Project Summary

Nancy Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D. (Distinguished Investigator 2007) of the University of Iowa, plans to study the relationship between creativity and mental illness at the neural level using modern neuroimaging techniques. Although prior research about artistic creativity, including her own, has shown an association of creativity with mood disorder, Dr. Andreasen hypothesizes that scientific creativity may be more closely associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In this study, which she believes is the first of its kind, she will examine and compare the rates of mental illness in a group of highly creative artists and scientists and non-creative controls, as well as their first degree relatives, using modern structured interviews and standard diagnostic criteria and brain imaging while the subjects are performing tasks that require making “connections,” a surrogate of creativity. She will compare cognitive style of these individuals to what is known about individuals with schizophrenia. She hopes to include 30 scientists who are Nobel, Lasker and National Medal of Science winners and 30 artists who have received Pulitzers or Academy Awards and other recognition. The findings should be informative about the neural characteristics of the creative brain, and may help explain the neural basis of the relationship between creativity and mental illness.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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