Journal Brain. This work reveals how the physical architecture of one part of the brain shapes our ability to think creatively.
Two Networks, One Creative Mind
In neuroscience, creativity is defined as the ability to produce ideas that are both original and useful in a given situation. Research in recent years has pointed to two major brain networks working together to make that happen.
The first is the default mode network, which is active when your mind is wandering, daydreaming, or making free associations. The second is the executive control network, which kicks in when you need to focus, make decisions, and direct your thinking toward a goal.
“Creativity is, in a sense, the result of dynamic cooperation between these two networks,” explained Emmanuelle Volle, neurologist and co-leader of the FrontLab team at the Paris Brain Institute. “We believe that creative ideas do not emerge from nothing, but result from the synthesis and reorganization of existing knowledge stored in semantic memory.”
Sitting right at the junction of these two networks is an area called the rostral prefrontal cortex, a region at the front of the frontal lobe. Scientists suspected it played an important coordinating role, but until now, the details were unclear.
A Bridge in the Brain
To investigate, researcher Victor Altmayer and his colleagues studied both healthy participants and patients with a condition called behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, a neurodegenerative disease that specifically affects the prefrontal cortex and disrupts the very networks linked to creativity. This made it a useful natural window into how those networks function.
Using an advanced brain imaging technique, the team measured how smoothly brain activity transitioned across the rostral prefrontal cortex from the default mode network on one side to the executive control network on the other. They found that this region acts as a functional bridge between the two, with activity shifting gradually rather than switching abruptly.
Crucially, the size of that shift (that scientists call the gradient) turned out to predict how creatively a person performed on tests of idea generation. “In other words, the amplitude of the gradient predicts individual creative abilities,” said Altmayer. “In patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, this gradient is reduced — their brains have lost part of the differentiation between the DMN and the ECN — which affects their creativity.”
More Than Daydreaming
The study also challenged a long-held assumption. The default mode network had traditionally been seen as purely involved in passive, spontaneous thought, the kind that happens when you’re not trying. But the findings suggest it also plays an active role when you’re deliberately trying to come up with new ideas.
“There was a prior assumption in the scientific literature that the DMN was exclusively involved in spontaneous processes. However, we show that this network is also involved in intentional processes of generating associations between ideas. It likely plays a role in retrieving memories and integrating them with one another,” noted Altmayer.
Creativity as a Life Skill
Beyond shedding light on how healthy brains generate ideas, the research has real implications for patients with frontotemporal dementia. The disease often begins with personality changes, social withdrawal, and apathy, making care challenging. Creative activities, such as cooking, gardening, drawing, can offer a meaningful way to engage patients and support their wellbeing. Understanding how and why creativity is affected by the disease could help healthcare professionals tailor that kind of therapeutic support more effectively.
But the wider message of the research reaches far beyond clinical settings. As Altmayer said: “When we’re less creative, we also find it harder to cope with ordinary problems and to adopt appropriate behaviors aimed at a specific goal. Creativity isn’t just an artistic matter. It’s an essential tool for everyday life.”
In other words, creativity isn’t a special gift reserved for artists and inventors. It’s built into the architecture of all our brains and understanding how it works could help us protect and nurture it throughout our lives.
Victor Altmayer, Marcela Ovando-Tellez, Théophile Bieth, Bénédicte Batrancourt, Armelle Rametti-Lacroux, Sarah Moreno-Rodriguez, Arabella Bouzigues, Vincent Ledu, Béatrice Garcin, Alizée Lopez-Persem, Daniel Margulies, Richard Levy, Emmanuelle Volle, ECOCAPTURE study group , A rostral prefrontal mediolateral gradient predicts creativity in frontotemporal dementia, Brain, 2026;, awag032, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awag032