title: Creative Thinking, Professional Artists, and Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An increase in artistic-like production in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been associated with compulsive and repetitive behaviours after the introduction of dopaminergic treatment (DT). Recent data suggest that it could be due to the emergence of artistic-like skills triggered by DT.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In order to evaluate whether artistic production and creative thinking are influenced by DT or linked to artistic-like skills, we characterize creativity features in PD and healthy controls (HC) including professional artists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three groups of PD out-patients were included consecutively: professional artists (PD-A), patients with (PD-C) and without artistic-like production (PD-NC). Twenty-four gender and age-matched HC were included: professional artists (HC-A) and non-artists (HC-NC). All patients were evaluated by means of a) a battery of neuropsychological tests and a semi-structured interview; b) the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA) for creative thinking; c) the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview (mMIDI) and a screening for impulse control disorders (ICDs) for compulsive behaviour.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ATTA total score was significantly higher in HC-A and PD-A than in the other groups. Although PD-NC showed the lowest ATTA total score the difference vs HC-NC was not significant. ATTA scores were not significantly correlated with DT dosage and duration. mMIDI tests were positive only in PD. There were no differences in ICDs among PD groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results do not support a relationship between DT and the emergence of artistic creativity. We believe that DT may increase the drive to create and that further studies in "on" and "off" medication are needed to clarify this issue.
authors.affiliation: Parkinson Institute -Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canesi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rusconi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moroni
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ranghetti
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Dietetics Service, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cereda
authors.affiliation: Parkinson Institute -Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pezzoli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003405:Creativity; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists
keywords: Creativity; Parkinson phenotype; dopaminergic therapy; impulse control disorders; professional artists