The Creating Brain. The Neuroscience of Genius.pdf

The new england journal of medicine
book reviews
The Creating Brain:
The Neuroscience of Genius
By Nancy C. Andreasen. 197 pp., illustrated. New York,
Dana Press, 2005. $. ISBN 1-932594-07-8.
ow do we fathom the extraordinary
Hmusical outpourings of Mozart? Or the paint-
ings of Michelangelo? In a word, what makes for
“genius”? How often is creativity linked to men-
tal illness, as in the case of van Gogh? Can one
identify brain circuits that underlie uniquely cre-
ative activity? Can one train for creativity? The pub-
lic has long been fascinated by the plish-
ments of the most gifted people. Much has been
written, but little has been clarified.
Nancy Andreasen’s es closer to pro-
viding solid insight into all of these questions
than anything else I have read. Although numer-
ous authors have attacked ponents
of the creative process, this book, to my knowledge,
is the first to take an in-depth look at all the major
elements. It begins by clarifying definitions regard-
ing what constitutes creativity and genius and
then reviews the literature on efforts to quantify IQ
and elements of creativity. Recent research that
monitors the activity of various regions of the brain
during the creative process is presented, along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Age of Six Years.
what is known of the relationship between various e Libr