There is significant academic interest in the field of art and neurological disorders. Considering how artistic expression may be modified by alterations in neural circuits, as well as in our bodies and everyday lives, associated with a range of disorders and diseases is a rich territory from which to understand the workings of our brains, the unique blend of factors leading to human art making, and disease itself. This book will be an exposé of how different neurological disorders may influence and/or relate to the artistic process, with a particular focus on visual art and painting. The book will interrogate the question of different aspects of neurological disorders and associated brain changes that may impact artistic expression (and vice versa) and will include devoted chapters on Parkinson’s disease, Epilepsy, Mood Disorders, Autism, and Schizophrenia. Moreover, we will elaborate on the question from the perspective of the artist themselves, with chapters that highlight the artistic process in the context of lived experience (either directly or indirectly) with disease-mediated brain changes. Finally, engagement in creative acts has been linked to therapeutic benefits in multiple disease processes and neuroplasticity, which is another line of inquiry directly addressed in the book. As a whole, the volume focuses on themes and concepts at the boundary of creativity and neuroscience in such a way as to be relevant to both the medical and broader (artistic) community.
Author(s): Alby Richard, Matthew Pelowski, Blanca T.M. Spee
Series: Current Clinical Neurology
Publisher: Humana Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 298
City: New York
Preface
Series Editor’s Introduction to Brain and Art
Contents
Part I: Medicine
Brain Research and Art?—A Short History of Neurological Research and Creative Expression
1 Introduction
2 Aesthetical Criteria in the Practice of Brain Research: Historical and Modern Examples
3 Some Historiographical and Methodological Considerations
4 Conclusion
5 Discussion: Future Research Directions on the Intersections Between History of Neuroscience and Theory of Neuroaesthetics
References
Where Do Artists Come From? A Review of the ‘Typical’ Visually Creative Life and Artistic Brain as a Basis for Discussing Neurodivergence or Neurodegenerative Change
1 Introduction
2 Beginnings: What Might We Need to Know to Study, and to Think About, Artists and Art Making?
2.1 A Brief Note on the History of Empirical Artist Studies
2.2 How Are Artistic Interests, Processes, and Abilities Typically Assessed?
2.3 Theories on Creative Production and Steps to Making a Work of Art
2.4 But, What Contributes to Making ‘Good’ or Better Art and Artists?
2.5 Domain-Relevant Skills
2.5.1 Perceptual or Cognitive Ability
2.5.2 Production Strategies and Technical Skills
2.5.3 Perceiving Art—Do Artists Show Differences?
2.5.4 How Important Is Technical Control of Media or the Body?
2.6 General Creativity-Relevant Skills
2.6.1 Ideation
2.6.2 Personality, Ideational Fluency, Openness
2.6.3 Inhibition (or Lack Thereof)
2.7 Motivation and Other Contextual Factors
2.7.1 Culture, Environment
2.8 What Is ‘Typical’ Artistic Development?
2.8.1 What Do we Know About Working Artists and Style or Quality Changes?
2.8.2 Genetics—Is Art Only in Our Genes?
3 The Artistic Brain
3.1 Areas Related to the Basic Task of Visual Art or Creativity
3.2 Areas Showing Differential Patterns in Successful Artists or Art Stages
3.3 Other, Theoretical Regions of Interest
3.4 From Brain Areas to Systems—Neurotransmitters, Networks
3.5 The Brain and Art Viewing
4 Some Final Thoughts—Brain/Behavioral/Contextual Findings and Potential Overlaps with Neurodivergence or Neurodegeneration—Where Do We Go?
References
Further Reading
Creativity and Parkinson’s Disease
1 Parkinson’s Disease and Creativity: Clinical Facts
1.1 Illustrative Case of Creativity on Dopaminergic Treatment
1.2 Illustrative Case of Creativity After Subthalamic Stimulation
2 Overlap of Creativity in Parkinson’s Disease with Punding and Hobbyism
2.1 Illustrative Case for Hobbyism / Creativity
3 Dopaminergic Pathways and Creativity
4 Brain Mechanisms that Influence Creative Drive
5 Neurobiology, Pathophysiology of Creativity Connection to Other Psychiatric Diseases
6 Is There an Influence of Personality Traits on Creativity?
7 Is There a Cognitive Background that Favors Creativity?: Neuropsychology of Creativity
7.1 Neuropsychology of PD
7.2 Assessment of Creativity in PD
8 Conclusion
References
Mood Disorders and Creativity
1 Mood Disorders: Definition and Burden of Illness
2 Creativity and Mood Disorders
3 Potential Reasons for a Link Between Mood Disorders and Creativity
3.1 Psychological States
3.2 Personality Traits
3.3 Motivational Features
4 Neural Features Underlying the Link Between Mood Disorders and Creativity
4.1 Overview of Neural Features in Mood Disorders
4.2 Overview of Creativity and Neural Features
4.3 Hemispheric Asymmetry in Relation to Creativity and Mood Disorders
4.4 Neural Connectivity Features in Mood Disorders: An Overview
4.5 Creativity in MDD and BD: Changes in the Whole Brain and its Topography
5 Neurotransmitters that Play a Role in the Link Between Mood Disorders and Creativity
5.1 Dopamine
5.2 Serotonin or 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5HT)
5.3 Modulations of Serotonin and Dopamine on Brain Networks
6 Conclusion
References
Art Making in Schizophrenia: A Vision Science Perspective
1 Introduction
2 Visual Artwork by People with Schizophrenia
3 Critique of the Prinzhorn Approach
4 Quantitative Study of Visual Artwork: Enter Vision Science
5 Natural Image Statistics and Low-Level Vision
6 Visual Dysfunction in Schizophrenia
7 Using Knowledge of Visual Deficits and Image Statistical Measures to Study Visual Art Making in Schizophrenia
8 Repetition and Micrographia
9 Perceptual Disorganization
10 Visual Deficits and Art Appreciation
11 The Question of “Generalized Deficits”
12 Art Making in Schizophrenia: A Wider View and a Case Study
13 Cautions in Studying Art Making in Schizophrenia
14 Outlook
References
Epilepsy and Autism as Disorders of Brain Connectivity and Their Link to Artistic Expression
1 Introduction
2 Section 1: Art and Epilepsy
2.1 Famous Artists with Epilepsy
2.2 Art Portraying Epilepsy
2.3 Type of Artistic Expression in Artists with Epilepsy
2.4 Epilepsy Impacting the Neural Substrates of Creativity
3 Section 2: Art and Autism
3.1 Artists with Autism
3.2 Neural Substrates Impacting Creativity in Autism
4 Conclusion
References
Part II: Other Research and Art Sectors
The Contribution of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation to the Study of the Neural Bases of Creativity and Aesthetic Experience
1 Introduction
2 Non-invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS): An Overview of Historical Roots, Functional Mechanisms and most Common Protocols
2.1 History of NIBS
2.2 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
2.3 Transcranial Electric Stimulation (tES)
3 Creativity
3.1 Fronto-Parietal Regions
3.2 Temporal Lobe
3.3 Motor-Related Areas
3.4 Summary and Discussion
4 Aesthetic Experience
4.1 Prefrontal Cortex
4.2 Parietal Cortex
4.3 Motor-Related Areas
4.4 Ventral and Dorsal Visual Stream Areas
4.5 Summary and Discussion
5 Discussion
5.1 Challenges in Using NIBS to Study Creativity and Art
5.2 Future Directions
6 Conclusions
References
Holding Still, Together: Person-Centered Parkinson’s Care Portrayed
1 From the Fast Lane to the Slow Lane
2 The Other Person
3 All the Way Home
4 Practicing Sharing in a Shared Practice
5 Touching Base
6 Photography as a Research Method
7 Uncertainty of Beginning
References
Linking the Neural Correlates of Reward and Pleasure to Aesthetic Evaluations of Beauty
1 Is the Sense of Beauty Different from Pleasure?
2 Pleasure and Reward
3 The Two Reward Systems
4 Two Types of Beauty: Biological Versus Higher-Order Beauty
5 Stimulus Categories of Biological Versus Higher-Order Beauty
6 Neural Correlates of Aesthetic Judgements
7 What Can Neuroaesthetics Tell us about Beauty?
8 A Pleasure-Based Biological Desire and a Meaning-Based Humanity
9 Clinical Implications
References
Part III: The Next Steps Neurodegenerative Diseases and Creativity
The Potential of Causal Approaches in Creativity Using Ultrasonic Brain Stimulation
1 The Brain as a Dynamic Network Balancing Flexibility and Stability
2 Neurobiological Mechanisms Underlying Creativity
3 Measuring Creativity
4 Causal Approaches in Creativity Research: Non-invasive Brain Stimulation
5 A New Brain Stimulation Technology: Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound
6 Conclusions and Future Outlook
References
Part IV: Short Chapters for Artist’ View and Experiences
The Healing Power of Creativity and Art
1 Preliminary Reflections
2 Introduction
3 A New Age Monk
4 What is Creativity?
5 A Bubble of Peace
6 What is the Importance of Creativity?
7 Finding My Wings
8 Creativity is Freedom
9 I Do Want to Try, to Create
10 What are the Positive Benefits of Creativity for You?
11 Afterword
Visual Representation of Bodily Sensations: The Taken-for-Granted and the Alienated Body: Bodily Self-Awareness
The Artistic View with Parkinson’s Disease: In Search of “Why”
1 Urs Bratschi Swiss Pasta Artist
2 This One Moment in Time
3 The Parallel Path of the Artistic Journey
4 The Walls We Build or the Ladders We Climb
5 The Parkinson’s Ingredient in My Art Formed My Artistic Spark
6 Feeding the Spark Film Project
7 Still in Search of My “Why?”
Index
