Whether it is one general ability "g" or a variety of context-dependent intelligences, the nature of intelligence has been an elusive concept to clearly define. What about Einstein, Van Gogh and Nietzsche makes them remarkable? As human beings, we exalt their feats often without a thought as to what it is to be "genius." The question remains: What composes genius? Throughout history there has been an echo of one maxim in this regard: There is a fine line between genius and madness.
Anecdotally, one can easily conjure examples of those who exhibit genius and generalized psychopathologies: Poe, Dickenson and Schumann. One such pathology is that of hypomania, where cycling periods of depression and mania occur. This state of mania is associated with euphoria, elevated self-esteem, flight of ideas, reduced need for sleep, disregard for social convention and an increase in goal-directed behavior sometimes with short-term distractibility. In the cases of Dickenson and Schumann, the periodicity of their intellectual production has been correlated with perceived changes in state. It is worth noting, however, that retroactive diagnosis is a subjective exercise making meaningful analysis difficult.
In corroboration with these findings, Kay Jamison, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, has produced correlation studies on the relation between hypomania and creative pursuits such as art and writing. Jamison's findings suggest that there is a higher prevalence of hypomania in such fields, strengthening a potential link between hypomania and creative genius. Although Jamison's studies have been questioned on methodological grounds, it is clear there is an association of uncertain strength.
A similar association exists between a high functioning form of autism known as Asperger's syndrome and genius. Asperger's symptoms are lack of general social skills, obsessive behavior with regard to certain items or subjects, advanced rote memorization and deficient motor skills. Like hypomania, subjects often have an increase in the experience of having ideas, have decreased awareness of social norms, and show high affinities for certain objectives; these characteristics seem conducive for intellectual achievement. This evidence, however, is only circumstantial as it is exceedingly difficult to gather concrete, statistically significant data to support such a phenomenon, but the association is undeniable considering the case of idiot savants.
Clearly, there is some association between certain mental disorders and enhanced intellectual capacity, but a mechanism is necessary to support such an association. One such mechanism could be evolution. This highly speculative view, championed by David Horrobin, suggests that certain mental disorders, such as schizophrenia could have contributed to the development of higher cognitive functioning. Such developments include theory of mind, reason, language, and the ability to make connections between apparently unrelated events. The suggestion is that the development of such characteristics may have required degrees of mental instability or plasticity. Alternatively, schizophrenia could just be a deleterious by-product of the development of such characteristics.
What can be suggested is that the traits that human beings find advantageous in what we term "genius" like obsessive devotion to a single area, disregard for convention and increased flurries of ideas can also be the same symptoms of psychological disorder; perhaps differing in social acceptance and magnitude. These mental disorders are clearly a product of evolution, but in what manner is simply a matter of speculation. This connection has interesting implications for the pharmacological treatment of mental disorder.
Although there has been much success in the treatment of mental disorder, the majority of effective medications used for treatments such as lithium, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and Ritalin have poorly understood mechanisms of action. Further, despite the best efforts of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the cognitive science movement in psychology, the diagnosis of mental disorder remains mostly a subjective task. Could it be possible that the drugs used to treat common mental disorders like bipolar, depression and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) suppress mechanisms for mental plasticity necessary for creative insight? The answer is yes, but there is no way of knowing the actualities of such a claim without a more thorough understanding of the action of these drugs. Until such a time when there is greater understanding, it would behoove psychiatrists to demonstrate judicious restraint in prescription of such drugs.
Michael McDuffie can be reached at michaelmcduffie@cavalierdaily.com.
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