Re: OT SCHIZOPHRENICS and HIGHLY CREATIVE PEOPLE

[Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com>]

I agree that filtering is a lot better in the mix than in the brain!
Working hard now to shut down my dopamine so I can fit in with the
freakshow in Santa Cruz next month :-)

Thanks for the link, very interesting reading! BTW, the research
center in the article is just around the corner from where I'm typing
this.

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.boysen.se
www.perboysen.com
www.looproom.com internet music hub



On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 11:03 AM, Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com> wrote:
> 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.
>
>