In the wake of Amy Winehouse’s tragic death, people are asking if there’s something about the age of 27 or her unique gifts that contributed to her death.
Scientific American says there seems to be a particular breed of person who succumbs to addiction, most recently exemplified by the late singer Amy Winehouse . She joins the “27 Club” of rock stars who died, via addictive behavior, too young—Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Nor is it limited to the rock-and-roll lifestyle—Thomas de Quincey invented the modern addiction memoir with his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater in 1821. In fact, the list of addicts often overlaps with the giants of culture.

So is there a link between creativity and addiction? To find out, Scientific American spoke with neuroscientist David Linden of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and author of The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning and Gambling Feel So Good.
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