Savant syndrome

Savant syndrome—sometimes abbreviated as savantism—is not a recognized medical diagnosis, but researcher Darold Treffert defines it as a rare condition in which persons with developmental disorders (including autism spectrum disorders) have one or more areas of expertise, ability or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations. Treffert says the condition can be genetic, but can also be acquired, and coexists with other developmental disabilities "such as mental retardation or brain injury or disease that occurs before (pre-natal) during (peri-natal) or after birth (post-natal), or even later in childhood or adult life."

Individuals with the syndrome are often simply called "savants". This can be a source of confusion since "savant" can also mean a person of learning, especially one of great knowledge in a particular subject. The terms "idiot savant" or "autistic savant" are also used. "Idiot" was used by the medical profession in the late 19th and early 20th century to refer to a person whose IQ was less than 20, although that usage has now given way to "profound mental retardation"; the term "idiot savant" is no longer regarded as a valid medical term.cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/frequently_asked_questions|title=Savant syndrome: Frequently asked questions |author=Treffert, Darold|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|accessdate=2008-03-27]

According to Treffert, about half of persons with savant syndrome have autistic disorder, while the other half have another developmental disability, mental retardation, brain injury or disease. He says, "... not all savants are autistic, and not all autistic persons are savants." Other researchers state that autistic traits and savant skills may be linked, [cite journal |author=Heaton P, Wallace GL |title=Annotation: the savant syndrome |journal=J Child Psychol Psychiatry |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=899–911 |year=2004 |month=July |pmid=15225334 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.t01-1-00284.x |quote=CONCLUSIONS: We thus conclude that autism (or autistic traits) and savant skills are inextricably linked and we should therefore look to autism in our quest to solve the puzzle of the savant syndrome.] or have challenged some earlier conclusions about savant syndrome as "hearsay, uncorroborated by independent scrutiny". [cite journal |author=McMullen T |title=The savant syndrome and extrasensory perception |journal=Psychol Rep |volume=69 |issue=3 Pt 1 |pages=1004–6 |year=1991 |month=December |pmid=1784646 |quote=D.A. Treffert, following B. Rimland, cited examples which he states show ESP to be occurring in certain autistic savant children. The evidence is questioned on the ground that it is hearsay, uncorroborated by independent scrutiny. |doi=10.2466/PR0.69.7.1004-1006]

Characteristics

According to Treffert, something that almost all savants have in common is a remarkable memory: a memory that he describes as "exceedingly deep but very, very narrow".

Savant-like skills may be latent in everyone.cite journal |author=Snyder AW, Mulcahy E, Taylor JL, Mitchell DJ, Sachdev P, Gandevia SC |title=Savant-like skills exposed in normal people by suppressing the left fronto-temporal lobe |journal=J. Integr. Neurosci. |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=149–58 |year=2003 |month=December |pmid=15011267 |url=http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/jsearchpii.cgi?pii=S0219635203000287 |doi=10.1142/S0219635203000287] Allan Snyder attempted to simulate savant impairment in normal controls by "directing low-frequency magnetic pulses into the left fronto-temporal lobe" of the brain (believed to be a method of temporarily inactivating the region and allowing for more direct processing of the extremely rapid counting task). Differences were observed in four of 11 subjects.

An "autistic savant" (historically described as an "idiot savant") is a person with both autism and savant skills. Autistic savants may have mental abilities called "splinter skills". Why autistic savants are capable of these astonishing feats is not quite clear. Some savants have obvious neurological abnormalities (such as the lack of corpus callosum in Kim Peek's brain). Many savants are known to have abnormalities in the left hemisphere of the brain. [Treffert, D.A. & Christensen, D.D. (2005). "Inside the Mind of a Savant", Scientific American, 293(6).]

Causes and pathophysiology

The Savant Syndrome is poorly understood. There is no cognitive theory that explains the combination of talent and deficit found in savants cite journal |journal= Dev Med Child Neurol |year=2005 |volume=47 |issue=7 |pages=500–3 |title= Savant talent |author= Pring L |pmid=15991873 |doi= 10.1017/S0012162205000976]

Savant syndrome is four to six times more frequent in males than females, and this delta is not entirely explained by the preponderance of males in the autistic population . This has led to suggestions that the Geschwind-Galaburda Hypothesis applies to savant syndrome where both the brain injury and savantism appear to be congenital.

Epidemiology

According to Treffert:
* 10% of people on the autistic spectrum have savant skills
* Less than 1% of persons with other developmental disabilities have savant skills
* 50% of savants are autistic; the other 50% have different disabilities, mental retardation, brain injury or a brain disease
* Male savants outnumber female savants by four to six times.

Between 0.5 and 1% of people on the autistic spectrum have savant skills according to the UK National Autistic Society. [cite web|title=Myths and facts about autism|publisher=The National Autistic Society|url=http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=235&a=10631|accessdate=2000-08-05]

History

According to Treffert, the term "idiot savant" was first used to describe the condition in 1887 by Dr. John Langdon Down, who is known for his description of Down Syndrome.

Society and culture

Kim Peek was the basis for the 1988 fictional film "Rain Man",cite web|url=http://www.gordonresearch.com/articles_autism/SciAm-Islands_of_Genius.pdf|format=PDF|title=Islands of Genius|publisher=Scientific American, Inc|author=Treffert, Darold A. and Gregory L. Wallace|year=2003|accessdate=2007-11-08] [cite web|url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/nasa_peek_041108.html|title=NASA Studying 'Rain Man's' Brain|publisher=Space.com|date=November 8, 2004|accessdate=2007-09-14] although his diagnosis is no longer autism. [cite web|url=http://w3.mesd.k12.or.us/pa/Interaction11-6-06.pdf|format=PDF|title=Kim Peek and Fran Peek: 'I am important to know you'|author=Wulff, Jane|publisher=Multnomah Education Service District|month=November | year=2006|accessdate=2007-09-18]

Prodigious savants

A prodigious savant is someone whose skill level would qualify him or her as a prodigy, or exceptional talent, even in the absence of a cognitive disability. Prodigious savants are those individuals whose abilities would be considered phenomenal or genius even in a person without any limitations or special diagnosis of impairment. The most common trait of these prodigious savants is their seemingly limitless memonic skills, with many having eidetic or photographic memories. Indeed, prodigious savants are extremely rare, with fewer than one hundred noted in more than a century of literature on the subject. Darold Treffert, the leading researcher in the study of savant syndrome, estimates that fewer than fifty or so such individuals are believed to be alive in the world today. The website of the Wisconsin Medical Society lists 29 savant profiles [cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles|title=Savant profiles|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|author=unknown|accessdate=2008-09-09] . Darold Treffert is past-president of the society. There are only about 100 recognized prodigious savants in the world. [cite web|author=Martin, D|title=Savants: Charting Islands of Genius|publisher=CNN Health|date=September 18, 2006|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/06/savant.genius/index.html]

* Alonzo Clemons, American clay sculptor. [cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles/alonzo_clemons|title=Alonzo Clemons - Genius Among Us|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|author=Treffert, Darold|accessdate=2007-11-07]
* Tony DeBlois, blind American musician. [cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles/tony_deblois|title=Tony DeBlois - A Prodigious Musical Savant|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|author=Treffert, Darold|accessdate=2007-11-07]
* Leslie Lemke, blind American musician.cite web|url=http://www.gordonresearch.com/articles_autism/SciAm-Islands_of_Genius.pdf|format=PDF|title=Islands of Genius|publisher=Scientific American, Inc|author=Treffert, Darold A. and Gregory L. Wallace|year=2003|accessdate=2007-11-08]
* Jonathan Lerman, American artist. [Jonathan Lerman:
*
*]
* Thristan Mendoza, Filipino marimba prodigy. [cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles/thristan_mendoza|title=Thristan "Tum-Tum" Mendoza - A Child Prodigy Marimbist With Autism from the Philippines|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|author=Treffert, Darold|accessdate=2007-11-07]
* Derek Paravicini, blind British musician. [Derek Paravicini:
*
*]
* Kim Peek
* Gilles Tréhin
* James Henry Pullen, gifted British carpenter. [James Henry Pullen:
*Ward, O. Conor. "The Childhood and the Life of James Henry Pullen, the Victorian Idiot Savant (1832–1916)", Abstract of article cited at [http://adc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/88/suppl_1/A59 adc.bmjjournals.com] Retrieved on 14 June, 2006.
*cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles/james_pullen|title=James Henry Pullen - Genius of Earlswood Asylum|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|author=Treffert, Darold|accessdate=2007-11-07]
* Matt Savage, U.S. autistic jazz prodigy. [Matt Savage:
* "The Prodigy", "People" magazine June 17, 2002.
*]
* Henriett Seth-F., Hungarian autistic savant, poet, writer and artist. [cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles/henriett_seth|title=Henriett Seth F. - Rain Girl|publisher=Wisconsin Medical Society|author=Treffert, Darold|accessdate=2007-11-07]
* Daniel Tammet, British high-functioning autistic savant (mathematical synesthaesia, language absorption, and memory). [cite web|author=Johnson, Richard|date=February 12, 2005|title=A genius explains|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2007-11-08]
* Stephen Wiltshire, British architectural artist. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1211299.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=10 March, 2001|title=Unlocking the brain's potential|accessdate=2007-11-08]
* Richard Wawro, Scottish artist.

References

Further reading

* Heaton P, Wallace GL (2004). "Annotation: The savant syndrome." "Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry (journal)|Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry" 45 (5): 899–911. PMID PMID 15225334 doi|10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.t01-1-00284.x
*
*
*
*
*
* O'Connor N, Cowan R, Samella K (2000). "Calendric Calculation and Intelligence." "Intelligence" 28, 31–48.
* Pearce JC (1992). "Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence", HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco.
*
*
*
* Snyder AW (2001) "Paradox of the savant mind." "Nature" 413, 251–252.
*
* Tammet Daniel (2006). "Born On A Blue Day", Hodder & Stoughton, London.
*
* Treffert DA (2000). "Extraordinary People", Bantam Press, London. ISBN 0593016734
*
*
*

External links

* [http://www.savantsyndrome.com Wisconsin Medical Society: Savant Syndrome]
* [http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/186/savants Yahoo 60 minutes page on Savants]