Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training
Quadrato Motor Training (QMT) is a whole-body movement contemplative practice aimed at increasing health and well-being. Previous research studying the effect of one QMT session suggested that one of its means for promoting health is by enhancing cognitive flexibility, an important dimension creativ...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01021/full |
| _version_ | 1828399446497427456 |
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| author | Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana Claudia ePiervincenzi Claudia ePiervincenzi Joseph eGlicksohn Joseph eGlicksohn Filippo eCarducci |
| author_facet | Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana Claudia ePiervincenzi Claudia ePiervincenzi Joseph eGlicksohn Joseph eGlicksohn Filippo eCarducci |
| author_sort | Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Quadrato Motor Training (QMT) is a whole-body movement contemplative practice aimed at increasing health and well-being. Previous research studying the effect of one QMT session suggested that one of its means for promoting health is by enhancing cognitive flexibility, an important dimension creativity. Yet, little is known about the effect of a longer QMT practice on creativity, or the relative contribution of the cognitive and motor aspects of the training. Here, we continue this line of research in two inter-related studies, examining the effects of prolonged QMT. In the first, we investigated the effect of 4-weeks of daily QMT on creativity using the Alternate Uses Task. In order to determine whether changes in creativity were driven by the cognitive or the motor aspects of the training, we used two control groups: Verbal Training (VT, identical cognitive training with verbal response) and Simple Motor Training (SMT, similar motor training with reduced choice requirements). Twenty-seven participants were randomly assigned to one of the groups. Following training, cognitive flexibility significantly increased in the QMT group, which was not the case for either the SMT or VT groups. In contrast to one QMT session, ideational fluency was also significantly increased. In the second study, we conducted a pilot longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) (4-weeks QMT). We report gray matter volume and fractional anisotropy changes, in several regions, including the cerebellum, previously related to interoceptive accuracy. The anatomical changes were positively correlated with cognitive flexibility scores. Albeit the small sample size and preliminary nature of the findings, these results provide support for the hypothesized creativity-motor connection. The results are compared to other contemplative studies, and discussed in light of theoretical models integrating cognitive flexibility, embodiment and the motor system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T09:17:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dc706b6e9d62451e8fbb216b409be64c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T09:17:23Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-dc706b6e9d62451e8fbb216b409be64c2022-12-22T01:54:49ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782015-07-01610.3389/fpsyg.2015.01021139856Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor TrainingTal Dotan Ben-Soussan0Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan1Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana2Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana3Claudia ePiervincenzi4Claudia ePiervincenzi5Joseph eGlicksohn6Joseph eGlicksohn7Filippo eCarducci8Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti FoundationBar-Ilan UniversityUniversity of Rome SapienzaWeizmann Institute of ScienceUniversity of Rome SapienzaUniversity of G. d’Annunzio Chieti-PescaraBar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan UniversityUniversity of Rome SapienzaQuadrato Motor Training (QMT) is a whole-body movement contemplative practice aimed at increasing health and well-being. Previous research studying the effect of one QMT session suggested that one of its means for promoting health is by enhancing cognitive flexibility, an important dimension creativity. Yet, little is known about the effect of a longer QMT practice on creativity, or the relative contribution of the cognitive and motor aspects of the training. Here, we continue this line of research in two inter-related studies, examining the effects of prolonged QMT. In the first, we investigated the effect of 4-weeks of daily QMT on creativity using the Alternate Uses Task. In order to determine whether changes in creativity were driven by the cognitive or the motor aspects of the training, we used two control groups: Verbal Training (VT, identical cognitive training with verbal response) and Simple Motor Training (SMT, similar motor training with reduced choice requirements). Twenty-seven participants were randomly assigned to one of the groups. Following training, cognitive flexibility significantly increased in the QMT group, which was not the case for either the SMT or VT groups. In contrast to one QMT session, ideational fluency was also significantly increased. In the second study, we conducted a pilot longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) (4-weeks QMT). We report gray matter volume and fractional anisotropy changes, in several regions, including the cerebellum, previously related to interoceptive accuracy. The anatomical changes were positively correlated with cognitive flexibility scores. Albeit the small sample size and preliminary nature of the findings, these results provide support for the hypothesized creativity-motor connection. The results are compared to other contemplative studies, and discussed in light of theoretical models integrating cognitive flexibility, embodiment and the motor system.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01021/fullCerebellumcreativityMRIembodimentQuadrato Motor training |
| spellingShingle | Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana Aviva eBerkovich-Ohana Claudia ePiervincenzi Claudia ePiervincenzi Joseph eGlicksohn Joseph eGlicksohn Filippo eCarducci Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training Frontiers in Psychology Cerebellum creativity MRI embodiment Quadrato Motor training |
| title | Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training |
| title_full | Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training |
| title_fullStr | Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training |
| title_full_unstemmed | Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training |
| title_short | Embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following Quadrato Motor Training |
| title_sort | embodied creativity and neuroplasticity following quadrato motor training |
| topic | Cerebellum creativity MRI embodiment Quadrato Motor training |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01021/full |
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