Group creativity emerges from triple ideation pathways: neurobehavioral evidence from an fNIRS hyperscanning study

This study explored the origins of creative ideas in groups, validating the triple-pathway model of group creative ideation with behavioral and neuroscientific evidence. A total of 123 college student dyads completed a creative ideation task and a contrast task while their brain activity was simultaneously recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results identified three distinct ideation pathways—flexibility, persistence, and convergence—that collectively drove group creativity, accompanied by three interbrain synchrony states. STATE2, characterized by enhanced prefrontal–temporal interbrain synchrony, positively predicted group creative performance, whereas STATE3, marked by reduced frontal–parietal interbrain synchrony, negatively predicted it. Specifically, STATE2 facilitated group creativity through three mediating pathways: (1) the flexibility pathway alone, (2) combined flexibility–persistence or flexibility–convergence pathways, and (3) a sequential flexibility–persistence–convergence pathway with chain mediation effects. These findings provide neurobehavioral evidence for the triple-pathway model, underscoring the pivotal role of prefrontal–temporal interbrain synchrony in group creativity. They further demonstrate the dynamic, multi-pathway nature of group creative ideation, showing that a single cohort can flexibly employ three interchangeable pathways to generate novel ideas collaboratively.