ASD and ADHD as syndromes of high creativity - Le TSA et le TDAH comme syndromes de haute créativité
Authors: Rebecchi Kevin 
Published: February 2023

AbstractAttention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) really appeared in their current meaning under the labels "Attention Deficit Disorder" and "Infantile Autism" in the third version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. Thus, their pathological and psychiatric status was officially established. Researchers therefore focus mainly on deficits and impairments and forget the other side of the coin, namely the positive aspects and strengths of autistic and hyperactive people. However, for several decades, the positive aspects and strengths have been noted by scientists and expressed by the individuals concerned. The central question of this article is to question the creative and scientific skills of ADHD and ASD individuals. This article highlights the links between psychopathologies and creativity, the relationships and overlaps between ASD and creativity, ADHD and creativity, as well as a review of physiological evidence of the common characteristics of ASD-ADHD-creativity in particular concerning lateralization of brain functions and cerebral asymmetries, variations in concentrations and receptors in neurotransmission systems and gene related, attentional states of consciousness and default mode network, cognitive disinhibition and latent inhibition deficit, hyperconnectivity and highly cerebral excitability, personality and temperament.I propose a rereading of ADHD and ASD which are usually analyzed through a localization model highlighting some non-pathognomonic behaviors and from a pathological angle. Here, the connectionist model highlights variations in the concentrations and receptors of γ-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine, dopamine, glutamic acid and serotonin, thus causing changes in basic cognitive functioning and increased creative thinking. This attempt to analyze the characteristics of ADHD and ASD in cognitive neurogenetics highlights that this creative thinking is pervasive and will materialize in the individuals involved in their areas of interest and expertise (causing goal-oriented motivation in ADHD and developed to understand the environment, making the world coherent, socializing, expressing oneself in ASD) at the levels of divergent and convergent thinking (related to boredom intolerance, impulsivity and spontaneous thinking in ADHD and attention to detail, abstract and schematic thinking, extensive systematization and reintegration abilities, hyperfocusing abilities, and compulsive ritualistic repetition in ASD), and a specific default mode network and the ability to switch between attentional states of consciousness (leading to high sensitivity and risk-seeking situations in ADHD and to environmental ordering in ASD) from real-life situations, and open-ended and abstract problems and situations.Thus, these characteristics could allow ADHD and ASD to be considered as high creativity syndromes, provoking an irrepressible creative impulse in ADHD and ASD individuals, and creating a double stigma related to the pathologization of their difference and the social treatment reserved for creative people.RésuméLe trouble déficitaire de l'attention avec ou sans hyperactivité (TDAH) et le trouble du spectre autistique (TSA) sont véritablement apparus dans leur acception actuelle sous les étiquettes « trouble déficitaire de l'attention » et « autisme infantile » dans la troisième version du Manuel diagnostique et statistique des troubles mentaux en 1980. Ainsi, leur statut pathologique et psychiatrique a été officiellement établi. Les chercheurs se concentrent donc principalement sur les déficits et les déficiences et oublient l'autre côté de la médaille, à savoir les aspects positifs et les forces des personnes autistes et hyperactives. Cependant, depuis plusieurs décennies, les aspects positifs et les forces ont été notés par les scientifiques et exprimés par les personnes concernées. La question centrale de cet article est de s'interroger sur les compétences créatives et scientifiques des individus TDAH et TSA. Cet article met en évidence les liens entre les psychopathologies et la créativité, les relations et les chevauchements entre les TSA et la créativité, le TDAH et la créativité, ainsi qu'un examen des preuves physiologiques des caractéristiques communes des TSA-TDAH-créativité, notamment au niveau de la latéralisation des fonctions cérébrales et les asymétries cérébrales, des variations des concentrations et des récepteurs dans les systèmes de neurotransmission et les gènes associés, des états de conscience attentionnels et du réseau du mode par défaut, de la désinhibition cognitive et du déficit d'inhibition latent, de l'hyperconnectivité et de la forte excitabilité cérébrale, de la personnalité et du tempérament. (...)