The Opposite of Stress: The Relationship between Vagal Tone, Creativity, and Divergent Thinking

Cognition is affected by psychophysiological states. While the influence of stress on cognition has been investigated intensively, less studies have addressed how the opposite of stress, a state of relaxation, affects cognition. We investigated whether the extent of parasympathetic activation is positively related to divergent thinking. Sixty healthy female participants were randomly allocated to a standardized vagus nerve massage (n = 19), a standardized soft shoulder massage (n = 22), or a resting control group (n = 19). Subsequently, participants completed the Alternative Uses Test (AUT), a measure of divergent thinking. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a vagally mediated heart rate variability component, was monitored throughout the experiment. The area under the curve with respect to the increase was calculated for RSA trajectories as an indicator of vagal tone during the relaxing intervention. Regressions tested the effect of vagal tone on AUT outcomes. We found an association between vagal tone and subsequent AUT outcomes. Yet, this association was no longer significant when controlling for the effect of the creative potential of an individual, which was strongly related to AUT outcomes. Being exploratory, we found a positive association between creative potential and vagal tone. These results imply that creative potential might be related to the capacity to relax.