TABLE 1.
Summary of studies and contrasts included in the meta‐analysis
| Study | N(F/M) | Scanner | Type | Task | Contrasts | Foci |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shah et al. (2013) | 28 (14/14) | fMRI | Literary | Creative writing | Brainstorming > copying; creative writing > copying | 6 |
| Bechtereva et al. (2004) | 25 (0/25) | PET | Literary | Story generation | Difficult > easy; difficult > reading; difficult > words | 15 |
| Howard‐Jones et al. (2005) | 8 (7/1) | fMRI | Literary | Story generation | Creative story > uncreative story | 4 |
| Benedek, Jauk, et al. (2014) | 28 (18/10) | fMRI | Literary | Metaphor production | Creative metaphor > literal generation | 8 |
| Beaty, Silvia, et al. (2017) | 35 (22/13) | fMRI | Literary | Metaphor production | Metaphor > synonym | 12 a |
| Erhard et al. (2014) | 48 (22/26) | fMRI | Literary | Creative writing | Brainstorming > copying; creative writing > copying | 33 |
| Liu et al. (2015) | 27 (15/12) | fMRI | Literary | Poetry composition | Generate new poem > recite memorized poems | 41 |
| Aziz‐Zadeh et al., 2013) | 13 (7/6) | fMRI | Drawing | Shapes assembling | Visual imagery > control | 10 |
| Cai et al. (2018) | 16 (8/8) | fMRI | Drawing | Shapes assembling | Visual imagery > control | 12 |
| Ellamil et al. (2012) | 15 (9/6) | fMRI | Drawing | Cover illustrations | Generation > evaluation | 46 |
| Fan et al. (2014) | 23 (17/6) | fMRI | Drawing | Face design task | Unrestricted design > restricted design | 9 |
| Hahm et al. (2017) | 25 (14/11) | fMRI | Drawing | Figural TTCT | Drawing imagery > line tracking | 31 |
| Huang et al. (2013) | 26 (15/11) | fMRI | Drawing | Construct image | Creative > uncreative | 3 |
| Kowatari et al. (2009) | 40 (24/16) | fMRI | Drawing | Designing new pens | Creative design > counting | 19 |
| Park et al. (2015) | 48 (31/17) | fMRI | Drawing | Figural TTCT | Creative drawing > line tracking | 12 |
| Saggar et al. (2017) | 36 (18/18) | fMRI | Drawing | Figural pictionary task | Word‐drawing > zigzag‐drawing | 31 |
| Saggar et al. (2015) | 30 (16/14) | fMRI | Drawing | Figural pictionary task | Word‐drawing > zigzag‐drawing | 34 |
| Villarreal et al. (2013) | 24 (15/9) | fMRI | Music | Generate rhythm | Create > repeat | 6 |
| Pinho et al. (2016) | 39 (15/24) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Pitch‐set > rest | 13 |
| Pinho et al. (2014) | 39 (15/24) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Improvisation > rest | 4 |
| McPherson et al. (2016) | 12 (1/11) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Improvisation > chromatic | 12 |
| Lu et al. (2017) | 29 (15/14) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Improvisation > random button press | 41 |
| Liu et al. (2012) | 12 (0/12) | fMRI | Music | Freestyle rap | Improvised > conventional | 19 |
| Limb & Braun (2008) | 6 (0/6) | fMRI | Music | Jazz improvisation | Improvised > control | 31 |
| Donnay et al. (2014) | 11 (0/11) | fMRI | Music | Jazz improvisation | Improvised > control | 36 |
| Dhakal et al. (2019) | 24 (0/24) | fMRI | Music | Vocalize and imagine improvised | Improvised > prelearned | 20 |
| de Manzano & Ullen (2012) | 18 (1/17) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Improvised > sight‐reading | 8 |
| de Manzano & Ullen (2012) | 15 (14/1) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Melodic and rhythmic improvisation > rest | 4 |
| Brown et al. (2006) | 10 (5/5) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Melodic improvisation > rest | 40 |
| Berkowitz & Ansari (2008) | 13 (5/8) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Improvised > familiar patterns | 20 |
| Berkowitz & Ansari (2010) | 28 (15/13) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Melodic improvisation > patterns conditions | 1 |
| Bengtsson et al. (2007) | 11 (0/11) | fMRI | Music | Improvisation | Improvised > reproduce | 14 |
a
Foci was identified using multivariate pattern analysis.