The creating brain: the neuroscience of genius

222 Pages·2005·1.1 MB·English

by  Nancy C. Andreasen

BRAIN
The Creating

The Creating
B R A I N
T H E N E U R O S C I E N C E O F G E N I U S
Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D.
DANA PRESS
New York • Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2005, all rights reserved
Published by Dana Press
New York/Washington, D.C.
The Dana Foundation
745 Fifth Avenue, Suite 900
NewYork, NY 10151
900 15th Street NW
Washington, DC20005
DANA is a federally registered trademark.
isbn:(cloth) 1-932594-07-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Andreasen, Nancy C. The creating brain : the neuroscience of genius /
Nancy C. Andreasen. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn1-932594-07-8 (alk. paper)
1. Neuropsychology. 2. Genius. 3. Creative ability. I. Title.
qp398.a53 2005
612.8—dc22
2005009994
Cover Design by FTM Design Studio
Text Design by Kachergis Book Design
Printed by Edwards Brothers Incorporated
www.dana.org
To the “lost geniuses” of the past, in the hope that this book will help more
thrive in the future.

C O N T E N T S
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
1. The Nature of Creativity:
The Ingenious HumanBrain 1
2. In Search of Xanadu: Understanding the
Creative Person and the Creative Process 18
3. Reaching Xanadu: How Does the Brain Create? 49
4. Genius and Insanity: Creativity and Brain Disease 79
5. What Creates the Creative Brain? 108
6. Building Better Brains: Creativity and
Brain Plasticity 143
Bibliography 183
Index 189

L I S T O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S
Chapter 1
The “Chinese Horse.” Prehistoric cave painting. Lascaux Caves,
Perigord, Dordogne, France; Art Resource, NY 1
Lewis Terman; Courtesy of Stanford University Archives 8
Chapter 2
Praxiteles (c.400–330 BCE). (attr.) Three Muses. Statue base from Man-
tinea(Arkadia), ca. 330–320 BCE. H. 98 cm. National Archaeological
Museum, Athens, Greece; Nimatallah / ArtResource, NY 18
Samuel Taylor Coleridge;Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-104646 20
J.P. Guilford; Archives of the History of American Psychology—
The University of Akron 24
Figure 2-1, An Ideal Normal (Gaussian)Distribution 25
Figure 2-2, A Theoretical Depiction of Skewed Distribution 27
Neil Simon; Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-121470 36
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-87246 40
Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky; Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-128254 42
Henri Poincaré;Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-07574 44
Friedrich Kekulé; Science and Society Picture Library 46
Stephen Spender; Photograph by Imogen Cunningham © The
Imogen Cunningham Trust 47
Chapter 3
PET scanof the brain 49
Figure 3-1, The lobes of the brain 53
ix