Senf Philine, Scheuren Lena, Holtkamp Martin
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
Epilepsy-Center Berlin-Brandenburg, Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
Epilepsy Behav. 2016 Sep;62:285-90. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.07.023. Epub 2016 Aug 11.
In patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), a specific personality profile suggestive of frontal lobe dysfunctions has been described. From a neurobiological point of view, the frontal lobe seems to be crucial for creative processes, although the exact role remains unclear. The theory of creative paradoxical functional facilitation (PFF) assumes that disinhibited frontal lobe function can enhance creative abilities. The aim of the current study was to explore our hypothesis that JME is associated with higher artistic creativity based on the theory of PFF.
We assessed 25 patients with JME aged 18 to 40years in regard to neuropsychological creativity testing. Results were compared with those of 25 age-, sex-, and level of education-matched healthy control subjects (HC) and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Creative abilities were assessed using two validated and standardized tests: 1) nonverbal: the incomplete figure task of Torrance Test of Creative Thinking and 2) verbal: verbal creativity test. Additionally, a basic assessment of fluid intelligence (test for problem solving) and frontal lobe function (trail-making test) was administered to all participants.
Verbal creativity was impaired in both groups with epilepsy compared with that in HC (specific score: JME vs. HC, p=0.008; TLE vs. HC, p=0.003). In regard to nonverbal creative abilities, both groups with epilepsy exhibited fair performance. Level of fluid intelligence was even in all groups (p=0.433). Only patients with JME showed deficits in the frontal lobe test of psychomotor speed (time in seconds: 67.7 JME vs. 54.6 TLE vs. 52.8 HC; p=0.045).
Overall, our study did not reveal increased creativity in JME. The current findings provide insights into creative abilities in two different epilepsy syndromes. Knowledge on specific neuropsychological strengths or deficits in patients with epilepsy may be useful for treatment or counseling.
在青少年肌阵挛性癫痫（JME）患者中，已描述出一种提示额叶功能障碍的特定人格特征。从神经生物学角度来看，额叶似乎对创造性过程至关重要，尽管其确切作用仍不清楚。创造性矛盾功能促进（PFF）理论假定，额叶功能的去抑制可增强创造力。本研究的目的是基于PFF理论探讨我们的假设，即JME与更高的艺术创造力相关。
我们对25例年龄在18至40岁的JME患者进行了神经心理学创造力测试评估。将结果与25名年龄、性别和教育水平相匹配的健康对照者（HC）以及颞叶癫痫（TLE）患者的结果进行比较。使用两项经过验证和标准化的测试评估创造力：1）非言语测试：托兰斯创造性思维测验中的不完整图形任务；2）言语测试：言语创造力测试。此外，对所有参与者进行了流体智力（解决问题测试）和额叶功能（连线测验）的基本评估。
与HC相比，两组癫痫患者的言语创造力均受损（具体得分：JME与HC，p = 0.008；TLE与HC，p = 0.003）。关于非言语创造能力，两组癫痫患者表现中等。所有组的流体智力水平相当（p = 0.433）。只有JME患者在额叶心理运动速度测试中表现出缺陷（以秒计时间：JME为67.7，TLE为54.6，HC为52.8；p = 0.045）。
总体而言，我们的研究未发现JME患者的创造力增加。当前研究结果为两种不同癫痫综合征的创造能力提供了见解。了解癫痫患者特定的神经心理学优势或缺陷可能对治疗或咨询有用。
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