Van Gogh’s brain disturbed — doctor

Press, 10 July 1985, Page 32

Van Gogh’s brain disturbed — doctor

NZPA-AP Boston The bizarre behaviour and frenetic painting of Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch Impressionist who cut off his ear, probably resulted from an abnormality of the brain that has only recently been recognised, a doctor says. Van Gogh produced hundreds of paintings in his last years of life, sometimes finishing two masterpieces a day. He died after shooting himself in the chest in 1890. Dr Shahram Khoshbin, of Harvard Medical School, says van Gogh’s relentless painting, aggression and several other unusual habits all are symptoms of a disturbance of the brain’s temporal lobe, which plays a role in memory, hearing and other functions. Van Gogh’s peculiarities have long fascinated physicians. He has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia, depression, and digitalis poisoning. Dr Khoshbin notes that van Gogh was an epileptic and says he probably suffered from a condition known as interictal personality disorder of temporal lobe epilepsy. Interictal means between seizures. The syndrome was

first described about a decade ago by Dr Norman Geschwind, a Harvard neurologist. " “I don’t think he was a genius because of his epilepsy, but it affected his art,” said Dr Khoshbin. About half of all epileptics have temporal lobe epilepsy. However, only about 10 per cent of those with temporal lobe epilepsy have the personality disorder, Dr Khoshbin says. This form of epilepsy is just one symptom of the disorder, and some of those with the disorder show no signs of epilepsy. Other hallmarks of the condition are: Hypergraphia, a tendency to produce voluminous and compulsive writing, music composition, painting, or other graphic material. Hyper-religiosity, a consuming interest in religion that is out of keeping with the sufferer’s upbringing. Intermittent aggressiveness. A shift in sexual behaviour, such as a loss of sex drive or a change in sexual preferences. Viscosity or stickiness, a reluctance to let a conversation or argument come to anjsnd.

Van Gogh’s most productive time was the period in 1888 and 1889 that he spent in Arles, France. In 444 days, he painted about 200 oils, made more than 100 drawings and water-colours, and wrote 200 letters. Among these were his most famous paintings — his vibrantly coloured sunflowers, fishing boats, and country scenes. “It was”, Dr Khoshbin said, “a case of hypergraphia. When you look at those paintings and realise that each one was done in a day, you realise that it takes tremendous compulsion for someone to do that.” Late in life, van Gogh developed tremendous religious convictions and created many religious paintings. The ear incident demonstrates both van Gogh’s extreme religiousness and his aggression. After he mutilated himself, he said the Bible had instructed him to cut off the offending organ. Dr Khoshbin said van Gogh’s sexual changes were demonstrated by his homosexual affair with the French painter, Paul Gauguin. His viscosity was evident in his endless arguments with Gauguin. I<?