[Stitcher]

MDS 2009: Creativity Linked to Dopamine Agonists in Parkinson's Disease

Medscape, by Pauline Anderson
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704327?src=rss

June 12, 2009 — French researchers have shown a link between creativity and dopamine-agonist therapy in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Their study shows that when dopamine-agonist therapy is drastically reduced following the start of deep-brain stimulation, creativity seems to disappear.

The research was presented during the Movement Disorder Society's 13th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders, in Paris, France.

"You usually hear just the negative things about dopamine agonists — about the gambling and about the spending money," said Alina Batir MD, from the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Grenoble, in France, who led the research team. "We wanted to show that there are also good things that happen with dopamine agonists."

Emerging Creativity

PD is characterized by loss of cognitive function such as flexibility, conceptualization, and visuospatial abilities, the researchers write. Creativity arises out of such cognitive skills and therefore should be lost in PD, they note, but case studies have documented the emergence of creativity enhancement in patients with Parkinson's disease.

[jeanb]

I was obsessive/compulsive - but VERY creative!

[boann]

i took 4.5mg/day of mirapex for about 8 years. now i am sort of stuck halfway on a switch to requip xl in an attempt to extend the hours of typing-level dexterity i have each day, but equip and mirapex are almost identical.

and for me the absolute most precious benefit i have received from dopamine agonists is the absence of dyskinesia and fluctuations. if there is one thing on which there is consensus in the pd research community, it is that young onset are much more vulnerable to these side effects - sooner and more severely - than regular onset.

by every account i have ever read, with symptom onset at 32, if i had been taking levodopa for the last eight years instead of a dopamine agonist, i would be deep into dyskinesia and fluctuations by now. fortunately for me, mirapex was on the market when i needed it, and it worked for me, and, largely, still does.

this has allowed me to continue to engage in my favorite creative pursuits, photography and singing.

it has also allowed me to continue working full time.

personally, while i value my creativity immensely, i have to say the latter is exponentially more important to me.

[jeanb]

This may sound strange, but I really miss the creative urges/periods I had while in my O/C period with Mirapex. I sat at the computer 20 hours a day working in photoshop! I miss the feelings of creativity, but not the compulsion.

[mactech99]

I'd trade the creativity for not getting the gambling addiction for the last five years. It's just not worth it...

[jeanb]

Mactech99,

Of course - I was so lucky that my O/C behavior did not involve gambling. That is so serious. I apologize that my post was so lighthearted. When I posted, I did not consider the many pwp whose lives were ruined.

jean