23 Another area of the brain associated with theory of mind and perspective taking that has been activated in both groups is the left anterior cingulate (BA 32).23 Both groups also show intense activation in the right insula, a region associated with visceral processing, but specifically in the context of emotional self-awareness and non-language vocalizations such as laughing and crying.24 Figure 1. Patterns of activation selleckchem during an fMR word association task performed by artists (Figure 1a) and scientists (Figure 1b) show strikingly similar patterns

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of activation in multiple regions of association cortex and areas involved in socioaffective processing. … The bilateral visual cortices have also been invoked Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in imagery processing in this task in both groups, involving the cuneus and the lingual gyrus. While the involvement of this region is to be expected in visual imagery

associated with verbal stimuli, there is increasing evidence that sensory cortices (such as the cuneus and lingual gyrus) are also involved in multimodal higher-order sensory processing (similar to the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical association cortices) as would be relevant to the creative generation of verbal responses.25 Discussion This small group of “big C” individuals includes a diverse group of artists and scientists. When the activations in the two groups are compared, the findings give no support for the notion that the artists and scientists Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical represent “two cultures.” Rather, they suggest that very gifted artists and scientists have association cortices that respond in similar ways. Both groups display a preponderance of activation in brain circuits involved in higher-order socioaffective processing and REST/the default mode network. This is to be expected, given that the artist group is comprised of storytellers working with various media. selleck kinase inhibitor However, it is novel to report this similar

pattern of activation in a group of scientists, stereotyped to be less verbal in their creative genius. One plausible explanation is that all Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical highly creative geniuses, the “big C’s,” are unique and unified in their experience Anacetrapib of high affectivity, vivid imagery, and ability to intuit feelings and thoughts that occur in the minds of others. Perhaps this intensity of feeling and rich imagination contributes to their passion, creativity, and discovery of new frontiers. Acknowledgments This study was funded by a Senior Investigator Award to Dr Andreasen from NARSAD.
To encourage scientists to break free of categorical diagnostic constraints and realign mental illness research with the knowledge gained from the accelerating pace of findings regarding the relationship of genetic and neural factors to behavior, the National Institute of Mental Health has initiated the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project. This initiative represents the implementation of Strategy 1.