Genes linked to creativity could
also increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder, according to new research from King's College London and
deCODE Genetics.
It has long been suggested that
creativity and psychosis show certain similarities, with notable
examples of artists such as Vincent Van Gogh who themselves
suffered from psychiatric illnesses. Previous studies have shown
that psychiatric disorders, particularly bipolar disorder, tend to
be found in the same families where creative professions are
common.
However, until now it had not been
possible to pinpoint whether this was simply due to shared
environmental factors or socioeconomic status.
Although creativity is difficult to
define for scientific purposes, researchers consider a creative
person to be someone who takes novel approaches requiring cognitive
processes that are different from prevailing modes of thought or
expression. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are disorders of
thoughts and emotions, which means that those affected show
alterations in cognitive and emotional processing.
Genetic risk scores for
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were examined in a sample of
86,292 individuals from the general population of Iceland, in
collaboration with researchers from deCODE Genetics, who provided
the data. In the study, creative individuals were defined as those
belonging to the national artistic societies of actors, dancers,
musicians, visual artists and writers.
Researchers found that genetic risk
scores for both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were
significantly higher in those defined as creative individuals, with
scores approximately halfway between the general population and
those with the disorders themselves.
These findings lend support to the
direct influence of genetic factors on creativity, as opposed to
the effect of sharing an environment with individuals who have
schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Robert Power, of the Medical
Research Council's Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry
Centre at King's College London, said: "For most psychiatric
disorders little is known about the underlying biological pathways
that lead to illness. An idea that has gained credibility is that
these disorders reflect extremes of the normal spectrum of human
behaviour, rather than a distinct psychiatric illness. By knowing
which healthy behaviours, such as creativity, share their biology
with psychiatric illnesses we gain a better understanding of the
thought processes that lead a person to become ill and how the
brain might be going wrong.
"Our findings suggest that creative
people may have a genetic predisposition towards thinking
differently which, when combined with other harmful biological or
environmental factors, could lead to mental illness."
The paper, Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
predict creativity, is published in Nature
Neuroscience.