title: Epilepsy treatment and creativity.
abstract: Creativity can be defined as the ability to understand, develop, and express, in a systematic fashion, novel orderly relationships. It is sometimes difficult to separate cognitive skills requisite for the creative process from the drive that generates unique new ideas and associations. Epilepsy itself may affect the creative process. The treatment of epilepsy and its comorbidities, by altering or disrupting the same neural networks through antiseizure drugs (ASDs), treatment of epilepsy comorbidities, ablative surgery, or neurostimulation may also affect creativity. In this review, we discuss the potential mechanisms by which treatment can influence the creative process and review the literature on the consequences of therapy on different aspects of creativity in people with epilepsy. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Epilepsy, Art, and Creativity".
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, 223 East 34th St, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: sarah.zubkov@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zubkov
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, 223 East 34th St, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: daniel.friedman@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Friedman
mesh_terms: D038481:Anterior Temporal Lobectomy; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001076:Aptitude / Q000187:drug effects*; D003405:Creativity; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Antiepileptic medications; Creativity; Epilepsy; Epilepsy surgery