VIRB

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). In the extreme form, it is referred to as "Dopamine Psychosis" .

Reuter et al., while investigating this dopamine connection to creativity, found that the dopamine receptor gene DRD2 A1 allele was significantly correlated with specific areas of creativity. Taking a sample of 92 subjects, while controlling for intelligence, he tested the dopamine D2 receptor gene (locus: DRD2 TAQ IA) and a serotonergic gene, TPH1 (locus: TPH-A779C) for relationships to creativity. He found that the DRD2 gene was significantly related to verbal creativity and creativity in general, while the TPH1 gene was related to figural creativity. There have been other associations made between the DRD2 allele and intelligence, or tests that measured cognitive function, but this may have actually been an association with creative problem solving, and not intelligence as define by g. In that instance, the DRD2 allele was correlated with visuospatial cognitive ability, which one could also classify as visual creativity, taking into account the threshold of necessary intelligence for creativity, as proposed by Guilford.

The effect of the seretonergic (5-HT) system seems to be important in cognitive functioning, even though the results of this study showed a limited association between the 5-HT system and creativity itself. Studies investigating the effects of combined dopamine and serotonin receptor antagonists given to Schizophrenic patients showed a significant improvement in a wide range of cognitive function including attention, episodic memory, visuomotor speed, and executive function.

What is theorized after looking at the results of this study and comparing them to other studies involving these systems, is that some of the 5-HT effects on cognitive functioning are mediated via an indirect pathway by influencing the activity of the DA system, since it has already been shown that the 5-HT system has an inhibitory effect on the release of dopamine. This combined effect of DA and serotonin together on cognitive function as it relates to creativity and schizophrenia would be a good area for future investigation.

Reuter found that creativity was higher in those individuals with the carriers with the A1 allele of DRD2 TAQ IA, and in carriers of the A allele of the TPH1 A779C. The fact that the DRD2 SNP was associated with verbal creativity, and TPH1 SNP with numeric and figural creativity (as well as both being associated with creativity in general), he postulates that there may be hemispheric-specific influences from these two systems (DRD2 influencing verbal creativity in the left, and TPH1 influencing numeric and figural creativity in the right). Interestingly, neither of these candidate genes correlated with intelligence in this study, although their sample was taken from university students with an average sample IQ of 115, higher than the population average of 100, which may have impacted this result slightly.

discussion continues in part 6...