Shani Beicher (Raphael) and Sigal Ben-Zaken, PhD

Creativity—the capacity to generate novel and valuable solutions—represents a complex cognitive phenotype with substantial inter-individual variation. While heritability estimates from twin studies suggest 40-70% genetic contribution to creative abilities, the molecular genetic architecture underlying creativity remains poorly understood. The dopaminergic system, particularly genes regulating dopamine metabolism and signaling in the prefrontal cortex, has emerged as a promising candidate pathway given dopamine's established role in cognitive flexibility and executive function.

Motor creativity, defined as the ability to generate diverse and novel motor solutions to environmental challenges, represents a specialized form of creative cognition critical for performance in dynamic, unpredictable contexts such as combat sports. Elite Judo—a combat sport requiring rapid tactical decision-making and execution of complex motor sequences under pressure—provides an ideal model system for investigating the genetic basis of motor creativity. Furthermore, Judo offers unique advantages for studying sex differences, as it is one of few combat sports with gender parity in competitive participation and achievement.

Despite extensive research on cognitive creativity, motor creativity has received minimal attention, and potential sex-specific genetic influences have been virtually unexplored. Understanding these mechanisms has broad implications for behavioral genetics, extending from talent identification in specialized domains to personalized cognitive enhancement strategies.

Methods

We conducted a genetic association study in 77 elite Israeli Judo athletes (32 females, 45 males; aged 16-25 years) representing national and international competitive levels. Participants completed validated assessments of divergent thinking (verbal and figural creativity measuring fluency, flexibility, and originality) and sport-specific motor creativity tasks. Buccal epithelial samples were genotyped for three functionally relevant polymorphisms in the dopaminergic system: COMT A/G rs4680 (catechol-O-methyltransferase, regulating prefrontal dopamine catabolism), BDNF C/T rs6265 (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, modulating dopamine neuron survival), and DRD2 C/T rs6277 (dopamine receptor D2, affecting receptor expression and signaling).

Results

Female athletes exhibited significantly higher scores across all creativity dimensions compared to males (fluency, flexibility, and originality; all p < 0.05). Moderate to high correlations emerged between divergent thinking measures and motor creativity scores (r = 0.45-0.68), particularly in males, suggesting partially shared cognitive mechanisms.

Critically, we identified a significant sex-by-genotype interaction for COMT rs4680 across all figural divergent thinking dimensions (p < 0.05). Female athletes carrying the GG genotype (low COMT activity, higher prefrontal dopamine) demonstrated the highest creativity scores, while male athletes with the AA genotype (high COMT activity, lower prefrontal dopamine) showed superior performance. This interaction remained significant after controlling for training history and competitive achievement level. No significant main effects of genotype or interactions were observed for BDNF rs6265 or DRD2 rs6277 polymorphisms.

Discussion

Our findings reveal sex-specific genetic influences on creative cognition, with opposite effects of the COMT rs4680 polymorphism in males versus females. This pattern suggests that sex hormones modulate the relationship between prefrontal dopamine tone and creative thinking. Estrogen and testosterone receptors are abundantly expressed in prefrontal cortex and interact with dopaminergic signaling pathways. The observed interaction may reflect sex-differential optimal dopamine levels for creative cognition, consistent with inverted-U models of prefrontal dopamine function.

These results extend beyond athletic performance, providing insight into fundamental mechanisms of sex differences in cognition and the complex interplay between genetic variation, sex hormones, and neurotransmitter systems in shaping behavioral phenotypes. Future research should examine additional dopaminergic polymorphisms, investigate the neural mechanisms mediating these sex-specific effects using neuroimaging approaches, and determine whether similar gene-by-sex interactions influence creativity in non-athletic populations and other cognitive domains.