Sintelly - Are Artistic tendencies linked to 'Schizophrenia Gene'

To identify how creativity is affected by the variations, researchers genotyped 200 adults who replied to the ads seeking accomplished and creative volunteers. They also gave two creative thinking tests to the volunteers and came up with an objective score of the creative achievements they had like writing a book or filing a patent.

People who have two copies of neuregulin 1 mutation tend to score significantly higher on these creativity measures compared with the rest of the volunteers with no or one copy of the mutation. Participants with a single copy were judged, on average, to be more creative than those volunteers with no mutation. The mutation explained between 3% and 8% of the differences in terms of creativity.

It is unclear how creativity is affected by neuregulin 1. Those with two mutation copies were no more likely compared to others to have the so-called schizotypal traits like odd speech patterns, inappropriate emotions, and paranoia. It would suggest that the connection of the mutation to mental illness doesn’t completely explain its link to creativity.

Researchers speculated instead that the mutation dampens the region of the brain that reins in behavior and mood, known as the prefrontal cortex. Such change can unleash some people’s creative potential but for others, it might trigger psychotic delusions.

Intelligence is probably one factor that determines if the neuregulin 1 mutation can enhance creativity or contribute to psychosis. The volunteers tended to be smarter than average. Conversely, the study of another family with schizophrenic history discovered that a similar mutation was linked with psychotic symptoms and lower intelligence.

People with high IQ and psychosis tend to have a higher intellectual capacity for dealing with psychotic experiences. Experiencing these feelings is not enough because you also need to communicate them.

Other experts agree that the effects of the gene are possibly influenced by some cognitive factors like intelligence. However, it doesn’t mean that creativity and psychosis are the same. There seems to always be this somewhat romantic idea that genius and madness are the flip sides of a coin. However, madness is usually madness without a genetic connection to intelligence.