Musical hallucinations and their relation with epilepsy

Journal of Neurology - Musical hallucinations are poorly understood phenomena. Their relation with epilepsy was first described over a century ago, but never systematically explored. We, therefore,...     

Psychopathology and creativity

In this paper, a concept has been presented stating that the process of creativity may be connected with psychopathological features such as mood disorders, mainly bipolar, and psychosis-like thought abnormalities. Biographic studies point to a more frequent occurrence of affective disorders in creative subjects and members of their families. There is also data concerning the occurrence of schizophrenia in the families of prominent persons. A number of studies have demonstrated a similarity of patients with bipolar affective illness and members of their families to creative persons, as to increased indexes of creativity as well as such temperamental features as cyclothymia, neuroticism and openness. An association has been also found between the dimension of"psychoticism", schizotypal features and the measures of creativity. A reduction of the so called "latent inhibition" mechanism, resulting in perception of seemingly irrelevant external stimuli is connected with a predisposition to both increased creativity and schizophrenia-like disturbances. A neurobiological model of generating ideas and creative drive assumes a dominant role of three brain structures: frontal lobes, temporal lobes and the mesolimbic system. The neurotransmission system mostly connected with elevated mood and psychotic thinking is the dopaminergic system, especially its mesolimbic and cortical pathways. Both neurobiological and pharmacological evidence has been accumulated for an association of these pathways with motivational, emotional and cognitive processes, and indirectly, with the processes of creativity. In recent years, a number of interesting results has also been obtained from molecular-genetic studies about genetic determinants of creativity processes in association with bipolar mood changes and psychotic conditions.     

Affective creativity meets classic creativity in the scanner

The investigation of neurocognitive processes underlying more real‐life creative behavior is among the greatest challenges in creativity research. In this fMRI study, we addressed this issue by investigating functional patterns of brain activity while participants were required to be creative in an affective context. Affective creativity was assessed in terms of individual's inventiveness in generating alternative appraisals for anger‐evoking events, which has recently emerged as a new ability concept in cognitive reappraisal research. In addition, a classic divergent thinking task was administered. Both creativity tasks yielded strong activation in left prefrontal regions, indicating their shared cognitive processing demands like the inhibition of prepotent responses, shifting between different perspectives and controlled memory retrieval. Regarding task‐specific differences, classic creative ideation activated a characteristic divergent thinking network comprising the left supramarginal, inferior temporal, and inferior frontal gyri. Affective creativity on the other hand specifically recruited the right superior frontal gyrus, presumably involved in the postretrieval monitoring of reappraisal success, and core hubs of the default‐mode network, which are also implicated in social cognition. As a whole, by taking creativity research to the realm of emotion, this study advances our understanding of how more real‐life creativity is rooted in the brain. Hum Brain Mapp 39:393–406, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Epilepsy treatment and creativity

Creativity can be defined as the ability to understand, develop, and express, in a systematic fashion, novel orderly relationships. It is sometimes difficult to separate cognitive skills requisite for the creative process from the drive that generates unique new ideas and associations. Epilepsy itself may affect the creative process. The treatment of epilepsy and its comorbidities, by altering or disrupting the same neural networks through antiseizure drugs (ASDs), treatment of epilepsy comorbidities, ablative surgery, or neurostimulation may also affect creativity. In this review, we discuss the potential mechanisms by which treatment can influence the creative process and review the literature on the consequences of therapy on different aspects of creativity in people with epilepsy.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled “Epilepsy, Art, and Creativity”.     

Culture and creativity.

The relationship between cultural and creative expression is complex. Cultural factors clearly have a profound influence on appropriate outlets for creative expression, on the nature of the subject matter and form of expression, on the functions that various forms of expression serve, and on the types of individuals selected for, or engaged in, creative activity. There are many different ways by which societies shape all aspects of creative expression, ranging from the availability of resources to the provision of rewards or punishments. It also becomes apparent that the association of creativity with originality is largely a Western outlook and that artistic achievements in other cultures do not necessarily have this requirement. Despite the powerful impact of culture on the creative expression of individuals, this relationship is often reciprocal. For whatever reasons, there tend to be individuals in all societies who challenge the cultural norm and societal tradition, despite the consequences, and who thereby help to shape the nature and form of art.     

In search of the poetic analyst

This article introduces and suggests characteristics of the poetic analyst, as distinct from the traditional "scientific analyst." Using the writings of poets Wallace Stevens and Donald Hall, as well as writings of psychoanalysts Arieti Silvano, Thomas Ogden, Roy Schaefer, Donald Spence, and Hans Loewald, it explores the craft of the poet and demonstrates how the process of writing and reading poetry informs the process of doing psychoanalysis. It also touches upon the essential roles of imagination, intuition, and intersubjectivity in a poetic analysis, as well as how the poetic perspective builds upon narrative theory and how finding the right words in an interpretation or interaction leads to moments of transforming truth. Briefcase examples and vignettes are offered along the way to illustrate important ideas.     

Reflections on creativity and madness

The author reflects on the long-assumed relationship between creativity and madness. He comes to the conclusion that, while not a prerequisite, a touch of madness could enhance creativity. He attempts to define creativity and breaks it down into the basic elements of creative person, creative process, and creative product. He touches on the influence of a particular culture on the emergence of creative works.     

Musical hallucinations and palinacousis

So far, little attention has been paid to the similarities between musical hallucinations and palinacousis. Since the authors found a 75-year-old woman suffering from both symptoms, the similarities were investigated. As a result, musical hallucinations have all the four components of palinacousis structurally, although there are some differences in content. Thus, there exist substantial similarities. Moreover, both symptoms are often associated with seizure activity and there have been several case reports where anticonvulsants were successfully used to treat both symptoms. These findings indicate the possibility that there may exist a common pathway generating musical hallucinations and palinacousis.     

Conditions for creativity

In this study the effects of two variables—Structure and Autonomy—upon an individual's selfevaluation of creativity were examined. The elements of Structure and Autonomy were manipulated in a two-way factorial design to yield four treatment conditions: (1) individuals working alone with a theme, (2) individuals working alone without a theme, (3) individuals working in a group with a theme, and (4) individuals working in a group without a theme. Forty art students at the University of Maryland were randomly assigned to the four treatment conditions and asked to participate in an art experience. Following the art experience, the subjects were asked to complete a Likert rating scale questionnaire designed to measure their self- perceived creativity. Two simple effects and an interaction were hypothesized as follows: individuals working in groups with a theme perceive themselves as more creative than those working in a group without a theme; individuals working alone without a theme rate themselves as more creative than individuals working alone with a theme; and individuals working alone without a theme perceive themselves as more creative than individuals working in a group with a theme     

Origins of creativity

The sorrows and joys of this rare condition are well understood, but there have been relatively few convincing attempts to fathom its origins. In this major contribution to a neglected area, Dr. Markowitz hypothesizes that creativity develops as a product of the necessities facing an individual whose early environment permitted occasional depersonification of thought.