Bright side of mental illness Flashcards
what are the main outcomes of the Swedish study “Creativity and mental disorder… severe mental disorder” ?
- individuals with disorder showed only modest increase in creativity
- suggests genetic explanation to familial co-segregation of creativity and psychopathy
which two psychiatric disorder where overrepresented in the creative sector in this Swedish study?
- Bipolar disorder
2. Schizophrenia (in artistic occupations)
Define the concept creativity
the ability to produce something that is novel and useful or meaningful
divergent thinking: creative generation of multiple answers to a set problem.
what is the association between creativity and eccentricity?
The ability to transcend traditional ideas (rules, patterns, relationships, or the like) and to create meaningful new ideas (forms, methods, interpretation)
Define eccentricity and creativity
Eccentricity : a person who behaves in odd or unusual ways
Creativity: divergent thinking
Highly creative people often seem to have odd thoughts and eccentric behaviour
what is the association between creativity and eccentricity (schizotypal personality)
schizotypal personality is the milder version of the clinical psychiatric condition schizophrenia.
–> Schizotypal individuals may inherit the unconventional modes of thinking and perceiving associated with schizophrenia without inheriting the disease itself
Association:
1. Higher score on Schizotypical Personality Scale is associated with higher levels creativity
what is the schizophrenic spectrum
schizotypal personality - schizotypal personality disorder - schizophrenia
Define the schizotypal paradox?
reduced fitness –> disappearance of the heritable traits predisposing individuals to the condition
but : schizophrenia (hence schizophrenia risk gene variants) still here
also: beneficial effects of gene variants, translating in beneficial traits, most probably manifest in healthy relatives
what is cognitive disinhibition, and how do you measure it?
cognitive disinhibition : failure to ignore irrelevant information therefore there is a reduced cognitive filtering.
Measurement: reduced cognitive filtering –> increased amount of unfiltered stimuli
- behavioural level (cognitive task)
- brain level (Neuro-imaging studies)
- DNA-level (gene variants and pulymorhphins)
Explain the relation between dopamine D2-receptor density in the thalamus and creativity
high amount of D2-receptors –> more thalamic filtering
low density D2 receptors –> less thalamic filtering
studies show that the lower the density of D2 receptors, the higher the divergent thinking, the higher the creativity is expressed.
how is the NRG1 T/T genotype associated with creativity in people with high IQ
NRG1 = affects neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, etc
T/T genotype = linked to psychosis risks and creativity in people with high IQ
the combination of both NRG1 and T/T leads to cognitive disinhibition by the reduction of PFC filtering.
Define the susceptibility hypothesis
some individuals are more susceptible than others to both negative (risk-promoting) and positive (development-enhancing) environmental conditions.
This suggests a person with both a bad environment and poor parenting can still grow up to be creative and successful people.
which allele is more prone to be resilient and with allele is prone to vulnerable
resilient - L/L
vulnerable - S/S
what are the positive and negative aspects of the S/S gene on the 5-HTT gene
positive : better at decision making, impulse inhibition, risk avoidance, social conformity and creative dancing
negative : higher risk for depression, anxiety, neurotic behaviour, increased substance addict ability.
what are the advantages of differential susceptibility to environment from an evolutionary point of view
that someone who had poor parenting and poor environment can still grow up to be a successful person, breaking the cycle
