Creativity and schizotypy and bipolar mood disorder: the recent two decades of research

Abstract

Creativity can be defined as the production of an original and useful action or idea and its implementing. Studies of the second half of the 20th century brought about several hypotheses on the neuropsychological and neurobiological foundations of this phenomenon and its possible connection with psychopathology. This paper verifies these concepts based on selected publications and events of the recent two decades (2005–2025). In this period, support has been obtained as to a relationship between creativity and the originality of thinking and information processing. This is best reflected in a phenomenon of schizotypy, whose relations with creativity has been confirmed in many studies. Besides the Default Mode Network, a significant role of the cerebellum was indicated as to brain structures connected with creativity. A link of creativity with genetic-molecular factors was found and a predominance of its genes in Homo sapiens compared with Homo neanderthalensis, and in the latter, compared with the chimpanzee. In 2005–2025, further evidence was obtained for a relationship between high creativity with bipolar mood disorder (BD) and its personality features. A shared vulnerability to creativity and BD spectrum was proposed. Higher creativity was found in families of BD subjects without disease symptoms. However, multiple examples exist of great artists, including Polish ones with full clinical expression of BD.