Dr. Bruce Miller, director of the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, examines what neurodegenerative disease reveals about the neural basis of creativity and the social mind. Research in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) shows that visual creativity is not rare: a subset of patients—particularly those with left anterior temporal degeneration—develop new or intensified artistic abilities early in the disease course. These findings suggest that damage to language-dominant left hemisphere regions may release posterior visual networks from inhibition, leading to enhanced visual–spatial expression. Miller situates these observations within human evolution, proposing that art emerges with Homo sapiens, possibly linked to changes in the parietal lobe and the development of the social brain. In contrast, behavioral variant FTD erodes empathy and altruism through right frontal degeneration. Together, these patterns suggest brain asymmetry is central to our creative and social capacities. Recorded on 02/27/2026.

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