Dementia Patients: Artistic Geniuses

 Many dementia patients never had an interest in art prior to the onset of their neurodegenerative diseases. These patients were profound business men or women, doctors, or other highly accepted positions in non art-related fields of professions. However, at the same time that dementia began to develop in many of these patients, an increased and unexpected interest in creating art developed as well. Why the sudden interest in art as a hobby?

Most of the patients with a developed interest in art suffered from semantic dementia. This specific subtype of dementia is connected to anomia which affects language production and eventually leads to the patient not even understanding what words are. Thus, the left hemisphere of the brain which is responsible for much of language development is hit hard by semantic dementia.

One of the main things that doctors have learned is the importance of the right side of the brain in cognitive artistry. The right hemisphere of the brain is dominant in “visual constructive ability, spatial attention, and internal representation.” Thus, when the left hemisphere is affected by semantic dementia, the right hemisphere compensates and the patients rely on what they can do while having this disease, which is create art. As the left hemisphere degenerates, impulses that may have always been present and ignored in the right hemisphere are finally recognized and utilized to create beautiful art.

Being able to produce art and participate in it's creation is beneficial for dementia patients as their world becomes confusing and they are no longer able to do the things they used to. From prominent business men to emerging artists, creativity in dementia allows patients to continue to lead a somewhat normal and fulfilling life.

 http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=785938

http://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/Fulltext/2003/06001/As_Dementia_Sets_in,_Artistic_Genius_Emerges.4.aspx