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100 Words…on artistic awakening in Parkinson's disease – 100 Words

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2019

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Abstract

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Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2019 

Despite the motor and executive deficits that occur in Parkinson's disease, some patients on levo-dopa or dopamine agonists report either an enhancement of their existing artistic and creative abilities or an emergence of such abilities in the previously art-naïve. Genres of artistic expression include drawing, painting, sculpting, music, writing and so on. Although mechanisms such as dopamine dysregulation are proposed to explain this phenomenon, treatment with levo-dopa is consistently noted. From a clinical perspective, this is a helpful outlet for patients' self-expression, leading to better mood state, enhanced self-esteem and better quality of life. Such artistic expression is therapeutic; it's a form of art therapy.

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