The párkinson of Dalí appeared in his paintings 20 years before his diagnosis – RPP News

(Agency N+1 / Daniel Meza) A team of math experts and neuroscientists from the University of Liverpool, England, analyzed 2.092 paintings of seven artists and celebrities studying thoroughly their strokes and strokes and managed to detect in them the footsteps of disorders neurodegenerative disorders.

The research “What the painting can tell us: analysis fractal of neurological changes in seven artists” was conducted by a team of experts led by psychologist Alex Forsythe, and published in the journal of american Neuropsychology.

analysis included the work of Salvador Dalí and Norval Morrisseau, who suffered párkinson, and Willem De Kooning and James Brooks, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. We also examined the work of Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet, who did not suffer from this type of disease. The conclusions of the work, which could be useful to identify signs of these evils early on, were published in Neuropsychology.

the paintings of the aforementioned artists were applied a method of mathematical analysis known as analysis fractal. This tool —which is already used to detect paintings false— allows you to identify complex geometric patterns in tables or anything where you repeat a structure. A fractal is a geometric object whose basic structure, fragmented, or seemingly irregular, is repeated at different scales. May be present in clouds, snowflakes, trees, vegetables, such as cauliflower, rivers or mountains).

To determine the authenticity of a painting, on the other hand, an artist should always have a fractal dimension identifiable as well-developed different genres or styles.

that Said, the scientists wondered if the variations of fractals of an artist in his career were due to aging or were the result of a progressive cognitive impairment. In the results of their analysis, the patterns of change in the fractal dimension of the paintings were markedly different between the cases of normal aging and aging with neurodegeneration.

For De Kooning and Brooks, the study showed a clear decrease in the complexity from the age of 40, long before the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. De Kooning was diagnosed with his 85, and Brooks 79. As to Dali, and Morrisseau, the research detected an increase in the fractal dimension to a middle age followed by a decline starting in their late 50s. Dali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s then that his hand began to tremble to their 76. The diagnosis of Morrisseau came newly to 65 years. The indicator for Chagall, Monet and Picasso showed an increase of complexity during their old age.

the authors hope that the study will help to discover what happens in the brain long before the evil neurodegenerative clearly. Work, believe, definitely shows that something happens a lot before. The study was based on research including the decline in language of Ronald Reagan in 1890, long before you are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1994 at the age of 83.

The research towards a better treatment of the párkinson, and Alzheimer’s disease are advancing on several fronts. Some months ago, a team of Spanish scientists discovered that blocking a brain enzyme called phosphodiesterase 7 would allow the neurogenésis, process of generation of neurons from stem cells.