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Case Reports
. 2003 May 27;60(10):1707-10.
doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000064164.02891.12.

Art and the brain: the influence of frontotemporal dementia on an accomplished artist

Joshua Chang Mell  1 , Sara M Howard, Bruce L Miller
Affiliations
Case Reports

Art and the brain: the influence of frontotemporal dementia on an accomplished artist

Joshua Chang Mell et al. Neurology. .

Abstract

A talented artist developed a progressive aphasia syndrome associated with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). As her disease progressed, language and executive skills declined, but her paintings became freer and more original. She demonstrates that artistic development can occur in the setting of language-dominant types of FTD. The study of artistic development in the setting of FTD suggests that language is not required for, and may even inhibit, certain types of visual creativity.

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