Creative experiences and brain clocks
Carlos Coronel‐Oliveros, Joaquín Migeot, Fernando Lehue, Lucía Amoruso, Natalia Kowalczyk‐Grębska, Natalia Jakubowska, Kanad Mandke, Joana Pereira Seabra, Patricio Orio, Dominic Campbell, Raúl González-Gómez, Pavel Prado, Jhosmary Cuadros, Enzo Tagliazucchi, Josephine Cruzat, Agustina Legaz, Vicente Medel, Hernán Hernandez, Sol Fittipaldi, Florencia Altschuler, Sebastián Moguilner, Sandra Báez, Hernando Santamaría‐García, Alfredis González‐Hernández, Jasmin Bonilla‐Santos, Bahar Güntekin, Claudio Babiloni, Daniel Abásolo, Gaetano Di Caterina, Görsev Yener, Javier Escudero, John Fredy Ochoa-Gómez, Marcio Soto‐Añari, Martín A. Bruno, Pedro A. Valdés‐Sosa, Renato Anghinah, Rodrigo A. Gonzalez‐Montealegre, Ruaridh Clark, Adolfo M. García, Laura Kaltwasser, Martin Schürmann, J. Meier, Aneta Brzezicka, Robert Whelan, Brian Lawlor, Ian H. Robertson, Christopher M. Bailey, Lucía Melloni, Nisha Sajnani, Agustín Ibáñez
Abstract
Creative experiences may enhance brain health, yet metrics and mechanisms remain elusive. We characterized brain health using brain clocks, which capture deviations from chronological age (i.e., accelerated or delayed brain aging). We combined M/EEG functional connectivity (N = 1,240) with machine learning support vector machines, whole-brain modeling, and Neurosynth metanalyses. From this framework, we reanalyzed previously published datasets of expert and matched non-expert participants in dance, music, visual arts, and video games, along with a pre/post-learning study (N = 232). We found delayed brain age across all domains and scalable effects (expertise>learning). The higher the level of expertise and performance, the greater the delay in brain age. Age-vulnerable brain hubs showed increased connectivity linked to creativity, particularly in areas related to expertise and creative experiences. Neurosynth analysis and computational modeling revealed plasticity-driven increases in brain efficiency and biophysical coupling, in creativity-specific delayed brain aging. Findings indicate a domain‑independent link between creativity and brain health.