from AFP via YAHOO! News India
Creativity and psychosis share a genetic source: study
Artistic creativity may share genetic roots with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to a study published on Monday.
The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, delves into a well-known genetic database — the deCODE library of DNA codes derived from samples provided by the population of Iceland.
The authors first compared genetic and medical data from 86,000 Icelanders, establishing a DNA signature that pointed to a doubled risk for schizophrenia and an increase of a third for bipolar disorder.
The next step was to look at the genomes of people engaged in artistic work.
“The results of this study should not have come as a surprise because to be creative, you have to think differently from the crowd, and we had previously shown that carriers of genetic factors that predispose to schizophrenia do so,” [Kari Stefansson] said in a news release.