Neural mechanisms underpinning the association between visual arts education and creativity

Visual arts education has been linked to cognitive and neural benefits, yet the neural mechanisms associated with creativity remain unclear. This study examined how long-term engagement in design-related visual arts education relates to creative performance and brain function. Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching, we compared design majors to matched non-design majors. Participants completed visual art creative tasks (product and book cover design) and divergent thinking tasks (AUT, TTCT-figural) during fNIRS recording. The design group outperformed peers across tasks and showed greater left dorsolateral prefrontal activation during early idea generation, while non-design peers relied more on sensory and motor regions. Functional connectivity revealed reduced coupling within task-relevant circuits, indicating greater neural efficiency. Dynamic network analysis showed design majors spent more time in efficient states and switched between states more flexibly. These findings suggest that design-related visual arts education may support creativity through efficient and flexible brain network engagement.