Creativity and positive symptoms in schizophrenia revisited: Structural connectivity analysis with diffusion tensor...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Creativity and schizotypy may stem from hyperactivation of remote concepts.
• Previous research on creativity in schizophrenia is inconsistent due to complexity and differentiation challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively investigate creativity, positive symptoms (delusions), and their neural underpinnings in schizophrenia.
• To differentiate adaptive creativity from pathological schizotypy.

Main Methods:

• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) were used.
• Participants included 43 schizophrenia patients and 36 healthy controls.
• Creativity was assessed using idea, design, and verbal fluency tests; delusions were measured by the Peters Delusions Inventory.

Main Results:

• Schizophrenia patients exhibited significantly lower idea and verbal fluency, and higher delusion scores compared to controls.
• Design fluency showed no significant group differences.
• A positive correlation was found between phonological fluency and delusion severity in schizophrenia patients.
• The anterior corpus callosum showed negative correlations with both phonological fluency and delusion severity.

Conclusions:

• Anterior interhemispheric dysconnectivity in the corpus callosum may underlie executive dysfunction in schizophrenia.
• Disinhibited semantic network activation might manifest as uncontrollable phonological fluency or delusions.
• This dysconnectivity could be a neural basis distinguishing pathological symptoms from adaptive creativity.