Painting the Brain: what can dementia teach us about creativity?

Artistic creativity is a mental process that seems to be uniquely human. Although the ability to create new and unique artwork varies greatly between people, scientific research shows that there are certain areas of the brain whose complex interactions are necessary. Most of these structures are located in the “non-dominant” right hemisphere of the brain, and patients with injuries to this hemisphere often show deficits in their ability to perceive shapes and faces. As Dr. Bruce Miller explains in his paper Portraits of Artists: Emergence of Creativity in Dementia, the neural damage associated with Alzheimer’s disease often disrupts visual processes, and in cases of artists this disruption can have profound effects on the artwork they produce while suffering from AD. Paintings often become less complex and more surrealistic, mirroring the decline in ability to make visual sense of the world. Miller is quick to point out, however, that decreased artistic ability in artists with AD does not necessarily mean decreased creativity, or that the artwork created is necessarily worse by any subjective measure. Interestingly, Miller also describes an increase in creative desire and ability in some patients suffering from a different type of degeneration, frontotemporal dementia (FTD). When these patients suffer damage to the left anterior temporal lobe, they often experience drastic increases in creativity, sometimes quitting stable jobs to spend their days painting. The reason behind this is likely the roles of both hemispheres. In the absence of a functioning anterior temporal lobe in the left hemisphere, which is normally dominant, the right hemisphere is thought to “take over.” In light of this brain regions involvement in visual perception and creativity, it makes sense that we would see an uptick in the creative impulse. Dr. Miller’s research has played an important role in the development of a field called neuroaesthetics, which according to Chatterjee, 2010, seeks to characterize “properties of the brain as it engages in … the perception, production, and response to art.” Chaterjee describes how this blossoming field can help us to understand much about both the brain and the creative process. Physically inaccurate representations of the world by highly skilled artists, for example, can help us to identify possible neural shortcuts in the visual pathways. The field also has the potential to help us understand which neural networks underlie our perception of abstract concepts such as beauty, and one day may even shed insight into why we seek out and create artwork in the first place. Sources: Miller BL, Hou CE (2004). Portraits of Artists: Emergence of Visual Creativity in Dementia. Arch Neurol 61: 842-844 Chatterjee A (2011). Neuroaesthetics: A Coming of Age Story. J Cognitive Neurosci 23(1): 53-62.