Gl\u00fcck<\/a> et at., 2002). This ability has been linked to personality traits such as flexibility and divergent thinking (Caroli et at., 2009). In recent years, several studies have further tried to understand the link between bipolar disorder and creativity and have generated several interesting insights. Burkhardt et at., 2018 had 38 participants partake in several formalized diagnostic testing as well as interviews to determine whether individuals were bipolar. Subsequently, they took creativity assessments which included the Barron-Welsh Art Scale (BWAS) and the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ). Results showed that those who tested for bipolar (no distinction was made in this paper between type I and II) had significantly higher scores on the creativity tests. Interestingly, the study notes that an increased creative capacity does not equate to higher creative achievement (Burkhardt et at., 2018).<\/p>\nAnother study focused on the structural correlation between creativity and bipolar disorder (Tu et at.,2017). Here, they separated their 59 participants into bipolar 1 and bipolar 2, all of which went through fMRI scanning. Under the fMRI, participants completed two traditional creative tests: The Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults and the Chinese Word Remote Associates Test. These tests challenge the participant to make as many unique associations with a word and\/or uses for an object. For example, a component of the Torrance Test could ask list all the uses of a paperclip you can in five minutes. The quantity and quality of nontraditional answers determines one\u2019s creativity score.<\/p>\n
Results of this study showed that divergent thinking in people with bipolar I and II was linked to gray matter volume in the right medial frontal gyrus. It is crucial to acknowledge that patients in this study were taking a variety of medication: mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antidepressants-all of which could have tampered with the result. Nonetheless, the results are important in indicating the significant role the medial prefrontal cortex plays in creative thinking in people with bipolar as opposed to the more distributed neuroanatomical pattern for creative people without bipolar disorder (Tu et al.,2017).<\/p>\n
While more extensive research needs to be conducted to understand the extent and depth of creativity\u2019s correlation with bipolar disease, these two studies highlight a definite link between them. Given this knowledge, how does one go about treatment? The implications of treatment, such as potentially stunting creativity, may affect whether an artist decides to accept it. These insights will most importantly lead to more ethical debates and a greater understanding of neuroanatomical overlaps, especially in regards to mood, emotions, and capabilities. Perhaps, the creatives of the future will not have to suffer to Van Gogh\u2019s magnitude.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Burkhardt, Eva & Pfennig, Andrea & Breitling, Gwendolin & Pfeiffer, Steffi & Sauer, Cathrin & Bechdolf, Andreas & U. Correll, Christoph & Bauer, Michael & Leopold, Karolina. (2018). Creativity in persons at-risk for bipolar disorder-A pilot study. Early Intervention in Psychiatry. 10.<\/p>\n
De Caroli, Maria & Sagone, Elisabetta. (2009). Creative thinking and Big Five factors of personality measured in Italian school children. Psychological reports. 105.<\/p>\n
Gl\u00fcck, Judith & Polacsek-Ernst, Roland & Unger, Floortje. (2002). How Creatives Define Creativity: Definitions Reflect Different Types of Creativity. Creativity Research Journal, v.14, 55-67 (2002). 14.<\/p>\n
Tu, Pei-Chi & Kuan, Yi-Hsuan & Li, Cheng-Ta & Su, Tung-Ping. (2017). Structural Correlates of Creative Thinking in Patients With Bipolar Disorder and Healthy Controls\u2014a Voxel-Based Morphometry Study. Journal of Affective Disorders. 215.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vincent Van Gogh\u2019s genius is undeniable now. His paintings are revered around the world and sell for multi-million dollars. His brushstrokes, thick and globular, severed tradition and gave rise to a new, unique sect of art. Moreover, his paintings broke … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8MxCW-z6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2029,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/10\/van-gogh-ing-insane\/","url_meta":{"origin":2176,"position":0},"title":"Van Gogh-ing Insane","author":"Jake Medoff","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In the English classes that I take at Emory, there often comes a discussion about what influence, if any, the life of the artist should have on our interpretation of the source material. In most instances, it is important to allow the work to speak for itself. JK Rowling has\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/10\/van-gogh-ing-insane\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/300px-Van_Gogh_-_Garten_des_Hospitals_in_Arles1-300x238.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2156,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/10\/2156\/","url_meta":{"origin":2176,"position":1},"title":"Now You See It, Now You Don’t","author":"Kendall Campbell","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"With 3 weekends having gone by already, I can easily say that this past weekend\u2019s excursion to Provence was the most enjoyable one yet. The countryside in Provence was beautiful and the sights were breathtaking. From the Palais de Papes in Avignon to Pont du Gard to the city of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bipolar disorder\"","block_context":{"text":"bipolar disorder","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/bipolar-disorder\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/IMG_3778-233x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2132,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/10\/lets-van-gogh-to-arles\/","url_meta":{"origin":2176,"position":2},"title":"Let’s Van Go(gh) to Arles","author":"Sarah Taha","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Narrow streets, old buildings, and small shops were in sight as I walked with a group of my friends towards the renowned Vincent Van Gogh Caf\u00e9. We were in Arles, a city in the south of France where the Dutch painter Van Gogh lived for more than a year and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"art\"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-11-at-3.13.22-PM-300x166.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2095,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/10\/curing-van-gogh-a-shocking-revelation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2176,"position":3},"title":"Curing Van Gogh? A Shocking Revelation","author":"Daniel Son","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As I stared at the small frame hanging from the walls of my friend\u2019s bedroom, I found myself entranced. I remember standing in awe as I took in the dark swirls of the painting\u2019s dark blue sky; the bright yellow dots that represented the stars; and the calming landscape of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/starry-night-300x237.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2059,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/10\/the-starry-dream\/","url_meta":{"origin":2176,"position":4},"title":"The Starry Dream","author":"Alicia Brown","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cFor my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.\u201d This quote by Vincent Van Gogh sums himself up perfectly. It is known that he had various psychotic symptoms, such as auditory and visual hallucinations, and it is still disputed whether some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"absinthe\"","block_context":{"text":"absinthe","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/absinthe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/300px-Van_Gogh_-_Garten_des_Hospitals_in_Arles1-300x238.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1826,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/04\/name-that-painting\/","url_meta":{"origin":2176,"position":5},"title":"Name that Painting","author":"Riley Payne","date":"June 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Bonjour from France! I am so excited to be posting my first blog here in Paris. I have had such an amazing first week and a half. This city is so beautiful and has so much to offer. One of the parts of Paris I was so excited for before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"art\"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/IMG_2604-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2176"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2198,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176\/revisions\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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