andik2000

"What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate." Henry David Thoreau

Cleveland, OH

Female

About

I am an artist. I am a psychologist. I am a scientist. I am a writer. I am a nerd. I am an optimist. I am a pessimist. I am a purist. I am a skeptic. I am an introvert, except when I am playing extrovert. I am very, very, very, intuitive. I am extremely motivated to achieve all that I can, and I will never stop trying. I am a student......forever.

I am the girl at the party upon first introduction that half of the people hate, and half of the people love, until they get to know me. Then the ones that hated me love me, and the ones who loved me do their best to destroy me.

I love dogs. I love reading. I love learning. I LOVE LEARNING. I need to learn, about anything and everything, ALL THE TIME. And after I learn it, I need to share it with everyone.

I hate snobs. I hate cruelty. I hate arrogance. I hate betrayal. I have no tolerance for injustice.
I love confidence. I love ambition. I love kindness. I love puppies. I love people who stand up for what they believe in, even when no one else in the world sees the brilliance in their ideas yet. Because someday, they will see the brilliance in your ideas and take the credit for them. So then you keep coming up with more unpopular but brilliant ideas, and the cycle continues.....

- Andrea Kuszewski

visit my StumbleUpon blog at: http://andik2000.stumbleupon.com/

Photos, Art, & Research - see all 43

animations - see all 2

Discussion on the Genetics of Creativity and the Relationship to Psychopathology (parts1-8) Full Text - see all 8

The future of Creativity research.... and the "Trait Spindle Theory of Creativity" (part 8) May 7

I believe that the real direction that creativity research is going is to look at not only Schizophrenia, but also other forms of psychopathology as well, comparing the differences and similarities in the cognitive functioning and what that implies about the benefits of creative individuals' neuroanatomy.

Environmental and Evolutionary Perspectives on Creativity (part 7) May 7

Obviously, other factors come into play when speaking of the expression of creativity; the environment has been show to influence the amount of creativity exhibited by individuals. The extent to which someone with "creative potential" (determined by genetic traits) achieves successful creativity can be thought of much like intellectual achievement per Vygotsky's theory of the "Zone of Proximal Development".

Can you inherit Creativity? (part 6) May 7

Now that it is clear that dopamine receptor genes have an effect on creativity, what does this imply about the heritability of creativity versus other traits on the Schizophrenia Spectrum? If assumed that creativity and Schizophrenia are linked, that the dopaminergic system as well as the serotenergic system play a role in both, then it would be logical to look at the heritability of schizophrenic traits on a continuum when studying creativity.

The effect of Dopamine in Creativity and Schizophrenia (part 5) May 7

Since DA is known to play a role in many disorders and functions of the brain, how exactly do we know the role it plays in creativity? Dopamine is thought to determine our perception of personal relevancy in the environment. Too little dopamine and nothing is perceived to relate to us, and we don't pay attention. Too much dopamine and suddenly everything in the environment is personally related to us, and we notice everything (the lack of latent inhibition).

Autism-Schizophrenia link and the relationship to Creativity (part 4) May 7

According to Nettle, autistic traits are in many ways the converse of schizotypal traits in regards to the dimension of divergent thinking. In Schizotypy, the brain takes metaphorical leaps from domain to domain, making remote associations, using a broad attentional set. These are some of the hallmark characteristics of creativity. On the other hand, autistic traits such as narrow interests, literal thinking, and perseverative attention to stimuli seem to be on the other polar end of the axis.

Hemispheric Indicators of Creativity (part 3) May 7

As well as noticing that the functioning of the PFC is poor in Schizophrenics as compared to creative individuals, studies looking at EEGs and fMRIs measuring neural activity and cerebral blood flow have noticed hemispheric differences as well. One of the functions of the PFC is switching back and forth between attentional sets, which is of utter importance to creativity.

The Prefrontal Cortex and Cognitive Control.... the key to Successful Creativity vs Schizophrenia (part 2) May 7

It has been proposed in recent years that there is a strong genetic link between Schizophrenia and creativity. The Schizophrenic Spectrum of traits includes delusional thinking (divergent, loose associations), jumping from idea to idea (flexibility), and over-inclusive thinking patterns (attention to irrelevant stimuli and detail, or lack of latent inhibition). What distinguishes these traits from creativity? To sum up a complex notion in simple terms: Cognitive Control.

The Genetics of Creativity: A Serendipitous Assemblage of Madness (part 1) May 7

Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Virginia Woolf, Pablo Picasso.... What do all of these famous contributors to society have in common? Other than the fact that they are no longer around, they all bring to mind the word "creativity" or "genius". While they were all tremendously successful and innovative, their gifts lie in different domains. Creativity is not limited to the visual arts, or the language arts. Creativity is a syndrome that can be found in every domain: science, visual art, music, math. Creativity is a necessary component of thinking in order to bring advancement of ideas and progression to their prospective fields.