article_snippet: Being overly sensitive to sound could have been the key to the creativity of geniuses like Charles Darwin (pictured), scientists believe .
article_snippet: but if it really bothers you it could be because you're a genius.
article_snippet: Being overly sensitive to sound could have been the key to the creativity of geniuses like Charles Darwin and Franz Kafka – who both complained of both difficulty of filtering out noise – research has revealed.
article_snippet: Psychologists now believe that an inability to shut out irrelevant sensory information could be strongly linked to creativity.
article_snippet: Scientists at Northwestern University, Illinois, tested 100 people on 100 people ability to find original solutions to problems and found strong links between an inability to shut out irrelevant audio stimuli, dubbed 'leaky' sensory gating, and creativity.
article_snippet: The findings, published in the journal Neuropsychologia, suggest those with the affliction might find it easier to think creatively as those with the affliction can focus on a wide range of things simultaneously.
article_snippet: Darya Zabelina, a PhD psychology student at Northwestern University in Illinois said: 'If funnelled in the right direction, these sensitivities can make life more rich and meaningful, giving experiences more subtlety.'
highlights_snippet: Inability to shut out irrelevant sounds could be linked to creativity .
  
highlights_snippet: Being overly sensitive to sounds could be key to genius, scientists say .
  