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Absinthe: The Price of
Creativity
Ingrid Solano
The practice of serious art, whether it be painting, music or
literature, requires originalities of perception. At a level of
neurobiology what this usually means is that the nervous system must
respond in new ways to old inputs. How can in individual induce these
responses that are needed for creativity? If creativity is a
behavior, can it be influenced by things that occur in the
brain?
Some artists seem to be naturally endowed with the gift of creativity
and the creation of these new responses to old information. Some
artists seek to place themselves in ambient conditions in order to
induce these new responses of the nervous system. And other artists
seek out the help of drugs. Drugs can have a wide variety of effects,
from mild physical effects to huge effects on personality and
behavior. At the end of the 19th century there was an era of great
creativity in Europe. Particularly in France, the Belle Epoch era
brought with it a generation of artists that produced an enormous
output of creativity. These artists survived in artistic circles
which brought with them the notorious alcoholic drink called
"absinthe".
In 1910 to 1915 absinthe was recognized as a neurological poison
throughout Europe, and it was also banned in the US. However, amongst
the fans of absinthe we find some of the most creative minds of the
era. These include; De Musset, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Zola, Oscar
Wilde, Gaugin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gough, Hemmingway and Picasso.
(5) Oscar Wilde said of absinthe: "After the
first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second,
you see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really
are, which is the most horrible thing in the world." Although
absinthe had become the national drink of France by the end of the
19th century, absinthe had a reputation for inducing "insane and
criminal acts" as well as convulsions and other effects of
toxicity
(1)
Though absinthe contains a high volume of alcohol (usually 70%), it
is not the ethyl alcohol that is the important neuro-active
ingredient, but the terpenoid alpha-thujone. Thujone is derived from
the oil of the plants, Artemisia absinthium (common names: bitter
wormwood, wormseed, Wermutkraut, Asscnizio, Losna, Pelin) and
Artemisia pontica (Roman Wormwood), both of the daisy family. The
plant is described as a fragrant perennial herb about 1-4 feet tall
with silver-green leaves, silky hairs on both sides of the leaves,
and small yellowish-green flowers present during July-September
(4).
Like other terpenes, thujone can cause clonic/tonic seizures through
its direct and rapid effects on neurons. There are descriptions of
absinthe epilepsy with states of delirium between seizure attacks.
These attacks have been related to absinthe's specific excitatory
effects on the medulla and/or cortex.
(4)
Thujone-induced seizures were studied in animal models in the 1920's
as a chemical model for epilepsy. Prior to electro convulsive therapy
(ECT), terpenes such as camphor were used to treat depression and
schizophrenia by the chemical induction of convulsions. Convulsions
have been found to be caused by thujone in the recent experiment done
by Hold.
(3) Hold has also been able to prove that
it is indeed Thujone and not the alcohol that causes these
effects.
Thujone has a molecular structure similar to that of another
terpenoid essential oil, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the
chemical in marijuana that induces its notorious 'high'. Its
functional side groups, which resemble those of THC, are thought to
act at the same specific receptor sites in the central nervous system
as those occupied by THC.
(4)
Thujone appears to effect chloride ion channels in the central
nervous system. In neurobiology, ion channels are protein channels in
cell membranes that allow ions to pass from extracellular solution to
intracellular solution and vice versa. Most ion channels are
selective and only allow certain ions to pass through. Each neuron
has ion channels with various ion selectivities. Each nerve cell's
parallel conductivity of "information" down its axon is
contingent upon the opening and closing of ion channels along its
cell membrane. At the end of a neuron, at its synapse,
neurotransmitters are released based upon the "information"
passed down by the changing concentration gradient and charge.
Neurotransmitters are chemical substances that cross the synapse
between a presynaptic nerve ending and a post synaptic nerve ending.
At the membrane of the post synaptic neuron the transmitter
substances interacts with a receptor. Depending on the type of
receptor, the result may be an excitatory or an inhibitory effect on
the postsynaptic nerve cell.
GABA is the neurotransmitter substance gamma-aminobutyric acid. A
GABA receptor is any of several membrane proteins that bind GABA and
mediate its channels. GABA type A receptors produce an inhibitory
effect on postsynaptic nerve cell membranes. Studies show that
alpha-thujone in absinthe is a rapidly-acting and readily detoxified
modulator of the gamma-amino butyric acid-gated chloride ion channel.
Thujone also acts as a GABA-type A receptor antagonist. Thujone
competitively inhibits the binding of the radioactive convulsant
[(sub3)H] ethynylbicycloorthobenzoate to the known convulsant site
linked to GABA-type A receptors in mammalian brain membranes.
(4) Without access to GABA, a natural inhibitor of
nerve impulses, neurons fire too easily and their signaling goes out
of control. Perhaps this explains the state of psychosis and high
sensitization described by the creative individuals who were addicted
to the effects of absinthe.
(2) Scientists had
documented thujone's effects by 1916, but "nobody had ever
figured out exactly where the toxin was working," says Hold. The
original concentration of Old absinthe was about 260 parts per
million of alpha-thujone. Though today the drink, which is still made
in the Czech Republic, Spain, and most recently Great Briton,
typically contains less than 10 parts per million. This is below the
maximum concentration permitted by European beverage guidelines.
Apparently, in today's absinthe the most toxic compound is the
alcohol. However, the coveted bottle of Swiss La Bleu is said to
contain 70 mg of thujone.
A look into the effects of the active ingredient of absinthe on the
brains of its notoriously creative addicts may help to unlock the
neurobiological explanations of creativity and creative behavior.
Perhaps the pathways that this drink inhibits or excites may lead us
to find the pathways of enlightenment, creativity and the phenomenon
of art and our appreciation for it. Art (as well as our wish to
create and understand it) is as profound a phenomenon as emotion and
religious beliefs. Is the human phenomenon of feeling 'moved' or
'inspired' as simple as a rapid firing of an unusual amount of
neurons? Might it be as specific as to be directly related to
GABA-type A receptor antagonists?
The followers and influences of the absinthe phenomenon seem too
specific to the artistically inclined (as well as a specific area of
time and place noted for its artists and inspiration). Could this
inclusion of a mere chemical substance be an unknown discovery in the
neurobiological makeup of our minds? Would Picassos sell for hundreds
of thousands of dollars were he not actively participating in the
increase of synaptic firing in his cortex and medulla? Would the
poetry of Baudelaire be renown the world over had he not been
detracting from a natural inhibitor of nerve impulses, and thus
causing the cells in his mind to send more signals than they normally
would have been?
Perhaps these artists of the 19th century stumbled upon a key that
may, in the future, allow us to genetically alter our children to be
artistic prodigies. Artists mutilated themselves and committed
suicide, all as a price for the drink they thought to be their
inspiration. Perhaps their dedication should be further explored-they
believed to have found something.
WWW Sources
5)
Absinthe FAQ , A source and aray of common knowledge, though the
absinthe drinker should read with caution. Testament to modern
absinthe use.