• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.503-526
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• 2010

We investigated the brain activity in perceiving the emotional stimuli between a science invention group(n=13) and a general group(n=13). The science invention group, which mostly consisted of recipients of creativity prizes, scored 96% on creative personality tests(WKOPAY, SAM), whereas the general group performed at an average level on these tests. Analyzing the brain activity in perceiving the emotional stimuli(IAPS pictures), the science invention group than the general group showed higher activity in certain areas, such as MTG, STG, and so on. When correlation analysis was performed on the creative personality score and brain activity, MTG, STG, and so on areas showed significant correlations. There were more correlation areas in valence than in arousal. These results show that scientific creativity is related to emotional susceptibility. Thus, we insist that emotion be considered in the assessment and education programs for the gifted in science.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.317-332
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• 2012

We investigated brain activity during the performance of the intelligence task by a science high school student group (n=8) and a foreign language high school student group (n=5). Both groups scored in the top 1% on intelligence tests (science high school group: RAPM mean score=34.0, WAIS mean IQ=139.6; foreign language high school group: RAPM mean score=33.8, WAIS mean IQ=147.2). Analysis of brain activity during the performance of the intelligence task showed that both groups had brain activity in certain areas, including the left and right prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and anterior cingulate. The science high school group showed the highest activity in the right parietal cortex, which is related to visuo-spatial working memory, whereas the foreign language high school group showed the highest activity in the left prefrontal cortex, which is related to verbal working memory. The foreign language high school group showed higher brain activity than the science high school group in the left precentral gyrus which is related to the motion of the tongue and lips. These results show that the science high school group utilized the visuo-spatial area, whereas the foreign language high school group utilized the verbal area during the performance of the intelligence task. This suggests that the major thinking process differs depending on the gifted students' primary field of study, although they are doing the same task.