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Savant syndrome

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Savant syndrome

, sometimes abbreviated as

savantism

, is not arecognized medical diagnosis, but researcherDarold Treffertdescribes itas a rare condition in which persons withdevelopmental disorders (includingautism spectrumdisorders) have one or more areas of expertise, ability or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual'soverall limitations. Treffert says the condition can begenetic, but can alsobe acquired.

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According to Treffert, about half of persons with savant syndrome haveautistic disorder, while the other half have another developmentaldisability, mental retardation, brain injury or disease. He says, "... not allautistic persons have savant syndrome and not all persons with savantsyndrome have autistic disorder".

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Other researchers state that autistictraits and savant skills may be linked,

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or have challenged some earlierconclusions about savant syndrome as "hearsay, uncorroborated byindependent scrutiny".

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Though it is even more rare than the savant condition itself, some savantshave no apparent abnormalities other than their unique abilities. Thisdoes not mean that these abilities weren't triggered by a braindysfunction of some sort but does temper the theory that all savants aredisabled and that some sort of trade-off is required.

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(see ProdigiousSavants below)

Contents

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Characteristics

According to Treffert, something that almost all savants have in commonis a prodigious memory of a special type, a memory that he describes as"very deep, but exceedingly narrow". Narrow in the sense that they canrecall but have a hard time putting it to use (for more on this see sectionon Savants inAdvanced Memory).

[1]

Causes

Savant-like skills may be latent in everyone and have been simulated inneurotypicalpeople by directing low-frequency magnetic pulses into thebrain's left fronto-temporal lobe, which is thought to inactivate the regionand allow for more-direct processing of a savant-like task involving rapidcounting

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Mechanism

Savant syndrome is poorly understood. No widely accepted cognitivetheory explains the combination of talent and deficit found in savants.

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Ithas been suggested that autistic individuals are biased towards detail-focused processing and that this cognitive style predisposes both autisticand nonautistic individuals to savant talents.

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Another hypothesis is thathyper-systemizing predisposes people to show talent, where hyper-

systemizing is an extreme state in theempathizing–systemizing theory that classifies people based on their skills in empathizing with othersversus systemizing facts about the external world,

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and that the attentionto detail shown by many savants is a consequence of enhancedperception or sensory hypersensitivity in autistic individuals.

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It has alsobeen suggested that savants operate by directly accessing low-level, less-processed information that exists in all human brains but is normally notavailable to conscious awareness.

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Savant syndrome is six times more frequent in males than females, andthis difference is not entirely explained by the preponderance of males inthe autistic population. This has led to suggestions that theGeschwind–Galaburda hypothesisapplies to savant syndrome where both the braininjury and savantism appear to be congenital.

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Epidemiology

According to Treffert:

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One in ten autistic persons has savant skills.

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50% of savants are autistic; the other 50% often have differentdisabilities, mental retardation, brain injuries, or brain diseases.

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Male savants outnumber female savants by about six times.A 2009 British study of 137 autistic individuals found that 28% met criteriafor a savant skill, that is, a skill or power "at a level that would be unusualeven for normal people"; the study suggested that the number is likely tobe an underestimate, with the true value being at least a third of individuals with autism.

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History

According to Treffert, the term

idiot savant

was first used to describe thecondition in 1887 by John Langdon Down, who is known for his description