Savants

Hi Everyone!
I am still not over looking into savants and how incredible they really are.
The word "savant" in French means "learned".
Ramachandran introduced us last week to a few individuals with autisism; due to accidents, head traumas or developmental handicaps these people have intelligence in particular fields; i.e. art, music, memory, and arithmetic but suffer in human interaction and many everyday activities.

Another interesting fact is that Savant syndrome occurs four to six times more frequently in males opposed to females. (Taken from the Wisconsin Medical Society).

No single theory has resolved the savant mystery! One theory in particular explains that when an individual suffers some kind of brain injury to the left hand side, the right side picks up to compensate. In some cases, when there is left brain injury with right brain compensation, there is damage to certain memory circuits, such as semantic memory (which refers to the memory of meanings, understanding, and knowledge unrelated to experience). When the semantic circuit is weakened the brain depends on a lower level of memory. A simplier, basic, and more habitual type of memory, this is partly the reason why a savants memory in small particular detail is so enhanced.

For example! Watch Steven Wilcher memorize the entire cityscape of Rome then draw it in three days.

It is seriously amazing.