
Dopamine, Creativity and Schizophrenia - gchakrab
http://gaurab.posterous.com/dopamine-creativity-and-schizophrenia
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milkshakes
_"Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat less
intact box," says Dr Ullén about his new findings._

That really resonates with me. My most creative, disruptive insight only
really comes to me when I'm teetering on the edge. That said, I definitely
have to pull back from the edge before i can do anything useful or sustainable
with it. Anyone else feel the same way?

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gchakrab
It seems like creativity is a state of loose association while execution is
pure hustle. Startup founders have a unique ability to tap into both worlds
when necessary, maybe even simultaneously!

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milkshakes
any tips?

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ruang
I generate crazy ideas on my own, and before I execute on any, I bounce it off
more logical-minded friends.

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ruang
I also write down the ideas I have, because crazy ideas are easily forgotten.
I think they're generated by temporary surprise connections made by the brain.

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ruang
I also find that certain locations are more likely to give me better ideas
than others. I get good creative ideas staring out the window, taking naps, or
taking a shower; definitely away from the computer.

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goodside
I'm confused. The article says that creativity is associated with low thalamic
D2 receptor density, and that the thalamus "filters" signals to the rest of
the brain, so they speculate that diminished activity therein results in less
filtering and more creativity, and schizophrenia is a more severe form of
this. That's fine until you consider that antipsychotics work by _blocking_
dopaminergic activity, which would exacerbate the pathology rather than repair
it. My understanding was that dopamine is associated with increased dopamine
receptor binding in the prefrontal cortex (which is consistent with the
observed mechanism of action for antipsychotics), and the lower thalamus
receptor densities were simply due to downregulation caused by the excessive
endogenous dopamine. Can someone with more expertise clarify?

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tjmaxal
I don't think they are saying that creativity and schizophrenia have the same
mechanism but rather that there is just a partial correlation.

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mkramlich
I've known both schizophrenics and artists in my personal life and I'd say one
thing they have in common is an ability for their thought processes to "color
outside the lines", jump the tracks, etc. But for healthy artists they have a
greater ability to recognize it and control it and channel to productive ends,
whereas the schizophrenic goes off into wild goose chases, endless
philosophical thinking dead ends, and outright delusions unbacked by
externally confirmable observations.

Speaking of the dopamine connection, there has been an increasing body of
evidence and belief within the scientific community studying schizophrenia
that the dopamine/receptor activity is just a symptom or downstream effect and
that the root cause may be related to a virus that has infected the brain's
tissue or blood supply. Possibly an endogenous virus embedded in the DNA, that
had previously been considered part of the inactive "junk" DNA.

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lvecsey
It's almost like there is an attempt to normalize all of human behavior,
nearly to a borg-like state but with a "I am human!!" undertone. Neurotypical
for the win, is the motto.

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DanielBMarkham
I go to the site and see a doc. Clicking on download, I'm taken to a scribd
sign-up page.

Is there a reason I should sign up for Scribd because somebody wants to share
material with me on the internet?

Sorry. I lost interest at that point.

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mkramlich
i came up with a term for this ability to be both very creative and loose and
random while also being able to switch into a very logical, analytical,
judgemental, executive mindset:

groglogic

where the grog refers to drunkeness or sleepiness/dreams

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tjmaxal
The real term is lateral thinking.

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mkramlich
Thanks. But arguably there are no 'real terms'. Just words given meaning by
those who coin them. And we are all free to coin terms. That said, I have
heard that term before (just checked it on Wikipedia too), but it doesn't
cover what I refer to as groglogic.

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tjmaxal
ok fair enough.

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arohner
Anecdote: I've been regarded as a good programmer, and my sister is
schizoaffective.

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TheSOB88
She hot?

