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PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE published: 30 July 2014 doi: 10. 3389/fpsyg. 2014. 00835 "Not in their right mind": the relation of psychopathology to the quantity and quality of creative thought The empirical link between psychopatliology and creativity is often correlational and fraught with suspiciously causal interpretations.

In this paper, we review research in favor of the position that certain forms of psychopathology that profoundly affect the neural substrates for rule-based thought (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) can significantly influence the quantity of creative production.

Because highly productive individuals, irrespective of psychopathology, often produce work of greater quality, it seems that such an increase in the quantity of one's output positively affects the likelihood of generating those statistically rare acts and achievements identified and celebrated as creative.

We consider evidence that offers support for such a claim. In addition, we explore findings from neuroscience that can address how a neural mechanism, the flexibility of which relies on tradeoffs between rule-based (e.g., prefrontal cortex) and stimulus-based (e.g., sensorimotor cortex) brain regions, is influenced by psychopathology in ways that can alter dramatically the quantity and quality of creative output.

Keywords: madness, creativity, psychiopatliology, prefrontal cortex (PFC), hiypofrontality, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, genius Christopher H. Ramey* and Evangelia G. Chrysikou Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA Edited by: Anna Abraliam, Kuwait University, Kuwait Reviewed by: Eril< Thys, Universitair Psychiatriscii Centrum KU Leuven, Beigium Barbara Flutter, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany "Correspondence: Christopher l-l.

Ramey, Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, 14 15 Jayhawk Boulevard, 426 Fraser Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA e-mail: Christopher ramey@mac. com INTRODUCTION There is an undeniable empirical link between psychopathol- ogy and creativity.

By its very nature, however, much of this work on the "mad genius" is correlational or otherwise method- ologically compromised and stOl fraught with suspiciously causal interpretations (Schlesinger, 2009). In this paper, we first discuss how the persistence of an ancient historical link between cre- ativity and psychopathology has contributed to the acceptance of recent empirical evidence at face value, despite its serious method- ological shortcomings.

We then review research that points to a more nuanced interpretation of these positions, namely that cer- tain forms of psychopathology that profoundly affect the neural substrates for rule-based thought can significantly influence the quantity of creative production.

We propose that psychopathology that alters prefrontal cortical filtering increases creative production and, thus, the likelihood of high-quality creative work. We argue that the link between psychopathology and creativity is indirect, such that, at least under certain circumstances, the quantity of the creative output begets its quality.

THE HISTORICAL LINK BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND MADNESS What is the historical and cultural link between psychopathol- ogy and creativity that it should be so pervasively held today? In Plato's (1987; trans.) dialog, Ion, one is told that "[a] poet... is a light thing, and winged and holy, and cannot compose before he gets inspiration and loses control of his senses and his reason has deserted him" and further that poets can only compose "not by virtue of a skill, but by divine power" (534b- c).