The Inner Savant
http://discovermagazine.com/2002/feb/featsavant/?searchterm=the%20inner%20savant
Summery
An autistic savant is a rare condition marked by severe mental and social deficits but also a mysterious talent that appears spontaneously usually before the age of six. Autism is thought to occur during early brain development when neurons connect at random causing problems in the cerebellum with processing information and movement. Problems also occur in the limbic region which causes problems with processing experiences and emotions. When autistic children see an object they do not see the object as a whole, but rather the individual parts that make up the object.
Only one out of every ten autistic child is considered to be a savant. There are many different kinds of savant some can play a song on the piano perfectly after hearing it only once, some can multiply massive numbers together in a matter of seconds, some are artistic , and some are calendar savants and when they are given a date they can tell you what day of the week it fell on. A savant named Nadia at the age of three could draw an amazing picture of a horse from memory. When she went to draw it she did not start with the basic shape, but the details of the horse like his hoofs and mane and then drew the basic shape to connect all of the details together. This show that she saw not just a picture of a horse, but all of the components that make up the picture of the horse.
Allan Snyder, a physicist in Australia suggests that everyone has the capacity to obtain savant like skills, but we are unable to access them. When people who are not autistic see an object they just see the object as a whole and not all of the different components that make it up. Some people have been able to obtain savant like skills only under certain conditions. People who have frontotemporal dementia, a degenerative brain disease, which usually hits people who are around fifties or sixties, are able show savant like qualities in the areas of music and art. Even though they gain these new talents their disease makes them lose their ability to speak, read, and write. The only thing that they have in common with savants besides the ability is the decrease in blood flow and slowed neuronal firing in the left temporal lobe.
One reason why savants have these amazing abilities is because they process things differently and they see things differently. If a child who is not autistic is told to copy a picture of an optical allusion they would get frustrated and would be unable to draw it. An artistic savant would look at the picture and see the individual components that make up the picture. Sometimes artist who are having a hard time drawing an object will look at it upside down so that the do not see the object any more, but rather the components that make up the object, kind of like how a savant sees an object. People who are autistic have a single-minded drive. They can do the same thing over and over without getting bored. So those who are savants are able to practice there ability without getting bored, but getting better at what they do.
An autistic researcher did an experiment on seventeen people to see if they could perform savantlike tasks. The researchers inhibited their neural activity in the frontotemporal area. Only five out of the seventeen people improved in there tasks, but not at a savantlike level. This can expected because savants have repetitive practice of their skill. Researchers hope that one day that there will be a device that could help people tap into their creative abilities that they do not have access to.
Response
An autistic savant is a rare condition marked by severe mental and social deficits but also a mysterious talent that appears spontaneously usually before the age of six. Autism is thought to occur during early brain development when neurons connect at random causing problems in the cerebellum with processing information and movement. Problems also occur in the limbic region which causes problems with processing experiences and emotions. When autistic children see an object they do not see the object as a whole, but rather the individual parts that make up the object.
Only one out of every ten autistic child is considered to be a savant. There are many different kinds of savant some can play a song on the piano perfectly after hearing it only once, some can multiply massive numbers together in a matter of seconds, some are artistic , and some are calendar savants and when they are given a date they can tell you what day of the week it fell on. A savant named Nadia at the age of three could draw an amazing picture of a horse from memory. When she went to draw it she did not start with the basic shape, but the details of the horse like his hoofs and mane and then drew the basic shape to connect all of the details together. This show that she saw not just a picture of a horse, but all of the components that make up the picture of the horse.
Allan Snyder, a physicist in Australia suggests that everyone has the capacity to obtain savant like skills, but we are unable to access them. When people who are not autistic see an object they just see the object as a whole and not all of the different components that make it up. Some people have been able to obtain savant like skills only under certain conditions. People who have frontotemporal dementia, a degenerative brain disease, which usually hits people who are around fifties or sixties, are able show savant like qualities in the areas of music and art. Even though they gain these new talents their disease makes them lose their ability to speak, read, and write. The only thing that they have in common with savants besides the ability is the decrease in blood flow and slowed neuronal firing in the left temporal lobe.
One reason why savants have these amazing abilities is because they process things differently and they see things differently. If a child who is not autistic is told to copy a picture of an optical allusion they would get frustrated and would be unable to draw it. An artistic savant would look at the picture and see the individual components that make up the picture. Sometimes artist who are having a hard time drawing an object will look at it upside down so that the do not see the object any more, but rather the components that make up the object, kind of like how a savant sees an object. People who are autistic have a single-minded drive. They can do the same thing over and over without getting bored. So those who are savants are able to practice there ability without getting bored, but getting better at what they do.
An autistic researcher did an experiment on seventeen people to see if they could perform savantlike tasks. The researchers inhibited their neural activity in the frontotemporal area. Only five out of the seventeen people improved in there tasks, but not at a savantlike level. This can expected because savants have repetitive practice of their skill. Researchers hope that one day that there will be a device that could help people tap into their creative abilities that they do not have access to.
Response
I think that the abilities that savants have are amazing, some of them can’t even tie their shoes, but can play a song on the piano after only hearing it once. One of the savants that I found most interesting was a boy who could stand in a room that is full of speakers and find were the sweat spot, the spot where the sound from different sources hits both of your ears at the same time, is. I also thought that it was amazing that researchers could get savant like responses from people who are not autistic. I think it is interesting that some day they want to make a device that could give great creative abilities to people who are not savants.
posted by Stacey Evans @ 6:07 PM
3 Comments:
It's interesting to think that we all have the capacity to be a savant, but can't access it and I don't know if I believe that. I understand that they process and think about things differently and people can learn different techniques. But I don't think people can be taught to process in such a foreign way that would result in such talent. To look at a picture and learn to process it differently, as individual detailed parts is beyond the average person. One may notice more things or learn new things but I don't think one can actually change the way they receive and interpret information. Knowing a technique might result in a different conclusion, but I don't think people can change how they do it- at such an intense level anyway.
Having observed a savant, I think that their talentis incredible. I think it is interesting how researchers are trying to find the "inner savant" in normal functioning people. I agree with Jamie in that, while it is possible to access savant-like qualities in a person, how a person receceives information. The way that a savants brain works it totally different froma normal functioning person and while a peraon might be able to train their brain to have the qualities of a savant, they will never fully be able to reach a savants level of skill. I wonder what kind of savant this device would allow a person to be? While I think the level of skill that savants have is incredible, I don't know if I would want to be one.
It is cool to think that each person might have hidden savant potential, because many people would love to be able to remember whatever they hear or see. Even though savants are talented in knowledge, they don't (or it is very difficult for them to) understand what they learn. It is hard for them to think critically or think in terms of cause and effect. Their minds are like memory banks. Savants also tend to be lacking in social skills. While both types of learning are useful, it is probably better to be able to think through things. However, savants are incredible because they turn memory skills into an art, and many place would find that useful.
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