In recent years the use of psychostimulants for cognitive enhancement in healthy individuals with no psychiatric disorders has been on the rise. However, it is still unclear whether psychostimulants improve certain cognitive functions at the cost of others, and how these psychostimulants interact with individual personality differences. In the current study, we investigated whether the effect of one common stimulant, methylphenidate (MPH), on creativity is associated with novelty seeking. Thirty-six healthy adults, without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomology, were assigned randomly in a double-blind fashion to receive MPH or placebo. We found that the effect of MPH on creativity was dependent on novelty-seeking (NS) personality characteristics of the participants. MPH increased creativity in individuals with lower NS, while it reduced creativity levels in individuals with high NS. These findings highlight the role of the dopaminergic system in creativity, and indicate that among healthy individuals NS can be seen as a predictor of the effect of MPH on creativity.
AdvocatCVinciC (2012) Do stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) enhance cognition. Curr Dir ADHD Treat10: 29889.
2.
AgayNYechiamECarmelZ. (2010) Non-specific effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on cognitive ability and decision-making of ADHD and healthy adults. Psychopharmacology210: 511–519.
3.
AnckarsäterHStahlbergOLarsonT. (2006) The impact of ADHD and autism spectrum disorders on temperament, character, and personality development. Am J Psychiat163: 1239–1244.
4.
BogleKESmithBH (2009) Illicit methylphenidate use: a review of prevalence, availability, pharmacology, and consequences. Curr Drug Abuse Rev2: 157–176.
5.
ChatterjeeA (2006) The promise and predicament of cosmetic neurology. J Med Ethics32: 110–113.
6.
Chavez-EakleRALareMDCCruz-FuentesC (2006) Personality: a possible bridge between creativity and psychopathology?Creativity Res J18: 27–38.
7.
ChermahiniSAHommelB (2010) The (b) link between creativity and dopamine: spontaneous eye blink rates predict and dissociate divergent and convergent thinking. Cognition115: 458–465.
8.
CloningerCRPrzybeckTRSvrakicDM (1991) The tridimensional personality questionnaire: US normative data. Psychol Rep69: 1047–1057.
9.
De ManzanoÖCervenkaSKarabanovA. (2010) Thinking outside a less intact box: thalamic dopamine D2 receptor densities are negatively related to psychometric creativity in healthy individuals. PLoS One5: e10670.
10.
DepueRACollinsPF (1999) Neurobiology of the structure of personality: Dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion. Behav Brain Sci22: 491–517.
11.
DouglasVIBarrRGDesiletsJ. (1995) Do high doses of stimulants impair flexible thinking in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder?J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiat34: 877–885.
12.
FarahMJHaimmCSankoorikalG. (2009) When we enhance cognition with Adderall, do we sacrifice creativity? A preliminary study. Psychopharmacology202: 541–547.
13.
FingerGSilvaERDFalavignaA (2013) Use of methylphenidate among medical students: a systematic review. Rev Assoc Méd Brasil59: 285–289.
14.
FlahertyAW (2005) Frontotemporal and dopaminergic control of idea generation and creative drive. J Comp Neurol493: 147–153.
15.
FunkJBChessareJBWeaverMT. (1993) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, creativity, and the effects of methylphenidate. Pediatrics91: 816–819.
16.
GardiniSCloningerCRVenneriA (2009) Individual differences in personality traits reflect structural variance in specific brain regions. Brain Res Bull79: 265–270.
17.
GuilfordJChristensenPMerrifieldP. (1978) Alternate uses: Manual of instructions and interpretation. Orange, CA: Sheridan Psychological Services.
18.
HallWDLuckeJC (2010) The enhancement use of neuropharmaceuticals: more scepticism and caution needed. Addiction105: 2041–2043.
19.
HernándezGG-CSelvaJPS (2016) Medication and creativity in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Psicothema28: 20–25.
20.
IlieveIBolandJFarahMJ (2013) Objective and subjective cognitive enhancing effects of mixed amphetamine salts in healthy people. Neuropharmacology64: 496–505.
21.
IshizukaTMurakamiMYamatodaniA (2008) Involvement of central histaminergic systems in modafinil-induced but not methylphenidate-induced increases in locomotor activity in rats. Eur J Pharmacol578: 209–215.
22.
JungRESegallJMBockholtHJ. (2010) Neuroanatomy of creativity. Hum Brain Map31: 398–409.
23.
KavéG (2005) Phonemic fluency, semantic fluency, and difference scores: normative data for adult Hebrew speakers. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol27: 690–699.
24.
KleibeukerSWKoolschijnPCJollesDD. (2013) The neural coding of creative idea generation across adolescence and early adulthood. Front Hum Neurosci7: 10.3389.
25.
LeeCSTherriaultDJ (2013) The cognitive underpinnings of creative thought: A latent variable analysis exploring the roles of intelligence and working memory in three creative thinking processes. Intelligence41: 306–320.
26.
LeytonMBoileauIBenkelfatC. (2002) Amphetamine-induced increases in extracellular dopamine, drug wanting, and novelty seeking: a PET/[11C] raclopride study in healthy men. Neuropsychopharmacology27: 1027–1035.
27.
LinssenASambethAVuurmanE. (2014) Cognitive effects of methylphenidate in healthy volunteers: a review of single dose studies. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol17: 961–977.
28.
MaslenHFaulmüllerNSavulescuJ (2014) Pharmacological cognitive enhancement—how neuroscientific research could advance ethical debate. Front Systems Neurosci8: 107.
29.
MayselessNUzefovskyFShalevI. (2013) The association between creativity and 7R polymorphism in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4). Front Hum Neurosci7: 10.3389.
30.
MeyerBJohnsonSLCarverCS (1999) Exploring behavioral activation and inhibition sensitivities among college students at risk for bipolar spectrum symptomatology. J Psychopathol Behav Assmt21: 275–292.
31.
MitchellJTNelson-GrayRO (2006) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adults: relationship to Gray’s behavioral approach system. Pers Indiv Differ40: 749–760.
32.
MohamaeAD (2014) Reducing creativity with psychostimulantsmaydebilitate mental health and well-being. J Creat Mental Hlth9: 146–163.
33.
MohamedADSahakianBJ (2012) The ethics of elective psychopharmacology. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol15: 559–571.
34.
RaganCIBardISinghI (2013) What should we do about student use of cognitive enhancers? An analysis of current evidence. Neuropharmacology64: 588–595.
35.
RasmussenN (2015) Chapter two-amphetamine-type stimulants: the early history of their medical and non-medical uses. Int Rev Neurobiol120: 9–25.
36.
ReuterMRothSHolveK. (2006) Identification of first candidate genes for creativity: a pilot study. Brain Res1069: 190–197.
37.
RichterJBrändströmS (2009) Personality disorder diagnosis by means of the Temperament and Character Inventory. Compr Psychiat50: 347–352.
38.
SattlerSSauerCMehlkopG. (2013) The rationale for consuming cognitive enhancement drugs in university students and teachers. PloS one8: e68821.
39.
SilviaPJBeatyRENusbaumEC (2013) Verbal fluency and creativity: general and specific contributions of broad retrieval ability (Gr) factors to divergent thinking. Intelligence41: 328–340.
40.
SmithMEFarahMJ (2011) Are prescription stimulants “smart pills”? The epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience of prescription stimulant use by normal healthy individuals. Psychol Bull137: 717.
41.
SolantoMVWenderEH (1989) Does methylphenidate constrict cognitive functioning?J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiat28: 897–902.
42.
SternbergRJLubartTI (1999) The concept of creativity: prospects and paradigms. Handb Creativity1: 3–15.
43.
SuharaTYasunoFSudoY. (2001) Dopamine D2 receptors in the insular cortex and the personality trait of novelty seeking. Neuroimage13: 891–895.
44.
SwartwoodMOSwartwoodJNFarrellJ (2003) Stimulant treatment of ADHD: effects on creativity and flexibility in problem solving. Creativity Res J15: 417–419.
45.
TakeuchiHTakiYSassaY. (2010) Regional gray matter volume of dopaminergic system associate with creativity: evidence from voxel-based morphometry. Neuroimage51: 578–585.
46.
TakeuchiHTakiYSekiguchiA. (2015) Mean diffusivity of globus pallidus associated with verbal creativity measured by divergent thinking and creativity-related temperaments in young healthy adults. Hum Brain Map36: 1808–1827.
47.
TomerRAharon-PeretzJ (2004) Novelty seeking and harm avoidance in Parkinson’s disease: effects of asymmetric dopamine deficiency. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat75: 972–975.
48.
TorranceEP (1987) Guidelines for administration and scoring/comments on using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.
49.
TuchaLTuchaOSontagTA. (2011) Differential effects of methylphenidate on problem solving in adults with ADHD. J Attention Dis15: 161–173.
50.
VolkowNDFowlerJWangG. (2003) Mechanism of action of methylphenidate: insights from PET imaging studies. J Attention Dis6: 31–44.
51.
ZhangSZhangMZhangJ (2014) Association of COMT and COMT-DRD2 interaction with creative potential. Front Hum Neurosci8: 216.
52.
ZolkowskaDJainRRothmanRB. (2009). Evidence for the involvement of dopamine transporters in behavioral stimulant effects of modafinil. J Pharmacol Exp Therapeut329: 738–746.
