OT SCHIZOPHRENICS and HIGHLY CREATIVE PEOPLE

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Fascinating new Swedish study (Karolinska Institutet)
shows correlation between the Dopamine systems in highly creative people 
and schizophrenics.

This is just a quote from the article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100518064610.htm#.TmOpG3e-074.facebook

The study shows that highly creative people who did well on the 
divergent tests had a lower density of
D2 receptors in the thalamus than less creative people," says Dr Ullén. 
"Schizophrenics are also known
to have low D2 density in this part of the brain, suggesting a cause of 
the link between mental illness
and creativity."

The thalamus serves as a kind of relay centre, filtering information 
before it reaches areas of the cortex,
which is responsible, amongst other things, for cognition and 
reasoning."Fewer D2 receptors in the thalamus
probably means a lower degree of signal filtering, and thus a higher 
flow of information from the thalamus,"
says Dr Ullén, and explains that this could a possible mechanism behind 
the ability of healthy highly creative
people to see numerous uncommon connections in a problem-solving 
situation and the bizarre associations
found in the mentally ill.

<and I LOVE this quote>

"Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat less 
intact box,"
                                                says Dr Ullén about his 
new findings.