Leveraging the “mad genius” debate: why we need a neuroscience of creativity and psychopathology

In this opinion article, I summarize the socalled “mad genius” debate and suggest a way to reframe the issue so that it can benefit the field rather than divide it. As others have pointed out, creativity cannot effectively be studied as an overarching entity; it must be broken into smaller pieces and studied from an individual differences perspective in order to provide meaningful results relating to brain function. I also try to frame the infant field of creativitypsychopathology neuroscience, and I end with the benefits this area of inquiry will provide.