Scientists establish link between genius, madness

Medicine, who suffers from bipolar disorder, said that intelligence tests on Swedish 16-year-olds had shown that highly intelligent children were most likely to go on to develop the disorder.
“They found that people who excelled when they were 16-years-old were four times as likely to go on to develop bipolar disorder,” said Jamison.
Jamison has devoted her life to researching and writing about bipolar disorder, since being diagnosed with it herself in young adulthood.
In the discussion at New York’s World Science Fair, the panel discussed more than 20 papers which made an explicit link between high intelligence and creativity.
Painter Van Gogh and author Jack Kerouac were both hailed as geniuses but displayed self-destructive behaviour.
What’s less clear is why human beings might have evolved this trait.
“The notion of a ‘tortured genius’ or ‘mad scientist’ may be more than a romantic aberration,” said the World Science Fair.
“Research shows that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia correlate with high creativity and intelligence, raising tantalising questions: What role does environment play in the path to mental illness?
“Are so-called mental defects being positively selected for in the gene pool? Where’s the line between gift and deficit?”
Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash, portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film A Beautiful Mind, has also had a life-long struggle with schizophrenia.
Previous research has hinted that much of the “link” is created by one particular gene, known as DARPP-32, which links genius with madness. — Daily Mail.