Toward a neural network theory of emotional influences on creativity

Previous models of creativity are based on linking a subsystem that generates ideas from combining existing concepts with a critic that decides whether these ideas are sufficiently useful and novel. A variety of conditions can lead the critic to be either more severe or more lenient than otherwise. The conditions that make the critic more severe include evaluation apprehension, which frequently occurs in group brainstorming situations, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The conditions that make the critic more lenient include induction of emotions that engender a feeling of certainty or confidence. A network theory for such emotional influences on idea generation is proposed based on extending earlier models to add influences of both the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex on behavioral gating in the basal ganglia.