In the ever-evolving landscape of cognitive neuroscience and psychology, creativity remains one of the most captivating yet elusive domains of human capacity. Recent research published in Communications Psychology by Battistello et al. sheds new light on the neural and cognitive architectures underpinning creative thinking, advancing a transformative perspective on how subjective valuation—the internal process of ascribing worth or utility—operates as a domain-general mechanism pivotal to creativity. This groundbreaking study systematically integrates findings from neuroimaging, behavioral experiments, and computational modeling to propose that our brain does not simply execute creative tasks in specialized, siloed areas but instead recruits broad evaluative systems that transcend specific content domains.
Historically, creativity has been dissected into various subdomains—verbal, visual, musical, and motoric—each thought to rely on different cognitive and neural pathways. However, this compartmentalized view has often struggled to explain why individuals who excel in one creative field frequently demonstrate aptitude in others. Battistello and colleagues challenge this parochial understanding by offering empirical evidence that subjective valuation serves as a core cognitive process influencing creative output regardless of the task domain. Subjective valuation here is understood as the brain’s continuous evaluation of potential ideas based on their novelty, usefulness, emotional salience, and personal relevance, fundamentally shaping which ideas are pursued and developed.
The team utilized a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and advanced computational modeling to observe participants engaged in diverse creative tasks. By measuring brain activity during ideation phases and subsequent decision-making about which concepts to expand upon, the researchers isolated common neural substrates implicated in subjective valuation decisions. Intriguingly, regions traditionally associated with reward processing and valuation—such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the striatum—were consistently activated across domains. These areas dynamically interacted with executive control regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggesting a sophisticated network that integrates evaluative and generative cognitive functions.
One of the study’s most compelling findings is the demonstration that creative cognition hinges on a continuous interplay between generation and evaluation, where subjective valuation acts as an internal feedback loop directing attention toward promising ideas. This process mirrors mechanisms seen in economic decision-making but is here repurposed to foster innovative thinking rather than maximize material gains. The authors interpret this as a domain-general cognitive algorithm specialized by experience and context, leveraging valuation to navigate immense solution spaces where objective criteria for ‘best’ ideas are often unavailable.
Beyond identifying neural correlates, the research team connected these insights to observable differences in creative performance across individuals. By correlating neural activity patterns during valuation with real-world creative achievements and psychometric creativity assessments, the study illustrates that more successful creators display heightened sensitivity in these valuation circuits. This implies that creativity, often romanticized as a spontaneous epiphany, may instead be heavily reliant on refined internal evaluative processes that selectively amplify promising concepts while discarding less viable ones.
Furthermore, the implications of these findings extend to educational and professional settings aimed at enhancing creativity. If subjective valuation is fundamental across creative domains, training programs could be designed to cultivate this evaluative capacity explicitly. Such training might include exercises that heighten metacognitive awareness of idea quality and emotional resonance, thereby empowering individuals to better navigate the ideation process. This also suggests potential benefits of neurofeedback or neuromodulation techniques targeting valuation networks to boost creative outcomes.
The study also critically revisits classic creativity theories that emphasize divergent thinking as the core mechanism, positing instead that creative idea generation and subsequent valuation are inseparable components of a unitary cognitive operation. While divergent thinking—the generation of many ideas—remains important, without a robust evaluative system, it becomes inefficient or chaotic. Subjective valuation thus acts as a gatekeeper, guiding attention and cognitive resources to ideas with the highest perceived potential utility or originality, aligning with a cost-benefit analysis model.
Importantly, this domain-general framework can explain the transferability of creativity across fields. Since subjective valuation processes employ similar neural circuits and cognitive strategies irrespective of content, individuals adept in these evaluative operations can flexibly apply their creative capacities to language, art, science, or technology. This insight challenges educational paradigms that compartmentalize creativity training, advocating for approaches that instead strengthen the underlying evaluative scaffolding.
Moreover, the integration of subjective valuation into creativity models helps reconcile the tension between randomness and control in creative thought. While some models emphasize serendipity and stochastic exploration, Battistello et al.’s results highlight how controlled, value-guided selection is fundamental to progress beyond mere novelty. Creativity thus emerges as a balance between spontaneous generation driven by associative processes and deliberate selection steered by subjective valuations that weigh emotional, aesthetic, and pragmatic considerations.
From a methodological perspective, the study’s combination of neuroimaging and computational techniques provides a sophisticated lens to dissect the temporal dynamics of creativity. The authors demonstrate that valuation signals peak at critical decision points during idea refinement, underscoring the iterative nature of creative thought. This challenges simpler linear models of creativity and advocates for conceptualizing the creative process as a fluctuating negotiation between evaluation and elaboration over time.
In sum, Battistello et al.’s research constitutes a paradigm shift by positioning subjective valuation at the heart of creative cognition. It offers a robust neurocognitive explanation for how individuals navigate the vast and often ambiguous creative landscape, emphasizing a conserved, domain-general evaluative system that orchestrates divergent and convergent thinking phases. These insights pave the way for future interdisciplinary research and practical applications, ranging from cognitive enhancement to artificial intelligence systems that emulate human-like creativity by embedding flexible valuation algorithms.
Intriguingly, the findings may also illuminate clinical conditions where creativity is impaired or atypical, such as in certain psychiatric disorders. Aberrant valuation mechanisms could explain reduced or altered creative expression, offering potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Conversely, understanding how valuation drives creativity might facilitate harnessing creative strengths in neurodivergent populations, fostering inclusive environments that recognize diverse cognitive styles.
Looking forward, the authors suggest key directions for extending their work. These include exploring how subjective valuation interacts with motivational and emotional systems over longer temporal scales, elucidating developmental trajectories of valuation networks in creativity, and leveraging real-world creative tasks outside laboratory settings. Moreover, integrating neural data with rich qualitative analyses of creative products promises to deepen understanding of how valuation informs not just quantity but quality and impact of creative output.
This study’s contributions resonate profoundly as society increasingly seeks to nurture innovation in complex and interdisciplinary domains. By uncovering universal evaluative mechanisms that underlie creative thinking across fields, it provides a conceptual and empirical blueprint for fostering human creativity in a holistic and scientifically grounded manner. As science unfolds the cognitive algorithms at play, the age-old mystery of creativity inches closer to a tangible, mechanistic understanding, promising exciting advances for education, technology, and mental health.
Subject of Research: The neural and cognitive role of subjective valuation as a domain-general process in creative thinking.
Article Title: Subjective valuation as a domain-general process in creative thinking.
Article References:
Battistello, G., Moreno-Rodriguez, S., Volle, E. et al. Subjective valuation as a domain-general process in creative thinking. Commun Psychol 3, 108 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00285-8
Image Credits: AI Generated
