But a larger question centers on the value of savant abilities. I would assume most neurotypicals would think autism, a stroke, a lightning strike, or being born with an encephalocele (like Kim Peek) is too high a price to pay for savant acquisition. Stephen Wiltshire's rendition of the Brooklyn Bridge, Can anyone not only improve his or her memory or cognitive talents but take them to these kinds of levels? And, very interestingly, would one want to? Given that we are living in the age of the brain, these astonishing cognitive skills-and I have only described a few-make one wonder about the possibility and extent of anyone’s acquiring them. Usually, these persons possessed such talent all their lives with no one suspecting it although Treffert describes certain cases where savant-like skills have suddenly appeared with no evident cause (pp. 212) My wife’s father could multiply 3-digit numbers in his head, and many neurotypicals with musical savantism can listen to a tune or song only once and then reproduce it with note for note accuracy on piano or guitar. Or they can read backwards or they can instantly alphabetize words in conversation, so that “I like neuroethics” becomes “I eikl ceehinorstu.” (Treffert, 2010, p. There are also neurotypicals who can begin writing “Calif” with one hand and simultaneously “ornia” with the other or an individual who can write out similar words simultaneously-one with the left hand, one with the right-but each in a different language (Treffert, 2010, p. When she displayed this capacity to the world, it was thought that less than 10 persons existed with similar memory capacity but since then more individuals have been identified (CBS This Morning, 2014). Many people know about Marilu Henner’s “highly superior autobiographical memory” such that Marilu can recall what she was experiencing at any time of any day over most of her life (CBS, 2010). The third group is the neurotypical individual with savant-like skills. This group of persons acquired their savant-like skills from some kind of CNS disruption, usually occurring during or after adolescence. After the lightning strike, he became obsessed with music, re-learned piano playing and now not only plays some of the classical piano repertoire at a near concert level, but he composes and, when not doing surgery, performs professionally. Although he had some piano lessons as a child, he never pursued any serious training and hadn’t played much for decades. A few weeks after the lightning strike, he began experiencing an insatiable desire to listen to piano music.
An interesting example is orthopedic surgeon Tony Cicoria, who was struck by lightning in his face, had a near death experience, and survived without any apparent deficits (p. Very often, their savant skills take the form of amazing artistic or musical ability where there was none previously. These are persons who began life as neurotypicals but then suffered some kind of central nervous system damage like a stroke or dementia (usually affecting the fronto-temporal areas of the brain). 123).Ī second group Treffert terms the “acquired” savant.
His IQ was measured at 87, but the score was thought too insensitive to his intellectual ability (p. Even as an adult he needed help with simple daily activities like bathing, brushing his teeth and combing his hair. Kim Peek didn’t walk until the age of 4 and had eye-hand coordination problems all his life. Usually, these individuals have IQs around 60 or 70, such as one savant who could recite Edward Gibbon’s Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire forward and backward but couldn’t explain what any of the sentences meant (p. Treffert reports that 50 percent of individuals with the savant syndrome are autistic, while the remainder, like Kim Peek, typically experienced some kind of central nervous system insult prenatally or very shortly after birth. Or George Widener who can tell you what day of the week June 25th will be in the year 47,253 (p. I might also mention Daniel Tammet who, on March 14th, 2004 on “International Pi Day”-get it?: 3.14-recited from memory Pi to 22,514 decimal places (p.
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