Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists - Part 4

Book excerpt: In this fourth volume of the popular series 'Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists' we once again delve into the minds of writers, painters, and poets in order to gain better insight on how neurological and psychiatric diseases can influence creativity. The issue of schizophrenia, the interaction between psychological instability and drug abuse, and the intricate association between organic wounds and shell-shock disorders are illustrated with the examples of Franz Kafka, Raymond Roussel, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline and their writings. Dementia has been specifically studied before, including in the previous volumes of Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists. It is revisited here in order to present the striking and well-documented case of Willem de Kooning, which inspired a new approach. Apart from issues that sometimes border on neuropsychiatry, purer neurological cases such as post-amputation limb pain (Arthur Rimbaud) or tabetic ataxia (Edouard Manet) are presented as well. Other fascinating life trajectories associated with cerebral or psychological changes include those of the writers Bjornsen, Tolstoi, Turgeniev, Mann, Ibsen, and Pavese.