Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Creativity and Neurological Disease

  • Behavior (H Kirshner, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although humans have long valued creativity, the generation of such innovation is still incompletely understood. Looking at the healthy brain, researchers have localized certain parts for a basic understanding of these mechanisms. By researching the brain affected by neurological disease, scientists have observed unique manifestations of creativity, such as in frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonian spectrum disorders, and stroke, which help clarify these creative underpinnings. Incorporating both healthy and disease models of cerebral functioning, neurological and neuroscientific research from recent years has built on established theories and expanded current knowledge.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Heilman KM, Nadeau SE, Beversdorf DO. Creative innovation: possible brain mechanisms. Neurocase. 2003;9:369–79.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Guilford JP. Creativity. Am Psychol. 1950;5:444–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bogousslavsky J. Artistic creativity, style and brain disorders. Eur Neurol. 2005;54(2):103–11.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Helmholtz H. Vorträge und reden. Braunschweig: Vieweg; 1896.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Eysenck HJ. Genius: the natural history of creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1995.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Wallas G. The art of thought. New York: Harcourt Brace; 1926.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Torrance EP. The Torrance test of creative thinking. Bensenville: Scholastic Testing Service; 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Guilford JP, Christensen PR, Merrifield PR, Wilson RC. Alternate uses: manual of instructions and interpretations. Orange, Sheridan Psychological Services, 1978.

  9. Wei D, Yang J, Li W, Wang K, Zhang Q, Qiu J. Increased resting functional connectivity of the medial prefrontal cortex in creativity by means of cognitive stimulation. Cortex. 2014;51:92–102. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2013.09.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Mishkin M, Ungerleider LG. Contribution of striate inputs to the visuospatial functions of parieto-preoccipital cortex in monkeys. Behav Brain Res. 1982;6(1):57–77. doi:10.1016/0166-4328(82)90081-X.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Miller BL, Hou CE. Portraits of artists: emergence of visual creativity in dementia. Arch Neurol. 2004;61:842–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Gansler DA, Moore DW, Susmaras TM, Jerram MW, Sousa J, Heilman KM. Cortical morphology of visual creativity. Neuropsychologia. 2011;49(9):2527–32. This focuses on gray matter correlates with creativity on standardized tests.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Bogen JE, Bogen GM. Creativity and the corpus callosum. Psychiatr Clin N Am. 1988;11(3):293–301.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Takeuchi H, Taki Y, Hashizume H, Sassa Y, Nagase T, Nouchi R, et al. The association between resting functional connectivity and creativity. Cereb Cortex. 2012;22(12):2921–9. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr371. Research into resting state and default mode function has yielded interesting insights into the mechanisms of creativity. This article is a good example of correlations identified in resting state cortical function and standardized tests of creativity.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Kapur N. Paradoxical functional facilitation in brain-behaviour research. A critical review. Brain. 1996;119:1775–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Sprague JM. Interaction of cortex and superior colliculus in mediation of visually guided behavior in the cat. Science. 1996;153:1544–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Heilman KM, Acosta LM. Visual artistic creativity and the brain. Prog Brain Res. 2013;204:19–43. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63287-6.00002-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Miller ZA, Miller BL. Artistic creativity and dementia. Prog Brain Res. 2013;204:99–112.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Miller BL, Cummings J, Mishkin F, Boone K, Prince F, Ponton M, et al. Emergence of artistic talent in frontotemporal dementia. Neurology. 1998;51(4):978–82.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Wu TQ, Miller ZA, Adhimoolam B, Zackey DD, Khan BK, Ketelle R, et al. Verbal creativity in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. Neurocase. 2013. doi:10.1080/13554794.2013.860179. This article looks at manifestations of verbal creativity, a unique variant on the typical visual creativity documented in these patients.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Seeley WW, Matthews BR, Crawford RK, Gorno-Tempini ML, Foti D, Mackenzie IR, et al. Unravelling Boléro: progressive aphasia, transmodal creativity and the right posterior neocortex. Brain. 2008;131(1):39–49.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Finney GR, Heilman KM. Artwork before and after onset of progressive nonfluent aphasia. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2007;20(1):7–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. de Souza LC, Volle E, Bertoux M, Czernecki V, Unkiewiez A, Allali G, et al. Poor creativity in frontotemporal dementia: a window into the neural bases of the creative mind. Neuropsychologia. 2010;48(13):3733–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Crutch SJ, Isaacs R, Rossor MN. Some workmen can blame their tools: artistic change in an individual with Alzheimer's disease. Lancet. 2001;357(9274):2129–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Fornazzari LR. Preserved painting creativity in an artist with Alzheimer's disease. Eur J Neurol. 2005;12(6):419–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Rankin KP, Liu AA, Howard S, Slama H, Hou CE, Shuster K, et al. A case-controlled study of altered visual art production in Alzheimer’s and FTLD. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2007;20(1):48–61.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Piechowski-Jozwiak B, Bogousslavsky J. Neurological diseases in famous painters. Prog Brain Res. 2013;203:255–75. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-62730-8.00011-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Cummings JL, Zarit JM. Probable Alzheimer's disease in an artist. JAMA. 1987;258(19):2731–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Espinel CH. De Kooning's late colours and forms: dementia, creativity, and the healing power of art. Lancet. 1996;347:1096–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Garrard P, Maloney LM, Hodges JR, Patterson K. The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by a renowned author. Brain. 2005;128:250–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Xuan L, Lancashire I, Hirst G, Jokel R. Longitudinal detection of dementia through lexical and syntactic changes in writing: a case study of three British novelists. Lit Linguist Comput. 2011;26(4):435–61. doi:10.1093/llc/fqr013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Duff MC, Kurczek J, Rubin R, Cohen NJ, Tranel D. Hippocampal amnesia disrupts creative thinking. Hippocampus. 2013;23(12):1143–9. doi:10.1002/hipo.22208.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Inzelberg R. The awakening of artistic creativity and Parkinson's disease. Behav Neurosci. 2013;127(2):256–61. doi:10.1037/a0031052.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Schwingenschuh P, Katschnig P, Saurugg R, Ott E, Bhatia KP. Artistic profession: a potential risk factor for dopamine dysregulation syndrome in Parkinson's disease? Mov Disord. 2010;25(4):493–6. doi:10.1002/mds.22936.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Canesi M, Rusconi ML, Isaias IU, Pezzoli G. Artistic productivity and creative thinking in Parkinson's disease. Eur J Neurol. 2012;19(3):468–72. doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2011.03546.x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Chatterjee A, Hamilton RH, Amorapanth PX. Art produced by a patient with Parkinson's disease. Behav Neurol. 2006;17:105–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Joutsa J, Martikainen K, Kaasinen V. Parallel appearance of compulsive behaviors and artistic creativity in Parkinson's disease. Case Rep Neurol. 2012;4(1):77–83. doi:10.1159/000338759.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Kulisevsky J, Pagonabarraga J, Martinez-Corral M. Changes in artistic style and behaviour in Parkinson's disease: dopamine and creativity. J Neurol. 2009;256(5):816–9. doi:10.1007/s00415-009-5001-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Mayseless N, Uzefovsky F, Shalev I, Ebstein RP, Shamay-Tsoory SG. The association between creativity and 7R polymorphism in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4). Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:502. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00502.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Drago V, Foster PS, Skidmore FM, Heilman KM. Creativity in Parkinson's disease as a function of right versus left hemibody onset. J Neurol Sci. 2009;276(1–2):179–83. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2008.09.026.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Drago V, Foster PS, Okun MS, Cosentino FI, Conigliaro R, Haq I, et al. Turning off artistic ability: the influence of left DBS in art production. J Neurol Sci. 2009;281(1–2):116–21. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2009.03.001.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Kleiner-Fisman G, Black SE, Lang AE. Neurodegenerative disease and the evolution of art: the effects of presumed corticobasal degeneration in a professional artist. Mov Disord. 2003;18:294–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Sahlas DJ. Dementia with Lewy bodies and the neurobehavioral decline of Mervyn Peake. Arch Neurol. 2003;60:889–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Shimura H, Tanaka R, Urabe T, Tanaka S, Hattori N. Art and Parkinson's disease: a dramatic change in an artist's style as an initial symptom. J Neurol. 2012;259(5):879–81. doi:10.1007/s00415-011-6271-y.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Schrag A, Trimble M. Poetic talent unmasked by treatment of Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord. 2001;16:1175–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Mazzucchi A, Sinforiani E, Boller F. Focal cerebral lesions and painting abilities. Prog Brain Res. 2013;204:71–98. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63287-6.00004-X. This is a comprehensive review of how cerebral lesions affect painting depending on localization, with detailed analysis of the style and the artists themselves.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Thomas-Anterion C, Creac'h C, Dionet E, Borg C, Extier C, Faillenot I, et al. De novo artistic activity following insular-SII ischemia. Pain. 2010;150(1):121–7. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2010.04.010.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Annoni JM, Devuyst G, Carota A, Bruggimann L, Bogousslavsky J. Changes in artistic style after minor posterior stroke. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2005;76:797–803.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Lythgoe MF, Pollak TA, Kalmus M, de Haan M, Chong WK. Obsessive, prolific artistic output following subarachnoid hemorrhage. Neurology. 2005;64(2):397–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Lealani Mae Y. Acosta declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, 2525 West End Avenue, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN, 37203-8684, USA

    Lealani Mae Y. Acosta

Authors
  1. Lealani Mae Y. Acosta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lealani Mae Y. Acosta.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Behavior

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Acosta, L.M.Y. Creativity and Neurological Disease. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 14, 464 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-014-0464-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-014-0464-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation