Art and Dementia: How Degeneration of Some Brain Regions Can Lead to New Creative Impulses
Art and Dementia: How Degeneration of Some Brain Regions Can Lead to New Creative Impulses
Progressive neurodegenerative disease that disrupts the interactions between the frontal lobes and the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, or between the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres has been shown to affect creativity in a myriad of ways. The importance of studying the paradoxical facilitation of behaviors that can help patients achieve ‘flow’ is underscored by the observation that patients who engage in creative activities display many signs of improved quality of life. It is important to note, however, that while the art created by patients with neurodegenerative disease might be hailed as more creative by the artistic community, the brain networks underlying the drive to make these choices may not necessarily be the same as those upon which healthy artists rely.
Keywords: Creativity, Frontotemporal dementia, Semantic dementia, Progressive non-fluent aphasia, Alzheimer’s disease, Flow, Facilitation
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