Creativity and intact executive function

[MentalNomad]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21767880

Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
Creativity is a complex construct involving affective and cognitive components. Bipolar Disorder (BD) has been associated with creativity and is characterized by a wide range of affective and cognitive symptoms. Although studies of creativity in BD have tended to focus on creativity as a trait variable in medicated euthymic patients, it probably fluctuates during symptomatic states of BD. Since creativity is known to involve key affective and cognitive components, it is plausible to speculate that cognitive deficits and symptoms present in symptomatic BD could interfere with creativity.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:
Sixty-seven BD type I patients medication free, age 18-35 years and experiencing a maniac, mixed, or depressive episodes, were assessed for creativity, executive functioning, and intelligence.
RESULTS:
Manic and mixed state patients had higher creativity scores than depressive individuals. Creativity was influenced by executive function measures only in manic patients. Intelligence did not influence creativity for any of the mood episode types.
CONCLUSION:
We propose that creativity in BD might be linked to the putative hyperdopaminergic state of mania and be dependent on intact executive function. Future studies should further explore the role of dopaminergic mechanisms in creativity in BD.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Based off of this article, I'm wondering if ADHD sufferers have impaired creativity, as it theoretically relies on intact executive functions.


The below talks about ADHD as Impairment of Executive Functions

http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-p...k&size=largest


The first bold section in the first study refers to creativity only being affected by executive function measures in manic patients.

The study tentatively proposes a link between the hyperdopaminergic state of mania, intact executive functions, and creativity. I'm unclear what this means, but there has been a purported link between ADHD and low dopamine. Anyway, this study is indecisive and I'm curious as to the opinions of others on here. I'm wondering if beneficial levels of dopamine coupled with intact executive functions aid in creative thought (or a type of creative thought), and I will look for studies that delve into dopamine assisting executive functions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16982202

These findings suggest that striatal dopamine neurotransmission increases significantly during the performance of specific executive processes confirming previous evidence of striatal activation during fMRI studies. The present observation may provide some insights on the origin of cognitive deficits underlying certain neurological disorders associated with dopamine dysfunction, such as Parkinson's disease.

[Marspider]

Ah, but being ADHD means being more creative than dull, mundane neurotypicals! What are you saying! This goes against all paradigms of ADHD and indigo childhoods. I refuse to believe you.

(This is interesting and I've always felt my creativity wasn't due to my ADHD, in spite cries to the contrary in the ADHD universe, I'm more likely to be creative when I haven't slept.)

[hanikamiya]

Originally Posted by Marspider

(This is interesting and I've always felt my creativity wasn't due to my ADHD, in spite cries to the contrary in the ADHD universe, I'm more likely to be creative when I haven't slept.)

My brain comes up with the weirdest things when I haven't slept. I would have thought that due to the depletion of my executive ressources making me hitch to ideas I'd usually discard immediately. (Like, giving my stomach its personal name and treating it as an animated thing.)

Alcohol is also thought to make 'more creative' in a way that you produce more ideas and don't check them for their validity or relevance to the subject at hand. (source)
I would have thought that lack of executive function makes quantitatively more creative, but qualitatively less creative.

[MentalNomad]

Originally Posted by Marspider

Ah, but being ADHD means being more creative than dull, mundane neurotypicals! What are you saying! This goes against all paradigms of ADHD and indigo childhoods. I refuse to believe you.

(This is interesting and I've always felt my creativity wasn't due to my ADHD, in spite cries to the contrary in the ADHD universe, I'm more likely to be creative when I haven't slept.)

I've noticed this as well, I feel almost manic when I haven't had my customary 10 hours of sleep a night. I have no verbal impulse control, say the oddest things, etc. It doesn't help that I have an extremely different sense of humor (been told I have a sense of irony) and this comes out in full force when I'm sleep deprived. It's always interesting when I think of the many different ways creativity can manifest itself (or the many diverse perspectives of creativity). In my case it is cynical "humor".

Again, it's odd, when I'm lacking proper sleep, I feel manic and depressed at the same time and my "sense of humor" is my only coping mechanism during these involuntary mindsets. It's like temporary early-onset dementia!

I remember during one of these manic fits I told someone he had pudgy little squirrel arms. I usually regret saying potentially hurtful things to others, whether out of my own ignorance, or due to lack of impulse control. But, in this case, this person was rather unpleasant to be around. Of course, in those moods, I have this underlying depression, despite the "mania," so I suppose I view everyone as unpleasant to be around during those specific situations.

Which brings up an interesting point of discussion, has anyone noticed they are only creative while manic?

[Marspider]

I'm more creative when I'm not stressed, feeling playful and/or the boundaries in my mind are more fluid due to lack of sleep, alcohol (not too much) and the occasional paranoia. Though I see solutions when I'm on the edge. Different kinds of creative.
When I was doing my architecture degree, the more artistic ideas would come when I was a bit la la la and solutions when I was on a knife edge.I have to hand in a model of a staircase in two hours, damn, get this ordinary one I made earlier as a prototype, spray paint with sandy spray paint and pewter a and it comes out looking brill. But when I have to come up with a general theme, it was total meh.
So I would say more big picture thinking when my boundaries are fluid and more details when I'm close to the edge.

Originally Posted by MentalNomad

I've noticed this as well, I feel almost manic when I haven't had my customary 10 hours of sleep a night. I have no verbal impulse control, say the oddest things, etc. It doesn't help that I have an extremely different sense of humor (been told I have a sense of irony) and this comes out in full force when I'm sleep deprived. It's always interesting when I think of the many different ways creativity can manifest itself (or the many diverse perspectives of creativity). In my case it is cynical "humor".

Again, it's odd, when I'm lacking proper sleep, I feel manic and depressed at the same time and my "sense of humor" is my only coping mechanism during these involuntary mindsets. It's like temporary early-onset dementia!

I remember during one of these manic fits I told someone he had pudgy little squirrel arms. I usually regret saying potentially hurtful things to others, whether out of my own ignorance, or due to lack of impulse control. But, in this case, this person was rather unpleasant to be around. Of course, in those moods, I have this underlying depression, despite the "mania," so I suppose I view everyone as unpleasant to be around during those specific situations.

Which brings up an interesting point of discussion, has anyone noticed they are only creative while manic?

[salleh]

I am the most creative when I am being creative ......once I start, it bounces around and echoes and builds from there ......no idea what this means though

[Drewbacca]

Originally Posted by MentalNomad

Based off of this article, I'm wondering if ADHD sufferers have impaired creativity, as it theoretically relies on intact executive functions.


The below talks about ADHD as Impairment of Executive Functions

Apples to Lemons.

Executive Function is actually more vague a term than you probably realize. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions The model being discussed in ADHD literature is Baddeley’s multicomponent model of working memory. Note that there are nine models listed in just this article.
There is no actual executive function that can be measured, we can only measure how people perform on different test variations and then attribute their performance to an imagined model in order to understand it. The idea of executive function itself is nothing more than a model which is used to help us understand the workings of the mind. It's a tool for understanding and communicating the workings of the mind and not itself a physical reality.

That said, there are variations of the model of executive function out there. Different researchers have different understanding of what it is and how it works. The first thing that you need to do, is compare the sources that both studies are using to verify that they are in fact talking about the same thing and measuring the same measurable attributes of the subjects in the various studies. Just from the given information, there was no non BD control. It was never stated whether a depressed BD patient is more or less creative than the NT. They were only comparing relative creativity between the depressed and manic BD. You can't draw much from that study, other than what they specifically tested for. What actually stuck out to me, as interesting, in the first study is that mood has more effect on creativity than measured intelligence.

Also, as noted in the study, "creativity is a complex construct." In other words, hard to measure. If anything, the first study was measuring creativity, and not executive function. Unless the same exact controls are used in a different study, as a measure of creativity, there is no way to draw a comparison.

Check out the links that I posted in this thread http://www.addforums.com/forums/show...=126036&page=3
for more info on ADHD and executive function.

[Drewbacca]

Originally Posted by MentalNomad

I will look for studies that delve into dopamine assisting executive functions.

If you have time, look for studies for ADHD (and/or dopamine) for each of the variations of executive function as opposed to the umbrella term "executive function." I'm curious if anything has been studied besides working memory, in relation to ADHD.

Top-down inhibitory control
Working memory model
Supervisory attentional system (SAS)
Self-regulatory model
Problem-solving model
Lezak’s conceptual model
Miller & Cohen's (2001) model
Miyake and Friedman’s model of executive functions
Banich’s (2009) “Cascade of control” model

Also, here is a list (from the wiki article) of tests used to measure ex. fun.
The Trail Making Test measures flexibility of thinking on a visual-motor sequencing task
The Verbal Fluency Test measures letter fluency, category fluency, and category switching
The Design Fluency Test measures one’s initiation of problem-solving behavior, fluency in generating visual patterns, creativity in drawing new designs, simultaneous processing in drawing the designs while observing the rules and restrictions of the task, and inhibiting previously drawn responses
The Color-Word Interference Test measures ability to inhibit a dominant and automatic verbal response
The Sorting Test measures concept-formation skills, modality-specific problem-solving skills (verbal/nonverbal), and the ability to explain sorting concepts abstractly
The Twenty Questions Test measures the ability to categorize, formulate abstract, yes/no questions, and incorporate the examiner’s feedback to formulate more efficient yes/no questions
The Word Context Test measures verbal modality, deductive reasoning, integration of multiple bits of information, hypothesis testing, and flexibility of thinking
The Tower Test measures spatial planning, rule learning, inhibition of impulsive and perseverative responding, and the ability to establish and maintain instructional set
The Proverb Test measures one’s ability to form novel, verbal abstractions

[MentalNomad]

Originally Posted by Drewbacca

Apples to Lemons.

Executive Function is actually more vague a term than you probably realize. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions The model being discussed in ADHD literature is Baddeley’s multicomponent model of working memory. Note that there are nine models listed in just this article.
There is no actual executive function that can be measured, we can only measure how people perform on different test variations and then attribute their performance to an imagined model in order to understand it. The idea of executive function itself is nothing more than a model which is used to help us understand the workings of the mind. It's a tool for understanding and communicating the workings of the mind and not itself a physical reality.

That said, there are variations of the model of executive function out there. Different researchers have different understanding of what it is and how it works. The first thing that you need to do, is compare the sources that both studies are using to verify that they are in fact talking about the same thing and measuring the same measurable attributes of the subjects in the various studies. Just from the given information, there was no non BD control. It was never stated whether a depressed BD patient is more or less creative than the NT. They were only comparing relative creativity between the depressed and manic BD. You can't draw much from that study, other than what they specifically tested for. What actually stuck out to me, as interesting, in the first study is that mood has more effect on creativity than measured intelligence.

Also, as noted in the study, "creativity is a complex construct." In other words, hard to measure. If anything, the first study was measuring creativity, and not executive function. Unless the same exact controls are used in a different study, as a measure of creativity, there is no way to draw a comparison.

Check out the links that I posted in this thread http://www.addforums.com/forums/show...=126036&page=3
for more info on ADHD and executive function.

Yeah, I knew that Executive Functions was more of an umbrella term. I wasn't aware different models of it existed, not directly, anyway.

Right, the first study was measuring creativity, but also the effects of executive function on creativity (in manic patients).

I'll have to comb over the study again, but I don't think the study explicitly stated mood has more effect on creativity than measured intelligence, I'm not sure if you are going off of outside sources here.

Intelligence did not influence creativity for any of the mood episode types.

I interpret this as such that intelligence had no impact on creativity for the various mood episode types, rather than being a comparison between the mood's effects on intelligence vs. creativity. I may have missed something, and will read through the first article again.

And yes, I agree that it is hard to draw a comparison between BD and NTs, I was merely presenting a topic for discussion, rather than endorsing any theory.

[Drewbacca]

Originally Posted by MentalNomad

I'll have to comb over the study again, but I don't think the study explicitly stated mood has more effect on creativity than measured intelligence, I'm not sure if you are going off of outside sources here.

Just going off what was posted above:
Creativity was influenced by executive function measures only in manic patients. Intelligence did not influence creativity for any of the mood episode types.

I understand this to say:
Higher creativity was noted in manic patients but not depressed patients regardless of measured intelligence.

[MentalNomad]

Originally Posted by Drewbacca

Just going off what was posted above:
Creativity was influenced by executive function measures only in manic patients. Intelligence did not influence creativity for any of the mood episode types.

Okay, I initially misinterpreted here, forget the prior message. You meant that mood has more effect on creativity than intelligence does? As in mood effects creativity, but intelligence is comparatively lacking in its influence?

We propose that creativity in BD might be linked to the putative hyperdopaminergic state of mania and be dependent on intact executive function.

Based off of this quote, I don't want to ignore executive functions, though, and not base creativity solely off of mood.

[MentalNomad]

Yes, if I can spare a moment, I'll try to look up the effects of ADHD/dopamine in relation to the various executive functions/models.

[MentalNomad]

I was looking up ADHD and the Verbal Fluency test, and found this:

The results of this study indicated that children with ADHD differed on scores that implied a ... literature showing that those with ADHD have difficulties with verbal fluency, or the generation of novel words on demand under timed fluency tests.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Eky...20Test&f=false

This article also mentions that verbal creativity may be impaired in those with ADHD as a consequence of their low inhibition.


Concerning verbal fluency, I'm not sure which test was used to measure it.

There is also a section in the article that says that a small sample of high IQ children did not display creativity impairments. The article clearly states that more research on ADHD and creativity is needed.

It is a fairly lengthy article, so there is much more there. It also touches on issues with persistent effort, and problems with arousal.

[spunkysmum]

Originally Posted by salleh

I am the most creative when I am being creative ......once I start, it bounces around and echoes and builds from there ......no idea what this means though

I think the take-away from that would be - take time to be creative, and ride the roll if you can until it plays out.

[salleh]

oh ya ....everything else goes on the back burner when I am in the throes of creating ......but I am single without anyone to answer to but myself.....so I can mostly get away with that .....


and I refifnish, and shabby chic fureniture to pay my rent ....so creativity is rewarded ! ....

and when I am in MIchigan my dear friend Janet just let me run with whatever project I am working on .....and takes me to the hardware store or Michaels.....whatever I need ......


if it weren't for worrying about the future ...I'd have the ideal life for me ......but none of this is doing much for stashing anything away for the much older years ....and they ain't so far around the corner ......


meh ....maybe I'll turn to doing folk art paintings like grandma Moses, she was in her 70 or 80s when she STARTED to paint ..........and she made good money while she was still alive with those paintings


I guess I just need to know that I'll have another patron or two dodwn the road .....