Neurological disorders in famous artists : fascinating insights into the relationship between brain disease and creativity

A Karger 'Publishing Highlights 1890–2015' title The study of how a neurological disorder can change the artistic activity and behavior of creative people is a largely unexplored field. This publication looks closer at famous painters, writers, composers and philosophers of the 18th to the 20th centuries who suffered from neurological diseases such as stroke, epilepsy, brain trauma and dementia. The diseases of Gershwin, Kant, Musorgsky, Poe, Ravel, Van Gogh and many more are diagnosed in retrospect and treatment options according to modern medical technologies are discussed. Presenting fascinating insights into the relationship between brain disease and creativity in famous minds, this publication is highly recommended to neurologists, psychiatrists, physicians as well as to everybody interested in art, music and literature. Covers 1 Contents 6 Preface 8 Painting after Right-Hemisphere Stroke – Case Studies of Professional Artists 10 Abstract 10 (1) Anton Räderscheidt 11 (2) Otto Dix 13 (3) Johannes Thiel 15 (4) Lovis Corinth 15 (5) Wolfgang Aichinger-Kassek 15 (6) Federico Fellini 16 (7) Reynold Brown 17 (8) Tom Greenshields 18 (9) Unnamed Swiss Artist 19 (10) Artist with Right-Hemisphere Stroke 19 (11) 71-Year-Old Artist with Mild Left Neglect 20 (12) Guglielmo Lusignoli 20 (13) Kurt Schwitters 20 Conclusions 20 References 21 Conclusions 20 References 21 I and Me:Self-Portraiture in Brain Damage 23 Abstract 23 Self in Philosophy, Neurology, and Neuroscience 23 Embodiment and Disembodiment Self-Portraiture 25 From Embodiment in the Self-Portraits of Rembrandt to Disembodiment in Velazquez and Schiele 25 Neuropsychological Mechanisms in Self-Portraiture 28 The Effects of Neglect on Self-Portraiture 28 The Effects of Aphasia on Self-Portraiture 31 The Effects of Dementia on Self-Portraiture 32 Conclusion 36 References 37 Lovis Corinth:Integrating Hemineglect and Spatial Distortions 39 Abstract 39 Biographical Sketch 40 History of His Illnesses 41 Poststroke Artwork 45 Change in Style – Psychological or Physical Consequence of Stroke? 47 True Art Means Seeking to Capture the Unreal 52 References 52 Visconti and Fellini: From Left Social Neorealism to Right-Hemisphere Stroke 53 Abstract 53 Luchino Visconti 55 Life and Work 55 Disease 58 Anosognosia? 62 Federico Fellini 63 Life and Work 63 Disease 67 Insight in Neglect 74 Personality and the Right Hemisphere 76 Absence of Anosognosia and of Other Symptoms 77 Premorbid Personality 78 Acknowledgment 82 References 82 De novo Artistic Behaviour following Brain Injury 84 Abstract 84 Development of de novo Artistic Output in Particular Neurological Conditions 86 Visual Art and Music 86 Poetry and Literature 89 Limitations of a Hemispheric Model 90 Artistic Drive and Creative Idea Generation 91 Conclusions 95 Acknowledgment 95 References 96 Marcel Proust's Diseases and Doctors: The Neurological Story of a Life 98 Abstract 98 Proust s Father and Other Doctors 100 The Diseases of Marcel Proust 103 Proust, Neurology, and Neurologists 106 Neurology and Medicine in Proust s Work 110 Acknowledgement 112 References 113 Heinrich Heine and Syphilis 114 Abstract 114 Anamnesis 116 Heine's Physicians and Applied Therapies 116 Tabes Dorsalis 119 Syphilis 121 Heine's Opium Abuse and the Cause of His Death 126 References 128 Baudelaire’s Aphasia: From Poetry to Cursing 130 Abstract 130 Life and Works 131 Short Biography 131 Overview of Works 133 Health before Aphasia 134 Venereal Infection and Dermatologic Disorders 135 Visceral and Gastrointestinal Disorders 136 'Nervous' Disorders 136 Stroke 138 Aphasia 141 Thought and Language 142 What Kind of Aphasia? 145 Cré Nom! 146 Catastrophic Reactions 150 Anosognosia? 151 Course of and Attempts at Rehabilitation 151 Etiology 152 Lesions 154 Conclusion: Disease and Creativity 154 A Short Appendix on Synesthesia 156 References 157 Memory and the Creation of Art: The Syndrome,as in de Kooning, of ‘Creating in the Midst of Dementia ’ 159 Abstract 159 The Creation 160 The Phenomenon 160 Art, the Mystery 160 'ArtScience', My Investigation 164 The 'Method of Observation' 165 Step 1: Gathering of Information 166 Lines 166 Surfaces 166 Colors 167 Step 2: Recognizing the Observed 167 Creating in the Midst of Dementia 168 Symptoms 168 Care 168 Confirmation 168 Painting (figs. 1, 2) 169 Science, The Mystery 169 The 'Cognitive Analysis' 170 Short-Term or Working Memory 170 Long-Term Nondeclarative ('Procedural') Memory 171 Long-Term Declarative Episodic Memory 171 Long-Term Declarative Semantic Memory 172 The Syndrome of 'Creating in the Midst of Dementia' 172 Neurocognitive Coherence 173 Specificity of Diagnosing Memory Systems 173 Rationale of the Syndrome 173 Specificity of Response 173 A Mechanism, 'Surrogate Memory' 174 Brain, Memory, and Creation 175 References 176 Persisting Aphasia,Cerebral Dominance, and Painting in the Famous Artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd 178 Abstract 178 Painting in Aphasics: Literature Overview 179 Case Study: Art History 181 History of Illness 182 Language Assessment 183 Artistic Creativity 185 Art Critics 185 Discussion 186 Conclusion 191 Acknowledgments 191 References 191 Mozart in the Neurological Department – Who Has the Tic? 193 Abstract 193 Tourette's Syndrome 194 Mozart's Case 196 Discussion 198 Conclusion 200 References 200 Hans von Bülow:Creativity and Neurological Disease in a Famous Pianist and Conductor 202 Abstract 202 Hans von Bülow: Musician and Person 202 Diseases of Hans von Bülow 208 Neuralgia 208 First Stroke 209 Episodes of Depression 209 Terminal Phase of Illness 210 Concluding Remarks 212 References 213 Synaesthesia, the Arts and Creativity: A Neurological Connection 215 Abstract 215 Synaesthesia in the Arts 215 The Profile of a Synaesthete 218 A Neurological Movement in Synaesthesia Research 221 A Relationship between Synaesthesia and Creativity 224 Synaesthesia and Creative Cognition 226 The Neurology of Creative Thought and Synaesthesia 228 Conclusions 229 Acknowledgements 229 References 230 The Hallucinating Art of Heinrich Füssli 232 Abstract 232 Biography 233 Heinrich Füssli and Der Nachtmahr from a Neurological Perspective 236 A Neuropsychological Interpretation 239 References 243 Author Index 245 Subject Index 246 A 246 B 246 C 246 D 247 E 247 F 247 G 247 H 247 I 248 K 248 L 248 M 248 N 248 O 248 P 248 Q 248 R 248 S 248 T 249 U 249 V 249 Looks At Famous Painters, Writers, Composers And Philosophers Of The 18th To The 20th Centuries Who Suffered From Neurologic Diseases Such As Stroke, Epilepsy, Brain Trauma And Dementia. The Diseases Of Van Gogh, Ravel, Poe, Kant, Haydn And Many More Are Explored. Guillaume Apollinaire, The Lover Assassinated / Bogousslavsky, J. -- Guy De Maupassant And Friedrich Nietzsche / Hayden, D. -- The One-man Band Of Pain / Dieguez, S., Bogousslavsky, J. -- Gustave Flaubert's Hidden Sickness / Jallon, P., Jallon, H. -- Edgar Allan Poe: Substance Abuse Versus Epilepsy / Bazil, C.w. -- Dostoevsky And Epilepsy: An Attempt To Look Through The Frame / Rossetti, A.o., Bogousslavsky, J. -- Immanuel Kant: Evolution From A Personality 'disorder' To A Dementia / Guard, O., Boller, F. -- Valery Larbaud / Boller, F. -- Alajouanine's Painter: Paul-elie Gernez / Boller, F. Carolus Horn: When The Images In The Brain Decay: Evidence Of Backward-development Of Visual And Cognitive Functions In Alzheimer's Disease / Maurer, K., Prvulovic, D. -- Major Depression And Stroke In Caspar David Friedrich / Dahlenburg, B., Spitzer, C. -- Understanding Van Gogh's Night: Bipolar Disorder / Carota, A. ... [et Al.] -- The Terminal Illness And Last Compositions Of Maurice Ravel / Baeck, E. -- The Decay And Death Of Modest Musorgsky / Baeck, E. -- Georg Friedrich Händel's Strokes / Bäzner, H., Hennerici, M. The Subcortical Vascular Encephalopathy Of Joseph Haydn: Pathographic Illustration Of The Syndrome / Bäzner, H.; Hennerici, M. -- Music And The Brain: Gershwin And Shebalin / Ruiz, E.; Montás, P. -- Robert Schumann's Focal Dystonia / Altenmüller, E. Volume Editors, J. Bogousslavsky, F. Boller. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Also Available In An Electronic Version. "In this fourth volume of the popular series 'Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists' we once again delve into the minds of writers, painters, and poets in order to gain better insight on how neurological and psychiatric diseases can influence creativity. The issue of schizophrenia, the interaction between psychological instability and drug abuse, and the intricate association between organic wounds and shell-shock disorders are illustrated with the examples of Franz Kafka, Raymond Roussel, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline and their writings. Dementia has been specifically studied before, including in the previous volumes of Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists. It is revisited here in order to present the striking and well-documented case of Willem de Kooning, which inspired a new approach. Apart from issues that sometimes border on neuropsychiatry, purer neurological cases such as post-amputation limb pain (Arthur Rimbaud) or tabetic ataxia (Edouard Manet) are presented as well. Other fascinating life trajectories associated with cerebral or psychological changes include those of the writers Bjornsen, Tolstoi, Turgeniev, Mann, Ibsen, and Pavese."--Provided by publisher. The third part of Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists presents painters, musicians, and writers who had to fight against an acute or chronic neurological disease. Sometimes this fight was without success (e.g. Shostakovich, Schumann, Wolf, Pascal), but often a dynamic and paradoxical creativity of the clinical disorder was integrated into their artistic production (e.g. Klee, Ramuz). Occasionally, some even wrote the first report of a medical condition they observed in themselves, like Stendhal who made a detailed report of aphasic transient ischemic attacks before dying of stroke shortly thereafter. In rarer instances, a neurological disease was inaccurately attributed to an artist in order to explain certain features of his work (de Chirico, Schiele). Some chapters in this publication focus on neurological conditions reported in artistic work, including descriptions by Shakespeare and Dumas. Bringing new light to both artists and neurological conditions, this book serves as a valuable and entertaining read for neurologists, psychiatrists, physicians, and anybody interested in arts, literature and music The study of how a neurological disorder can change the artistic activity and behavior of creative people is a largely unexplored field. This publication looks closer at famous painters, writers, composers and philosophers of the 18th to the 20th centuries who suffered from neurological diseases such as stroke, epilepsy, brain trauma and dementia. The diseases of Van Gogh, Ravel, Poe, Kant, Haydn and many more are diagnosed in retrospect and treatment options according to modern medical technologies are discussed. Presenting fascinating insights into the relationship between brain disease and creativity in famous minds, this publication is highly recommended to neurologists, psychiatrists, physicians as well as to everybody interested in art, music and literature I am not a book store or professional seller. These books belonged to my grandfather and all have his name written on the inside, as he loaned his books out and felt writing his name on the inside improved his chances of getting them back. All proceeds generated from the sale of his books goes to the Cleveland Clinic, where he worked for many years, as his dying request.