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Brain Network Reconfiguration During Creative Playmaking: A Task-fMRI Study

Authors :

Mohammd Rezaei¹ Mahdi Siami² Asghar Zarei³ Alireza Talesh Jafadideh⁴

1- University of Tehran 2- University of Tehran 3- Sahand University of Technology 4- University of Tehran

Keywords :

Creative decision-making،task-fMRI،tHOFC،Soccer players

Abstract :

We investigated how large-scale brain networks support creative decision-making in soccer. Thirty-five male players completed a video-based creativity task during fMRI; professional coaches rated the originality/feasibility of each imagined play. We computed topography-based high-order functional connectivity (tHOFC) between 100 cortical regions during the idea-generation (“Think”) periods and compared High- versus Low-SVT groups using a max-statistic permutation test. Global connectivity did not differ between groups, but six edges linking a right peripheral-visual node to dorsal and ventral attention hubs were weaker in the High-SVT group. Across individuals, lower visual–attention connectivity correlated with higher creativity scores (r = −0.52, 95% CI −0.76 to −0.17, p = 0.006; significant after FDR correction at q = 0.05). These results indicate that selective decoupling, not global hyperconnectivity, characterizes creative playmaking and aligns with accounts of internally directed cognition. Methodologically, our connectivity analysis with strict permutation testing reveals subtle, task-locked network reconfigurations in sport cognition.