The Mad Artist's Brain: The Connection between Creativity and Mental Illness

This artical talks about the the connection between creativity and madness, which is often a common preception, now gives a scientific explaination. Scientific surveys found that creactive people in all fields are more likely to carry and inherited in their family. A new study from Sweden now suggest a biological mechanism, creative and perfectly healthy peopleand people with schizophrenia share a certain kind of brain chemistry. The research team found out that the ability to "think outside the box" involves the brain’s dopamine communication system ( Dopamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter formed in the brain. It is essential to the healthy functioning of the central nervous system). These invovlement with dopamine is known to be also involves with schizophrenia. They found that people with lower levels of dopamine receptor activity has higher score to tests of divergent thinking.

I fould this artical intresting and significant obiviously we are all involve with creative thinking and that is one common link between all art school students and staff. Also the sterotype of "artist are all mad" and the general precetion of artist has their own unique and distinct way of looking at things.

I think this is the key element with all creative people is that we look at the world with a different eye, thus create works that evokes deep emotions and thinking. I am not sure about the whole "madness artist" thing, I think we can have perfectly health lives, emotions and social ability and the ability to "think outside the box" at the same time. But I admit that there is something unique in our brain that makes us to have a different mind.

When I was in Japan last semester for the exchange program, I was told that a lot of their art school's student have difficulty communicating with each other, so they would not show up in class or participate in class discussion and critique. They would just keep everything to themselves and being isolated from the rest of the world. I think this is a real-life story that fits in what this article is talking about.