Association study between COMT 158Met and creativity scores in bipolar disorder and healthy controls

Abstract

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) patients have been reported to be associated higher creativity abilities, and recent data tend to support the hypothesis that dopaminergic system that could be associated with creativity. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the major enzymes involved in the metabolic degradation of dopamine. The COMT gene polymorphism (rs4680 or Val 158 Met) Met allele is reported to cause decreased activity of this enzyme in prefrontal cortex and improve performance in several cognitive domains. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of Val 158 Met on creativity in BD type I and healthy controls. Methods: Ninety-seven healthy volunteers and 120 BD type I were genotyped for COMT rs4680 and tested for creativity (Barrow Welsh Art Scale -BWAS) and intelligence Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Results: COMT Met allele positively influenced creativity scores in healthy controls but not in BD subjects during mood episodes and euthymia. The presence of allele Met did not influence IQ scores. No influence of IQ total score on creativity was observed. Limitations: control group presented higher IQ scores and euthymic group was under medication use. Discussion: Our research suggests positive effect of COMT rs4680 (allele Met) on creativity scores in healthy controls. One possible interpretation is that creativity is more likely to be associated with lesser degrees of bipolarity. The fact that the same results were not observed in BD may be associated to dysfunctions in the dopaminergic system that characterizes this disorder. Further studies with larger samples and other types of BD should explore the role of the dopaminergic system in creativity.

Creativity in bipolar disorder: a systematic review

“…Five studies evaluated only type I BD 34 , 36 , 38 - 40 and the others used mixed samples of type I, type II, and unspecified BD. Two studies analyzed patients who were not using medication, 36 , 40 two studies included both medicated and non-medicated subjects, 39 , 42 and the others used samples in which all patients were using medication. The groups involved men and women with ages ranging from 8 to 67 years old.…”

“…Ten studies used clinical mania rating scales: the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) 50 in eight studies and the Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale (ASRM) 51 in two. 37 , 38 The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) 52 was used to evaluate depression in three studies 36 , 39 , 40 ; the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) 53 was used in three 34 , 35 , 41 ; the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) 54 was used in two 38 , 42 ; the Modified Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (MHRSD) 55 ; the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) 56 ; the Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) 57 ; the 10-Item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) 58 ; and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSS) 59 were each used in one study. 37 , 38 , 43 , 44 …”

“…The number varied from one to four instruments per study. Five studies only used instruments to assess characteristics of the creative person, 36 , 37 , 39 , 40 , 43 three studies only evaluated the creative process, 34 , 35 , 44 three used instruments to assess both personal characteristics and the creative process, 38 , 41 , 42 and only one study evaluated the creative product. 45 All studies, except one, 45 had cross-sectional designs.…”

“…The scale most used to investigate the characteristics of the creative person was the BWAS, 23 , 24 which was applied in five 36 , 39 , 40 , 42 , 43 of the 12 studies and was the only instrument in four studies. 36 , 39 , 40 , 43 One study 41 used a reduced version of the BWAS, the Revised Art Scale (RAS).…”

“…The scale most used to investigate the characteristics of the creative person was the BWAS, 23 , 24 which was applied in five 36 , 39 , 40 , 42 , 43 of the 12 studies and was the only instrument in four studies. 36 , 39 , 40 , 43 One study 41 used a reduced version of the BWAS, the Revised Art Scale (RAS). 60 The other instruments used to evaluate people’s characteristics, each used in only one study, were the ACL-CPS, 20 , 42 the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ), 21 , 38 and the Creativity Domain Questionnaire-Revised (CDQ-R).…”