Neural Perspectives of Cerebral Correlates of Giftedness

Abstract

Giftedness is defined as some special endowment or propensity for creativity, skill, and eminent achievement, found in relatively few individuals among the population. A high order of mental power (IQ), creativity, and motivation (task commitment) appear to be the most universally recognized attributes of the gifted. This report summarizes current knowledge of the cerebral correlates of intelligence and creativity, including physiological measures of EEG, cortical power spectrum, brain evoked potentials, and positron emission tomography. Controversy, debates, contentions, formal hypotheses, and research issues are considered. We are especially interested in the formulation of the deterministic function of EEG-brain dynamics. A CHAOS modeling on hierarchy of cognitive organization and cerebral processing in the gifted is suggested.

Key Words:

• intelligence
• gifted
• brain
• cerebral potentials
• positron emission tomography
• CHAOS modeling