Indeed, society has long associated higher intelligence and
creative thinking with mental illnesses ranging from the slight to the
severe. Affecting some 2.5 percent of the U.S. population, bipolar
disorder alone has touched many of our greatest achievers, including
Vincent Van Gogh, Buzz Aldrin, Emily Dickinson, Ernest Hemingway, and
Jackson Pollock to name just a handful. And although lacking a modern
diagnosis, surely Virginia Woolf — who drowned herself in 1941 — fit the
type.
Like the Sword of Damocles, higher intelligence may in some
ways curse its beneficiaries. Aside from the usual desire to
self-medicate, smarter people tend to drink alcohol and do drugs more
than average — perhaps seeking to drench a burning sense of curiosity
described by the Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis.
Long before the Agricultural Revolution brought alcohol to humankind,
life on the African savannah during the Pleistocene helped design the
modern mind. “The human brain has difficulty comprehending and dealing
with entities and situations that did not exist in the ancestral
environment,” evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa, of the London
School of Economics, says of his theory.
In modern life, the opportunity to imbibe — or to otherwise
ingest mind-altering substances — presents an “evolutionarily novel”
situation explored more readily by the smarter, bolder ones among us. In
fact, the correlation is so strong scientists say the inverse is true:
People of lower intelligence are the least likely to drink or use drugs.
Now, scientists have identified a biomolecular connection between
curiosity as a trait and intelligence in general, as evidenced by a 2009
study in Neuron from researchers at the University of Toronto
and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital.
Specifically, the neuronal calcium sensor-1 protein
was associated in a mouse model with spatial memory and curiosity.
Interestingly, that same protein has been linked in humans to bipolar
disorder and schizophrenia.
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Other research supporting a link between intelligence and mental health problems shows bipolar disorder may be four times as common among young adults who’d earned straight-A’s in school. Though long suspected, evidence for this connection was found by researchers at King’s College London, in a collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet in
Sweden by comparing Swedish national school records to diagnoses for
the disorder. “We found that achieving an A grade is associated with
increased risk for bipolar disorder, particularly in humanities and to a
lesser extent in science subjects,” lead researcher James MacCabe,
wrote in a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. “These findings provide support for the hypothesis that exceptional intellectual ability is associated with bipolar disorder.”
Perhaps not surpisingly, the correlation between A grades
and bipolar disorder was strongest among students excelling in music and
language, supporting popular notions about writers and artists with
regard to mental health. A similar study
from Jari Tiihonen at the University of Kuopio in Finland also supports
the link, although with arithmetic as a correlative for IQ. In mining
data on Finnish military conscripts, the Finnish researchers found an
almost unbelievably high correlation between high-scorers and those who
later received bipolar diagnoses — 12-fold.
“The finding of an association between progressively
increasing risk of bipolar disorder and high arithmetic intellectual
performance is rather surprising,” Tiihonen wrote, explaining the
arithmetic test requires not only mathematical skill but rapid
information-processing for the purpose of successfully completing the
timed exam. High scorers with such rapid processing power may also share
a tendency to experience mania, a state of high focus and psychomotor
activity. Along with bequesting humanity with advanced arithmetical or
psychomotor performance, past generations may have also left us with a
heightened risk for bipolar’s ups and downs.
Although some studies have shown no connection, more than
30 academic papers support a link between intelligence and bipolar
disorder — among related illnesses — as researchers continue to
experiment with mouse models and proteins, and to mine databases in
search of what's missing. Soon, science may give us improved medicines
to treat our maladaptive maladies of the mind. But at what cost to
society? Known for his mercurial moods and heavy substance abuse, the
late "Gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson
once insisted he’d have it no other way. “Without the booze and drugs,"
he said, "I’d have the mind of a third-rate accountant."
Origin of intelligence and mental illness linked to ancient genetic accident
Scientists have discovered for the first time how humans -- and other mammals -- have evolved to have intelligence.
Credit: © James Steidl / Fotolia
Scientists have discovered for the first time how humans -- and other mammals -- have evolved to have intelligence.
Researchers have identified the moment in history when the genes that enabled us to think and reason evolved.
This point 500 million years ago provided our ability to learn complex skills, analyse situations and have flexibility in the way in which we think.
Professor Seth Grant, of the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, said: "One of the greatest scientific problems is to explain how intelligence and complex behaviours arose during evolution."
The research, which is detailed in two papers in Nature Neuroscience, also shows a direct link between the evolution of behaviour and the origins of brain diseases.
Scientists believe that the same genes that improved our mental capacity are also responsible for a number of brain disorders.
"This ground breaking work has implications for how we understand the emergence of psychiatric disorders and will offer new avenues for the development of new treatments," said John Williams, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust, one of the study funders.
The study shows that intelligence in humans developed as the result of an increase in the number of brain genes in our evolutionary ancestors.
The researchers suggest that a simple invertebrate animal living in the sea 500 million years ago experienced a 'genetic accident', which resulted in extra copies of these genes being made.
This animal's descendants benefited from these extra genes, leading to behaviourally sophisticated vertebrates -- including humans.
The research team studied the mental abilities of mice and humans, using comparative tasks that involved identifying objects on touch-screen computers.
Researchers then combined results of these behavioural tests with information from the genetic codes of various species to work out when different behaviours evolved.
They found that higher mental functions in humans and mice were controlled by the same genes.
The study also showed that when these genes were mutated or damaged, they impaired higher mental functions.
"Our work shows that the price of higher intelligence and more complex behaviours is more mental illness," said Professor Grant.
The researchers had previously shown that more than 100 childhood and adult brain diseases are caused by gene mutations.
"We can now apply genetics and behavioural testing to help patients with these diseases," said Dr Tim Bussey from Cambridge University, which was also involved in the study.
The idea was investigated by a panel of scientists who had all suffered some form of mental disorder.
Kay Redfield Jamison of John Hopkins school of Medicine, who suffers from bipolar disorder, said that intelligence tests on Swedish 16-year-olds had shown that highly intelligent children were most likely to go on to develop the disorder.
'They found that people who excelled
when they were 16 years old were four times as likely to go on to
develop bipolar disorder,' says Jamison.
Jamison has devoted her life to researching and writing about bipolar disorder, since being diagnosed with it herself in young adulthood.
In the discussion at New York's World Science Fair, the panel discussed more than 20 papers which made an explicit link between high intelligence and creativity.
Painter Van Gogh and author Jack Kerouac were both hailed as geniuses but displayed self-destructive behaviour.
What's less clear is why human beings might have evolved this trait.
'The notion of a ‘tortured genius’ or ‘mad scientist’ may be more than a romantic aberration,' says the World Science Fair.
'Research shows that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia correlate with high creativity and intelligence, raising tantalizing questions: What role does environment play in the path to mental illness?
Are so-called mental defects being positively selected for in the gene pool? Where’s the line between gift and deficit?'
Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash, portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film A Beautiful Mind, has also had a life-long struggle with schizophrenia.
Previous research has hinted that much of the 'link' is created by one particular gene, known as DARPP-32, which links genius with madness.
Three quarters of people inherit a version of the DARPP-32 gene, which enhances the brain's ability to think by improving information processing by the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain that orchestrates thoughts and actions
This point 500 million years ago provided our ability to learn complex skills, analyse situations and have flexibility in the way in which we think.
Professor Seth Grant, of the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, said: "One of the greatest scientific problems is to explain how intelligence and complex behaviours arose during evolution."
The research, which is detailed in two papers in Nature Neuroscience, also shows a direct link between the evolution of behaviour and the origins of brain diseases.
Scientists believe that the same genes that improved our mental capacity are also responsible for a number of brain disorders.
"This ground breaking work has implications for how we understand the emergence of psychiatric disorders and will offer new avenues for the development of new treatments," said John Williams, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust, one of the study funders.
The study shows that intelligence in humans developed as the result of an increase in the number of brain genes in our evolutionary ancestors.
The researchers suggest that a simple invertebrate animal living in the sea 500 million years ago experienced a 'genetic accident', which resulted in extra copies of these genes being made.
This animal's descendants benefited from these extra genes, leading to behaviourally sophisticated vertebrates -- including humans.
The research team studied the mental abilities of mice and humans, using comparative tasks that involved identifying objects on touch-screen computers.
Researchers then combined results of these behavioural tests with information from the genetic codes of various species to work out when different behaviours evolved.
They found that higher mental functions in humans and mice were controlled by the same genes.
The study also showed that when these genes were mutated or damaged, they impaired higher mental functions.
"Our work shows that the price of higher intelligence and more complex behaviours is more mental illness," said Professor Grant.
The researchers had previously shown that more than 100 childhood and adult brain diseases are caused by gene mutations.
"We can now apply genetics and behavioural testing to help patients with these diseases," said Dr Tim Bussey from Cambridge University, which was also involved in the study.
There IS a link between genius and madness - but we don't know why we evolved this 'gift'
- Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder more frequent in highly gifted people
- 20 or 30 studies prove link
- Studies on Swedish 16-year-olds prove intelligent teenagers more likely to develop disorders
The idea was investigated by a panel of scientists who had all suffered some form of mental disorder.
Kay Redfield Jamison of John Hopkins school of Medicine, who suffers from bipolar disorder, said that intelligence tests on Swedish 16-year-olds had shown that highly intelligent children were most likely to go on to develop the disorder.
Detail of Self portrait with Bandaged Ear
painted by Vincent van Gogh: Scientists say there is a link between
highly gifted individuals and mental illness
Jamison has devoted her life to researching and writing about bipolar disorder, since being diagnosed with it herself in young adulthood.
In the discussion at New York's World Science Fair, the panel discussed more than 20 papers which made an explicit link between high intelligence and creativity.
Painter Van Gogh and author Jack Kerouac were both hailed as geniuses but displayed self-destructive behaviour.
What's less clear is why human beings might have evolved this trait.
'The notion of a ‘tortured genius’ or ‘mad scientist’ may be more than a romantic aberration,' says the World Science Fair.
'Research shows that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia correlate with high creativity and intelligence, raising tantalizing questions: What role does environment play in the path to mental illness?
Painter Van Gogh and author Jack Kerouac were both hailed as geniuses but displayed self-destructive behaviour
Are so-called mental defects being positively selected for in the gene pool? Where’s the line between gift and deficit?'
Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash, portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film A Beautiful Mind, has also had a life-long struggle with schizophrenia.
Previous research has hinted that much of the 'link' is created by one particular gene, known as DARPP-32, which links genius with madness.
Three quarters of people inherit a version of the DARPP-32 gene, which enhances the brain's ability to think by improving information processing by the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain that orchestrates thoughts and actions
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