Creativity = Runs With Scissors

One of the reasons that I have argued against people that denounce multitasking and the roving side of human intelligence is my deep suspicion that the wellsprings of creativity is involved. Recent studies of brainscans suggest that creativity is indeed linked to the receptors that filter and direct thought. The more creative people are, the more likely they are to be uninhibited about making connections that others do not. Somewhat like schizophrenics, it turns out:

Michelle Roberts, Creative minds ‘mimic schizophrenia’

Creativity is known to be associated with an increased risk of depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Similarly, people who have mental illness in their family have a higher chance of being creative.

Associate Professor Fredrik Ullen believes his findings could help explain why.

He looked at the brain’s dopamine (D2) receptor genes which experts believe govern divergent thought.

He found highly creative people who did well on tests of divergent thought had a lower than expected density of D2 receptors in the thalamus - as do people with schizophrenia.

The thalamus serves as a relay centre, filtering information before it reaches areas of the cortex, which is responsible, amongst other things, for cognition and reasoning.

“Fewer D2 receptors in the thalamus probably means a lower degree of signal filtering, and thus a higher flow of information from the thalamus,” said Professor Ullen.

Mark Millard UK psychologist

He believes it is this barrage of uncensored information that ignites the creative spark.

This would explain how highly creative people manage to see unusual connections in problem-solving situations that other people miss.

Schizophrenics share this same ability to make novel associations. But in schizophrenia, it results in bizarre and disturbing thoughts.

UK psychologist and member of the British Psychological Society Mark Millard said the overlap with mental illness might explain the motivation and determination creative people share.

“Creativity is uncomfortable. It is their dissatisfaction with the present that drives them on to make changes. Creative people, like those with psychotic illnesses, tend to see the world differently to most. It’s like looking at a shattered mirror. They see the world in a fractured way.”

My sense is that those more given to filtering and controlling their thoughts cab get real benefits from that, and so when they are confronted by the more creative folks among us their natural response is to try to get them to stay focused, to stop making so many wisecracks, and get down to business. We are the ones that ran with scissors in art class, bursting with ideas.

However, creatives can’t control the D2 receptors in their heads, and so all the fervent efforts to single track the world just don’t work, or at least, not for very long. Before you know it, even despite our best intentions, we are looking out the window at the clouds, considering the world through very different eyes.