Creativity Midterm 2

Bourassa & Vaugeois (2001)

Compared creativity effects of marijuana on regular (3x/week) vs. novice (never) users RESULTS: marijuana had no effect on divergent thinking of novices, but reduced divergent thinking in regular users.

The Emotional Brain

Emotion also plays a role in creativity - they help drive us to be creative, motivating us and making creative work emotionally important to us Temporal lobes seem to be involved in creative drive (or creative suppression!) Hypergraphia + disinhibition

Stress

Psychological state of tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances

Commissurotomy

Surgical severing of commissures

Creative Tasks Shown To Benefit From Positive Mood

1) Remote Associates Test 2) Insight Problems 3) Word association tasks

Martindale & Hasenfus (1978): Experiment 2

16 subjects performed similar story-writing task, except that: Creativity measured by Remote Associates Test Researchers varied whether or not subjects were specifically told to be "creative" and "original" RESULTS Found same increase in alpha activity during inspiration phase for highly-creative subjects, but only when they were instructed to be creative and original So, there is evidence of a change of brain activity when creative thinking (as compared to non-creative thinking) is going on!

Snyder et al (2003) Drawing Results

4 of 11 subjects showed stylistic changes in their drawings after TMS Judges described post-TMS drawings as being more lifelike, flamboyant, and complex than before TMS These 4 subjects also reported altered states of perception - feeling more alert and conscious of detail One subject even said he wished he had been asked to write an essay (something he previously disliked) because the TMS led him to be highly aware of detail in his surroundings These subjects' drawings did not revert back to original pre-TMS style even after 45 minutes, suggesting the effect may persist for longer time frames

Hypergraphia

= The compulsive drive to write It is generally associated with decrease in temporal lobe activity (most commonly, a lesion to the right temporal lobe) The equilibrium between right and left temporal lobes is disrupted, causing disinhibition of left hemisphere language-related activity Temporal lobes seem to be involved in creative drive (or creative suppression!)

Disinhibition

= Weakening of restraint against performing actions Disinhibition symptoms similar to mania - most hypergraphics have mania Mania has been found to be associated with increased creativity THUS: Temporal lobes seem to be involved in creative drive (or creative suppression!)

Possible Connections Between Affective Disorders and Creativity?

Amount of physical energy experienced depressed = little energy; manic = lots of energy and high productivity Mood SWING effects: a writer with bipolar disorder might write a LOT of material while in manic phase, but when mood swings to depression, they may be unhappy with what they've written (and throw much of it out!) It may take a LONG time to finish, though it might also help to make for good product (person acts as their own editor!) Creative efforts may offer relief/catharsis for depression sufferers Keeping busy with creative efforts may offer an "escape" from depressed feelings Immersing oneself in one's work may lead to depression Focusing life on their creative work may lead them to be consumed day-after-day, year-after-year, leaving them little time for anything else in life - this may lead to depression

Are Criminals Creative?

Barron (1963): Found that creative people often have antisocial (i.e. unconventional tendencies - going against social convention) This is consistent with the idea of PRISONERS being creative (since they are antisocial) Similarity: creative people and prisoners are both unlikely to take authority at its word, seek to challenge authority, and look for their own solutions Agnew (1989): Suggested that delinquency may be a creative enterprise for many adolescents However... The antisocial nature of prisoners are quite possibly different from the "antisocial" nature of a creative artist. Prisoners show UNCREATIVE tendencies as well They are seemingly unable to see alternatives to crime and aggression They are often unable to see how they could achieve their goals by any means other than antisocial means

Alpha Activity

Brain waves in the 8-12 Hz range

Reduced Latent Inhibition and General Intelligence

Carson et al (2003): Proposed that the moderating factor with latent inhibition differentiating psychosis and creativity is high general intelligence Had subjects (Harvard undergrads) complete measures of creativity, IQ, personality, and a latent inhibition task Creativity measures: 1) Creativity Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ) - measure of lifetime creative accomplishment in art and science 2) Divergent thinking tasks 3) Creative Personality Scale - looks for personality indicators of creativity

Cerebellum's Connections to the Prefrontal Cortex

Cerebellum has numerous connections with the prefrontal cortex: Cerebellum receives input from PFC via the pons Cerebellum sends its output to PFC via the thalamus Researchers believe that the cerebellum would be useful in processing novel situation requiring creative/innovative solutions In processing a novel situation, a person may need to engage in preliminary processing before taking action (processing potential consequences), which activates working memory in PFC Via numerous parallel connections with cerebellum, this information in working memory can be processed very rapidly and a quick decision could be made These deep connections between PFC and cerebellum (and cerebellum's known processing capabilities) strongly suggest role in creative thinking

Latent Inhibition and Creativity

Dykes & McGhie (1976): Found that both creative subjects and schizophrenic subjects performed similarly on dichotic shadowing task Subject listens to 2 different stereo channels, repeating words heard in one ear Creative and schizophrenic subjects better than controls at identifying items presented on irrelevant stereo channel Supports idea of creative people tending not to screen out "irrelevant" details (reduced latent inhibition)

Prefrontal Cortex

Enables such high-level cognitive functions as the self-construct, self-reflective consciousness, willed action, planning, theory of mind, and much more. Three other PFC functions allow these high-level functions: 1) Working memory 2) Temporal integration 3) Sustained and directed attention Carlsson, Wendt & Risberg (2000): Had high-creativity and low-creativity subjects perform creativity test ("uses" test) RESULTS: high-creativity people show (bilateral) increase in brain activity in various areas of the prefrontal cortex (compared to low-creativity subjects)

Ito (1997)

Explained how cerebellum manipulates ideas in similar way to how it manipulates motor control Ideas/concepts are manipulated just like limbs are in movement (e.g. mentally arranging furniture is similar to actually controlling limbs to accomplish same thing) When we repeatedly perform mental manipulations - just like with physical actions, the cerebellum works to make those manipulations smoother, faster, and more efficient

Connection Between Creativity and Psychosis

Eysenck's view on connection between creativity and psychosis: Both creative people and psychotics score high on psychoticism He does NOT claim that psychosis produces creativity, or that creative people are psychotic Main idea: high psychoticism score is necessary for creativity, and people high in psychoticism MAY develop psychosis during their lives Research suggests that psychotics have original thinking, but it's so original that it is unrealistic and therefore NOT creative thought He proposes that there may be a genetic basis for psychoticism, since high levels of creativity have been found in descendants of psychotic parents

Burke et al (1989)

Found that left-handers did slightly better than right-handers on 4 visual tests of divergent thinking (only 1 was statistically significant) No difference between lefties/righties in verbal divergent thinking CONCLUSIONS: In creative activities where lefties have an advantage, it may be because they've developed a "coping" skill from having to adjust to "right-handed" environments (right-handed "mice", classroom desks, writing without smudging, etc) This may contribute to their flexibility and creative thinking

ADHD and Creativity

Healey (2005): Investigated kids 10-12 years of age (half with ADHD, half without) Is there evidence of ADHD being associated with high creativity? Creativity measured using Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and two-string insight problem IQ also measured RESULTS: No significant difference in IQ between kids with or without ADHD Overall, no significant difference in creativity between groups on either creativity measure Even looking at each of 5 subscales of creativity on TTCT, only one differed significantly - the controls scored higher in elaboration than the ADHD kids. CONCLUSION ADHD children are no more creative than those without ADHD

Ventromedial PFC

Heavily connected to limbic system Most common deficit associated the VMPFC lesions is impaired social function Inappropriate social behaviors, lack of moral judgment Lowered social inhibitions, showing little concern for self/others Showing little regard for social restraints

Split-Brain Studies Bearing on Creativity

Hoppe (1988): Investigated how much affect (the "feeling" or experience of emotion) split-brain patients experience when shown an emotional film (ex: child disappearing from swing) Subjects watched emotionally-evocative film and described feelings and reactions to film RESULTS: 1) Split-brain patients' completely lacked affect (compared to controls) 2) They described their reactions in very unemotional terms 3) Reactions were essentially "episodic" - focused on the details of the event, not the meaning of what was going on (ex: didn't comment on disappearance of child or significance of empty swing)

Connection Between Creative Drive and Creative Ability

Hypergraphics have increased creative drive, but that doesn't mean they are producing a high-quality creative product! How might creative drive help increase creative skill? 1) Practice effects - the more you create, the better you get 2) "Darwinian" model

Regressive Imagery Dictionary

Identifies words and phrases that are indicative of primary process thinking.

"Darwinian" Model

If someone is driven to produce more ideas or creative works, more novel, original, or useful ideas will be created Prediction: subjects who come up with the best ideas will usually be subjects who are most driven - creative "skill" is less important Research suggests that for people who are above the IQ threshold for creativity, creativity is more dependent on the brain's motivational systems than on that person's creative "skill"

Dorsolateral PFC

Implements semantic memory retrieval, sustained attention, major connection with temporal, occipital, parietal (TOP) regions - Suggested that dorsolateral PFC likely supports deliberate creativity rather than spontaneous creativity

Affective Disorders: Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Investigated 30 creative writers (university faculty) gave structured interviews to determine history of mental illness compared to control group matched for age, sex, educational level, but having varied occupations (e.g. lawyers, social workers) RESULTS: strikingly high incidence of affective disorders in sample of writers

Ludwig (1995)

Investigated creativity/mental illness link (over 1000 eminent subjects) RESULTS (depression): Depression highest in poets (77%), fiction writers (59%), artists (50%), non-fiction writers (47%), and composers (46%) Artistic Types (architecture, theater, art, music, writers/poets) : 50% had depression Social Types (sports, social activism, social figure, companion): 27% Investigative Types (natural/social sciences): 24% Enterprising Types (business, exploration, military, public office): 20% RESULTS (mania) Mania highest in actors (17%), poets (13%), architects (13%), and nonfiction writers (11%) Artistic types :10% mania Investigative types: 0% mania

Martindale et al (1986)

Investigated differences in EEG activity when one is involved in primary process thinking compared to secondary process thinking. Studies suggest that creative people employ more primary process thinking and that there is a higher level of primary process content in the fantasy narratives of more creative subjects (as opposed to less-creative subjects) Researchers recorded EEG activity as subjects wrote a fantasy story. Researchers also evaluated stories in terms of primary process content (using the Regressive Imagery Dictionary). Theory: primary process cognition is related to a pattern of greater RIGHT-hemisphere activation than LEFT-hemisphere activation. Results showed a basal asymmetry (greater right-hemisphere activation than left-hemisphere activation) in subjects whose narratives contained more primary process content. Researchers had predicted the hemispheric asymmetry to occur during the short-term "inspirational" phase, in particular, but the asymmetry only showed up in basal (baseline), more stable long-term EEG measures. CONCLUSION: Authors suggest that people who have a high-level of right-hemisphere (as opposed to left-hemisphere) activation tend to think in a more "primary process" way.

Alcohol and Incubation: Norlander & Gustafson (1996)

Investigated effect of alcohol consumption on different phases of creative process Subjects divided into alcohol, placebo, and control groups INCUBATION PHASE Wednesday: subjects asked to plan an experiment to investigate the relative importance of heredity and environment Subjects immediately gave possible ideas and anything coming to mind about task. Subject given pocket-sized notebook with pen attached and told to think about this problem for next 2 days, writing down every idea that occurs to them. Alcohol/Placebo groups: given 2 bottles of liquid (alcohol or placebo) to drink Wednesday night and Thursday night just before bed Friday: subject describes experiment plan and researchers collect their notebooks A panel of judges rated the scientific value/creativity of ideas in journal, counting the frequency of times they wrote ideas that were (to some degree) modifications of previous ideas (measure of incubation!) RESULTS: 1) Alcohol group produced more frequent and original incubations than other groups 2) In particular, on Thursday and Friday mornings they were more likely to write down incubations that occurred while sleeping or early in the morning (when they were likely still under the influence of alcohol) CONCLUSION: Alcohol seems to be related to improved incubation

West (1983)

Investigated effects of marijuana on creativity Subjects wrote stories after looking at picture from Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Subjects wrote a story first without being under influence (baseline condition) before writing story while under influence of marijuana or a placebo Stories analyzed with the Regressive Imagery Dictionary (for primary process content). RESULTS: Marijuana group wrote stories with higher primary process content than control subjects, and more primary process content when under the influence of marijuana than when not

Deliberate Creativity

Involves deliberately focusing attention on problem and putting effort into coming up with creative solution

Primary process cognition

Irrational, free associative, uninhibited, analogical - Authors suggest that people who have a high-level of right-hemisphere (as opposed to left-hemisphere) activation tend to think in a more "primary process" way.

Might Positive Mood Impair Creativity?

Kaufmann & Vosburg (1997): Subjects solved two insight problems (two-string problem / hat rack problem) Subjects categorized by mood (positive, negative, neutral) RESULTS: 1) Positive mood did NOT enhance subjects' ability to solve problems 2) Positive-mood subjects were outperformed by negative/neutral-mood subjects Kaufmann & Vosburg (2002)

Alexithymia

Lack of emotional awareness, emotional relating, social attachment Difficulty distinguishing, identifying, and appreciating emotions Difficulty describing feelings to other people Decreased imaginal processes (e.g. scarcity of fantasies) Alexithymics have difficulty being creative - they don't get very excited about opportunities/challenges and aren't interested or motivated to think creatively

Commissures

Large bundles of nerve fibers connecting hemispheres

Corpus Callosum

Largest commissure

Secondary process cognition

Logical, realistic

Carson et al (2003): Results

Low latent inhibition scores significantly and highly correlated with: 1) Creative achievement 2) Creative personality 3) "originality" in divergent thinking tasks Also looked at "eminent creative achievers" - those who had made a significant contribution to a creative domain before age of 21 having a novel or book of poetry published and sold Having a musical composition recorded and sold Having a prototype invention patented and built Having a private showing of original artwork at a recognized gallery Winning a scholarship or national prize for a scientific discovery Found a much higher percentage of low latent inhibition scores in the high (eminent) achievement group than in low achievement group

EEG Studies and Creativity

Many EEG studies suggest that there are particular brain wave patterns and brain structures associated with creative problem solving Martindale & Hasenfus (1978)

Genetics and Creativity

Nichols (1978): Reviewed 10 twin studies of divergent thinking RESULTS: Average correlation of divergent thinking scores was .61 for identical twins and .50 for fraternal twins. All together, about 22% of variation in divergent thinking scores due to influence of genes Waller et al (1993): Evaluated data from 45 pairs of MZ twins reared apart, one set of identical triplets reared apart, and 32 of pairs of DZ twins reared apart Subjects part of Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart Subjects completed Creative Personality Scale RESULTS: Moderately high (.54) correlation in responses of MZ twins Very low, non-significant (-.06) for DZ twins CONCLUSION: Creativity is an EMERGENIC trait High-order traits that "emerge" from interaction among a cluster of more fundamental traits They are unlikely to "run in families" because it's unlikely for relatives to share all - or even a large percentage of - the necessary components of the trait cluster. So, creativity is highly influenced by genes, but tends not to run in families

Stress: Creativity as a Coping Mechanism

Nicol & Long (1996) Investigated music hobbyists and music therapists Collected scores on various creative thinking measures and recorded subject stress level with the Perceived Stress Scale (measures degree to which person's life situations in past month are perceived as stressful) RESULTS Hobbyists: significant correlation between high creativity and low levels of stress Therapists: no difference in stress level between high and low creative thinkers CONCLUSIONS Creative thinking can reduce people's stress level. But why the difference between hobbyists and therapists? Perhaps the two groups have different coping resources available Music therapists have training in psychology and that may expose them to broader range of coping strategies Music hobbyists may depend more on stress relief of creative endeavors since they have fewer coping resources on which to draw

Might VMPFC damage be beneficial to creativity?

No - The unconventional tendencies of creative people tend to be intentional and controllable. They know what they're doing when they're being unconventional - they are aware of social convention, they just aren't that concerned with it! Creativity doesn't LACK judgment (as one might find with impaired VMPFC function) - it is required. Creative ideas are not only original, they are fitting, valuable, and effective, implying judgement AND a fully-functional PFC.

Alcohol and Verification: Norlander & Gustafson (1997)

Norlander & Gustafson (1997): Verification Subjects created a basic sketch based on a poem they had read After drinking alcohol (or not!) they were given chance to finalize sketch with details, colors, etc (reflective of verification phase) Panel of judges rated their "handicraft" at finishing up the sketches. RESULTS: alcohol was related to poor verification Again, study we looked at in chapter 3 (Norlander & Gustafson, 1998) looked at the illumination phase and found: Alcohol related to high originality and low flexibility Alcohol UNRELATED to fluency.

Altered States and Brain Function: Alcohol

Norlander & Gustafson (1998): Investigated effects of alcohol on divergent thinking Subjects given "uses" task under one of three conditions: control (no alcohol), alcohol-influenced (.08 blood-alcohol level), placebo RESULTS: Alcohol group had higher originality scores than other groups However, alcohol group had lower flexibility scores than other groups Fluency was not significantly affected Lower levels of alcohol (.05 blood-alcohol level) showed no effects on creativity CONCLUSION: Under moderate does of alcohol, people have slightly more original ideas, but are less flexible, not shifting their thinking as much as when they are sober

Spontaneous Creativity

Occurs during periods of de-focused attention (i.e. insight)

Sensitivity

One of the traits associated with creative individuals This sensitivity may lead creative people to be more prone to stressful interpretations of events.

Overinclusive Thought

Overinclusive thought can lead to psychosis, but person will often have benefits of overinclusive thoughts without the psychosis Person high in psychoticism will have tendency toward overinclusive thought, but not necessarily to the degree that they are considered psychotic

Psychosis and Psychoticism

People high in psychoticism will exhibit some qualities commonly found in psychotics and may be more susceptible to becoming psychotic in certain environments. GENERAL FINDINGS: creative people have higher psychoticism scores

Psychoticism

Personality dimension related to: Risk-taking / Recklessness / Impulsiveness Disregard for common sense Non-conformist behavior Inappropriate emotional expression

Creative Difference Between Lefties and Righties in Creative Populations?

Peterson & Lansky (1977): Looked at Univ. of Cincinnati architecture program Results: 29% of faculty left-handed (~10% in general population) Left-handers performed better in program than right-handers In general, more left-handers apply to architecture schools Looking at handedness is not a DIRECT measure of brain function, it is only inferred based on their dominant hand - the usefulness of this information regarding lateralization is limited.

How might positive mood increase creativity?

Positive mood seems to increase overinclusive thought Excessive activation of semantic memory, activating even weakly-associated ideas Loosens conceptual boundaries, leading to inclusion of things in categories that other people probably wouldn't Also includes: original word associations, broader range of options, increase in ideational associations

Bipolar Disorder

Psychological disorder most associated with creativity Bipolar patients typically show increase in creativity when in manic phase Bipolar disorder is associated with enlargement of amygdala (emotional center of brain) Flaherty (2005) So, our emotions play a role in creative drive - in particular, the limbic system (especially the amygdala and mesolimbic pathway)

Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

Research suggests a connection between creativity and alcohol/drug abuse Ludwig (1995): 60% of people in theater likely had alcoholism Fiction writers: 41% Musicians: 40% Military, natural sciences, social sciences, social activism: under 10% 36% of musicians engaged in drug abuse Theater: 24% Fiction writers: 19% Poetry writers: 17% Explorers, sports, military: very rare and virtually non-existent

Do Creative People Have Higher Stress Levels?

Research suggests that creative thinkers have more stress than non-creative people Research suggests that it isn't stressful events that affect one's mental and emotional health, it's how one perceives, experiences, and copes with those events This suggests that there are no real "environmental stressors" - only potential stressors. Whether they cause stress depends on the person's interpretation of the event.

General Effect of Mood on Creativity?

Research suggests that creativity can be affected by mood Hirt (1999) Review of studies on research and creativity Found that people in POSITIVE mood states have consistently shown higher creativity than people in other mood states, regardless of researchers' method of inducing positive mood and particular type of creative task

Cerebellum

Research suggests that the cerebellum may make significant contributions to creativity Research suggests that cerebellum is involved in general timing and sequencing, not just with motor processes, but with cognitive processes as well (including those of working memory) Organized into many parallel circuits allowing powerful processing capabilities The basic circuitry of these circuits is the same, what differs is the particular incoming information a circuit receives from other parts of the brain, and particular output destination for the information So, the basic processing of incoming information would seem to be similar, no matter if it is motor, sensory or cognitive information

Handedness and Hemisphericity

Researchers have sometimes used a person's handedness as an indicator of hemispheric dominance (righties being left-hemisphere dominant, lefties being right-hemisphere dominant) In general, there haven't been many differences found in creativity of left-handers vs. right-handers Burke et al (1989)

Snyder et al (2003): Proofreading Results

Savants often described as atypically LITERAL - they tend to concentrate on parts than on whole, allowing them to see world in a less-biased light. This suggests that savants may be better proofreaders than others Subjects looked for grammatical errors in short proverbs Two subjects (who had also shown drawing improvement) also showed improvement in proofreading after TMS TMS caused impairment leading to savant-like ability to see details of the PARTS and not be fooled by what they expected to see Snyder's explanation for the effects: In normal brain, the conceptual networks concerned with meaning tend to inhibit networks concerned with detail By inhibiting these networks, it may facilitate conscious access to literal details, leading to savant-like skills More evidence of role of temporal lobe in creativity - impeding activity of temporal lobes can change level of detail we are conscious of, leading to increase of certain creative abilities

Savants

Show amazing excellence in some area (often creative areas) despite being severely brain-impaired How might they acquire their skills? Through repetitive practice? Maybe they have more highly-developed brains in their particular domain? Probably not - these explanations don't explain all savant skills Perhaps savant skills are largely INNATE and reside equally in everyone - they just aren't accessible without a rare form of brain impairment! Example: our brains possess algorithms for calculating the shape of an object from surface shading We aren't CONSCIOUS of this shading, or we could all draw without training However, savants' brain damage enables privileged access to this information Snyder et al (2003) tested this theory!

TenHouten (1994)

Split-brain patients (and controls) watched 3-minute film portraying (with images and background music) death of baby and boy Subjects asked questions about film, and asked to write 4 sentences expressing what they felt about the film RESULTS: Split-brain patients significantly more alexithymic than control subjects: 1) They used few affect-laden words, and relatively few adjectives, suggesting speech that is flat, dull, uninvolved, lacking in expression 2) Lack of creativity in spoken and written verbal productions Researcher described split-brain subjects as dull, flat, colorless, unexpressive, passive, indirect, lacking fantasy, unimaginative, unresponsive to symbolism, and describing circumstances surrounding events rather than feelings about the events CONCLUSION: Creativity appears to involve interaction of both hemispheres - split-brain patients seem to show impairments to creativity

Kaufmann & Vosburg (2002)

Subjects induced into positive, negative, or neutral mood Subjects performed 4 divergent thinking tasks and performance recorded across 4-minute interval RESULTS Positive mood led to more ideas early on However, after having produced a number of ideas, negative and neutral moods seemed to be better CONCLUSION: Positive mood beneficial under unconstrained solution requirements (early on, where most idea options still available), but detrimental under constrained solution requirements (later, where many idea options have been exhausted)

Eisenman (1992)

Subjects: Prisoners diagnosed as "conduct disordered" or "psychotic" Measured prisoners' creativity by testing their preference for polygons that varied in complexity (creative people prefer complexity, and this technique had been used in lots of previous research) Also used Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), where prisoners made up stories about a series of 5 ambiguous pictures RESULTS: Both types of prisoners preferred simple polygons over complex, suggesting low creativity for both groups However, there was an overwhelming preference for simple polygons in the psychotic prisoners 25 total TAT stories judged as "creative", only 6 created by psychotic prisoners Conduct-disordered prisoners far more likely to have stories rated as creative CONCLUSIONS: Overall, prisoners rate as being low in creativity Psychotic prisoners found lower in creativity than conduct-disordered prisoners Are criminals creative, just in socially-unacceptable ways? No! Again, psychotic people (high in psychoticism) may have original or unusual thinking, but if thoughts aren't realistic or useful, it's not creative!

Dietrich (2004)

Suggested that dorsolateral PFC likely supports deliberate creativity rather than spontaneous creativity Deliberate creativity involves effortful, constructive problem solving and depends on ability to deliberately direct attention to relevant information and access information from semantic memory - these functions seem to be localized in the dorsolateral PFC! Suggested spontaneous creativity primarily due to temporal-occipital-parietal (TOP) regions So, creative thinking seems to be vitally dependent on the PFC's network involved in focusing attention and on consciousness and ability to hold relevant content in mind (working memory!) long enough for a creative solution to occur.

Flaherty (2005)

Suggests that alterations in functions of amygdala may cause the passionate interests in manic patients In most cases, the manic patient's "passionate pursuits" are misguided or risky, but in mild bipolar disorder, the passion can be turned to creative uses Flaherty also suggests that the high "goal-directness" of creative arousal may be driven by the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway Known as the "reward pathway" - involved in all kinds of reward seeking activity (e.g. gambling, cocaine addition, appreciation of beauty, etc) So, our emotions play a role in creative drive - in particular, the limbic system (especially the amygdala and mesolimbic pathway)

Latent Inhibition

The capacity of the brain to screen from current attentional focus stimuli previously experienced as irrelevant Schizophrenia associated with reduced latent inhibition Reduced latent inhibition also associated with trait of openness to experience: 1) attention to inner feelings / active imagination 2) preference for variety / intellectual curiosity Openness to experienced consistently associated with divergent thinking, creative thinking, and creative achievement

Affect

The experience or feeling of an emotion

Dominant Hemisphere

The hemisphere that tends to be more active while performing certain cognitive functions

Lateralization and Asymmetry of Hemispheres

There is a tendency to oversimplify functions of different hemispheres Virtually any cognitive function involves both hemispheres to some degree Thinking of left hemisphere as where "logical" and "rational thought" occurs, and right hemisphere being where "creativity" occurs is oversimplified

Martindale & Hasenfus (1978)

Took EEG readings of 12 creative-writing students as they went through phases of story-writing activity: 1) Waiting for study to begin 2) During a 3-minute "inspiration" period (thinking about what they would write) 3) While actually writing the story Students had been rated in creativity by their creative writing professor Asked to make up story about a man who meets a woman and asks her out Asked to "use their imagination" and make up story of who the man and woman are, how they met, and what will happen They were specifically asked to be creative and original RESULTS Writers rated as "highly creative" had higher alpha activity during the "inspiration" phase than during "elaboration" phase Less creative writers showed no differences in EEG activity during different phases of process

Snyder et al (2003)

Used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to simulate temporary lesions of left fronto-temporal lobe The fronto-lemporal lobe implicated in savant syndrome in young artistic savants and savants who emerge late in life due to fronto-temporal lobe dementia Eleven subjects given drawing and proofreading tasks performed before, during, and after TMS

Altered States and Brain Function: Marijuana

West (1983) Bourassa & Vaugeois (2001) Some research shows enhancement of creativity, some shows inhibition. Effects may depend on amount ingested - Weckowitz et al (1975) found that low levels of marijuana associated with enhanced performance on divergent thinking tests, higher does inhibited performance. Effects likely differ from person-to-person, and from task-to-task

Distinction Between Reduced Latent Inhibition in Creativity vs. Psychosis?

Why are reduced latent inhibition scores associated with both high creativity and ALSO psychosis? Perhaps IQ?? In their study, it was the COMBINATION of high IQ and reduced latent inhibition that predicted high creative achievement For subjects with reduced latent inhibition, people with IQ over 120 had MUCH higher creative achievement scores than those with moderate (under 120) IQ For high latent inhibition, IQ didn't make much difference Also, having reduced latent inhibition without particularly high IQ didn't lead to significantly high creative achievement scores CONCLUSIONS: Difference between normal and highly-creative cognition seems to be not only the reduced latent inhibition (failure to filter out irrelevant stimuli), but also high IQ They suggest that highly-creative people and psychosis-prone people may have similar reductions in latent inhibition, but whether this is manifested as a psychotic disposition