The left angular gyrus (AG), part of the frontotemporal network, is implicated in creative thinking, including verbal creativity tasks such as novel metaphor generation. The current study tested the effects of tDCS over the left AG on two metaphor generation tasks. The study was a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study of anodal vs. cathodal stimulation by tDCS. Compared to sham, cathodal stimulation resulted in significantly increased novel metaphor generation, while anodal stimulation increased conventional metaphor generation. Higher motivation (behavioral approach system’s “fun-seeking”) was associated with greater metaphor creativity in the sham condition, and lower fun seeking was associated with producing a greater quantity of conventional metaphors. Following active stimulation, motivation traits no longer contributed to creative metaphor generation. Thus, the beneficial effect of cathodal tDCS over the left AG in generation of novel metaphors is through restraining the control network. The current study gives a glimpse into the neural basis for creative thinking.

左角回 (AG) 是额颞叶网络的一部分，与创造性思维有关，包括语言创造性任务，例如新的隐喻生成。目前的研究测试了 tDCS 在左侧 AG 上对两个隐喻生成任务的影响。该研究是一项对 tDCS 进行的阳极与阴极刺激的随机、双盲、假对照、交叉研究。与sham相比，阴极刺激显着增加了新隐喻的生成，而阳极刺激则增加了传统隐喻的生成。较高的动机（行为方法系统的“寻求乐趣”）与虚假条件下更大的隐喻创造力有关，而较低的乐趣寻求与产生更多的常规隐喻有关。主动刺激后，动机特征不再有助于创造性隐喻的产生。因此，阴极 tDCS 在生成新隐喻时对左 AG 的有益作用是通过抑制控制网络。目前的研究让我们得以一窥创造性思维的神经基础。