Creativity and Psychiatric Illness: The Search for a Missing Link - An Historical Context for Current Research

Thys, E; Sabbe, Bernard; Hert, Marc De

doi:10.1159/000339458

Cited by 30 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This is not incompatible with the dimensional view that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are extremes on a continuum [32,33], with schizotypy and cyclothymia as milder and more stable expressions of the pathology. Here, productive symptoms like hypomania and unusual experiences, and cognitive symptoms like the loosening of associations, could nourish creativity without the invalidating symptoms of the extreme pathologies on the continuum such as full-blown mania or psychosis, negative symptoms and depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Creativity and Psychopathology: A Systematic Review

2014

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Background: The possible link between creativity and psychopathology has been a long-time focus of research up to the present day. However, the research results in this field are heterogeneous and contradictory. Links between creativity and specific psychiatric disorders have been confirmed and refuted in different studies. This disparity is partly explained by the methodological challenges peculiar to this field. Methods: In this systematic review of the literature from 1950, research articles in the field of creativity and psychopathology are presented, focusing on the methodology and results of the collected studies. Results: This review confirms the methodological problems and the heterogeneity of the study designs and results. The assessment of psychopathology, but more so of creativity, remains a fundamental challenge. On the whole, study results cautiously confirm an association between creativity and both bipolar disorder and schizotypy. Conclusion: The research on creativity and psychopathology is hampered by serious methodological problems. Study results are to be interpreted with caution and future research needs more methodological rigor.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Creativity and Psychopathology: A Systematic Review

2014

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“…Another feature of art by persons with schizophrenia relates to their special imagination and creativity. These aspects must be evaluated in the art–historical context ( 3 , 51 ) and are beyond the scope of the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical Image Properties in Works from the Prinzhorn Collection of Artists with Schizophrenia

2017

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The Prinzhorn Collection preserves and exhibits thousands of visual artworks by patients who were diagnosed to suffer from mental disease. From this collection, we analyzed 1,256 images by 14 artists who were diagnosed with dementia praecox or schizophrenia. Six objective statistical properties that have been used previously to characterize visually aesthetic images were calculated. These properties reflect features of formal image composition, such as the complexity and distribution of oriented luminance gradients and edges, as well as Fourier spectral properties. Results for the artists with schizophrenia were compared to artworks from three public art collections of paintings and drawings that include highly acclaimed artworks as well as artworks of lesser artistic claim (control artworks). Many of the patients’ works did not differ from these control images. However, the artworks of 6 of the 14 artists with schizophrenia possess image properties that deviate from the range of values obtained for the control artworks. For example, the artworks of four of the patients are characterized by a relative dominance of specific edge orientations in their images (low first-order entropy of edge orientations). Three patients created artworks with a relatively high ratio of fine detail to coarse structure (high slope of the Fourier spectrum). In conclusion, the present exploratory study opens novel perspectives for the objective scientific investigation of visual artworks that were created by persons who suffer from schizophrenia.

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“…Many have also argued that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are associated with different types of creativity, such as “artistic” versus “scientific,” which may be mediated by varying aspects of temperament, personality, and cognitive style [19,118,137,138,139,140]. In support of this concept, some groups have demonstrated an association of positive schizotypal traits with artistic domains and negative schizotypal traits with math and science [116,141].…”

Section: Bipolar Disorder Schizophrenia and Their Common Connectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Traits in the Bipolar Spectrum: The Space between Madness and Genius

Greenwood¹

2016

Complex Psychiatry

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Bipolar disorder is a severe, lifelong mood disorder for which little is currently understood of the genetic mechanisms underlying risk. By examining related dimensional phenotypes, we may further our understanding of the disorder. Creativity has a historical connection with the bipolar spectrum and is particularly enhanced among unaffected first-degree relatives and those with bipolar spectrum traits. This suggests that some aspects of the bipolar spectrum may confer advantages, while more severe expressions of symptoms negatively influence creative accomplishment. Creativity is a complex, multidimensional construct with both cognitive and affective components, many of which appear to reflect a shared genetic vulnerability with bipolar disorder. It is suggested that a subset of bipolar risk variants confer advantages as positive traits according to an inverted-U-shaped curve with clinically unaffected allele carriers benefitting from the positive traits and serving to maintain the risk alleles in the population. The association of risk genes with creativity in healthy individuals (e.g., NRG1), as well as an overall sharing of common genetic variation between bipolar patients and creative individuals, provides support for this model. Current findings are summarized from a multidisciplinary perspective to demonstrate the feasibility of research in this area to reveal the mechanisms underlying illness.

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Creativity and Psychiatric Illness: The Search for a Missing Link - An Historical Context for Current Research

Cited by 30 publications

References 18 publications

Creativity and Psychopathology: A Systematic Review

Creativity and Psychopathology: A Systematic Review

Statistical Image Properties in Works from the Prinzhorn Collection of Artists with Schizophrenia

Positive Traits in the Bipolar Spectrum: The Space between Madness and Genius

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