Identifying Alzheimer's With Paint Strokes

Millions of people all over the world are affected by Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders. Those who are at risk of developing this disorder could, however, benefit from new scientific discoveries including early detection of the disease.

One particular study is that of the University of Liverpool. It indicates the possibility of detecting neurodegenerative disorders among artists even before the condition is actually diagnosed by doctors.

Up to 2,092 paintings of seven famous artists were studied by psychologists including Dr. Alex Forsythe, a psychologist from the University's School of Psychology to check the possibility of detecting the disorders early on. Two of the seven artists studied namely Norval Morriseau and Salvador Dali suffered from Parkinson's disease.

The other two, Willem De Kooning and James Brooks had Alzheimer's disease. The other artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Claude Monet had no neurodegenerative disorder records at all.

The psychologists used fractal analysis to study the brushstrokes of each of the artists, which according to Eureka Alert, are complex geometrical or repeating patterns that are often found in natural phenomena such as mountains, clouds or snowflakes. The unique patterns of the artists who suffered from neurological disorders showed variations compared to those who were aging naturally.

"Art has long been embraced by psychologists as an effective method of improving the quality of life for those persons living with cognitive disorders," Dr. Alex Forsythe said. "We have built on this tradition by unpicking artists 'handwriting' through the analysis of their individual connection with the brush and paint. This process offers the potential for the detection of emerging neurological problems."

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said Parkinson's disease has affected around 60,000 older people in the United States with much older people said to be showing symptoms of the disorder's early stages. As per Medical News Today, neurological disorders can be categorized as dementia when the person can no longer function properly due to impaired reasoning or memory loss.

NeuroScience News reported there is an unproven notion that dementia can increase artistic ability. Several explanations have been offered for this such as artistic capability being an involuntary behavior. Another more persuasive explanation is that since some patients with dementia can no longer verbally express themselves, painting can be a non-verbal method of therapy.