What Parkinson's Reveals About the Artistic Spark

Parkinson's disease is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world, currently affecting around 0.1 percent of the population and rising to 3 percent of those over the age of 65. Finding ways to ease the symptoms and improve the lives of people with Parkinson's disease is a broa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican scientist Vol. 108; no. 4; pp. 240 - 243
Main Authors Pelowski, Matthew, Spee, Blanca, Richard, Alby, Krack, Paul, Bloem, Bastiaan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Research Triangle Park Sigma XI-The Scientific Research Society 01.07.2020
Subjects
Addictive behaviors
Alzheimer's disease
Artists
Behavior
Brain
Creativity
Dopamine
Movement disorders
Nervous system
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neurosciences
Parkinson's disease
Patients
Physicians
Signs and symptoms
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Summary:Parkinson's disease is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world, currently affecting around 0.1 percent of the population and rising to 3 percent of those over the age of 65. Finding ways to ease the symptoms and improve the lives of people with Parkinson's disease is a broad, urgent area of research. Along the way, the study of Parkinson's patients is also having a remarkable, and rather unexpected, consequence: It may lead to new insights into the basis of the "artistic spark"--the neurobiology underlying the way we create and respond to art. Here, Pelowski et al examine why and how Parkinson's patients might experience an increased desire, and even ability, to create art.
ISSN:0003-0996
1545-2786
DOI:10.1511/2020.108.4.240