dementia & the flip side of creativity
Dec. 17th, 2002 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheInner Artist Revealed in Man with Dementia
A case of an elderly man with dementia who began drawing after a lifetime of showing no interest in art demonstrates that a type of dementia that robs people of their personality may paradoxically trigger a burst of creativity.
At age 65, the man was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. This type of dementia, which is caused by the degeneration of the front part of the brain, impairs abstract thinking, judgment and language abilities, and may lead to inappropriate behavior.
By age 70, the man's dementia had progressed to the point that he was no longer responsive to others, and he had trouble understanding words and sentences.
One day, though, the man's wife put pencils in front of him, and he began to draw. According to his wife, he had never been interested in art, but for the next 6 months, he drew at the same hour every day.
"This case seems to be remarkable in this advanced stage of dementia," said Dr. Catherine Thomas-Anterion, the lead author of the report.
[...] According to Thomas-Anterion, the degeneration that leads to FTD seems to decrease the inhibition of other parts of the brain that are involved in perception.
A case of an elderly man with dementia who began drawing after a lifetime of showing no interest in art demonstrates that a type of dementia that robs people of their personality may paradoxically trigger a burst of creativity.
At age 65, the man was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. This type of dementia, which is caused by the degeneration of the front part of the brain, impairs abstract thinking, judgment and language abilities, and may lead to inappropriate behavior.
By age 70, the man's dementia had progressed to the point that he was no longer responsive to others, and he had trouble understanding words and sentences.
One day, though, the man's wife put pencils in front of him, and he began to draw. According to his wife, he had never been interested in art, but for the next 6 months, he drew at the same hour every day.
"This case seems to be remarkable in this advanced stage of dementia," said Dr. Catherine Thomas-Anterion, the lead author of the report.
[...] According to Thomas-Anterion, the degeneration that leads to FTD seems to decrease the inhibition of other parts of the brain that are involved in perception.