Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for right-hemisphere involvement in processing unusual semantic relationships

Brain areas active in generating usual (typical) or unusual (atypical) noun -verb relations were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seven adults generated the Ist verb to come to mind (usual verb) in respons e to novel and repeated nouns (priming test) and then generated either an u nusual verb or the 1st verb to come to mind in response to novel nouns (unu sual test). The left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPC) and right cerebellum were more active when generating usual verbs to novel nouns than to repeat ed nouns. When participants generated unusual verbs, there was no increased activation in LIPC, but there was increased activity in the right middle a nd superior frontal gyri, left middle frontal gyrus, and bilateral cerebell um. Results support theories that the right hemisphere is involved in the p rocessing of distant associations that may be useful in creative thought an d problem solving.