Creativity

The theory of creativity that Al Suwaidan shared comes from a neuro-biological and psychological perspective, that of the shared experience of a brain networking breakdown by some of the most profoundly creative humans to walk among us.“So this idea has existed from the times of Aristotle and Plato that highly creative people are prone to mood swings and behavioral impulsivity. Many have been speculated or proved to suffer from mood disorders or more specifically, bipolar disorder, that involves the two extreme poles of depression and mania. And indeed, studies have proven that in the average populations, while only 1-3% of the population have mood disorders, these numbers go up to 40% among profoundly creative artists and writers that might look like or be bipolar disorder.”

One theory of creativity is that the creative drive is related to Dopamine, one of the chemical messengers. High levels of dopamine in the temporal cortex, you move towards more creative drive, but at an extreme, you can develop mania or psychosis. On the contrary reduced levels of dopamine in the temporal cortex, you can move into creative blocks and depression. Creative people, whether they are bipolar or not, seem to oscillate between these two move swings, between creative overdrive and creative block.

“What is fascinating about the elasticity of the brain is that even during the periods of creative block, the brain is not just hibernating, but working towards the next creative breakthrough”, he highlighted. This, he informed, was proven in studies in Stanford University looking at shared traits between people who are bipolar and people who are creative and don’t have bipolar who discovered that the shared traits are negative emotions. He stressed that the dislike of the familiar was more pronounced in bipolar patients and creatives and so negative emotions are needed to reach creative breakthroughs.

Between scientists of multiple fields, from microbiology to astrophysics, it is generally agreed upon that that human brain is the single most complex object ever discovered in the known universe. “What is even more astounding is that this 1.5 kg of grey, wet tissue between your ears is your thoughts, emotions, dreams, drive, you. You need to remember in the coming days of this conference