THE

SAVANT
SYNDROME
Mok Hui Min
U1421075K
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Introductory Biology(CY1001) Term Paper 2014

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Content Page

Prologue------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Abstract-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Introduction-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-4
Classification

of

Savant

Syndrome--------------------------------------------------------4-9
Based
on
how
Savant
Syndrome
acquired---------------------------------4-5
Based
on
the

level

is
of

skill------------------------------------------------------------5
Based
on
the
type

of

skill----------------------------------------------------------5-9
Causes

of

Savant

Syndrome

Theories)--------------------------------------9-12
Rote
memory
and
inability
reasoning--------------------------9-10
Innate
ability
to
access

(Current
to

less

processed

information--------------------------10
Left-Right
Brain

Compensation

Theory-------------------------------------10-11
Obsessive
focus
and

Lack

Distraction----------------------------------------11
Genetic
Basis
and
Explanation
for
Bias-------------------------11-12
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abstract

the

of
Male

Special

Case-

Daniel

Tammet---------------------------------------------------------12-13
Research

Directions-Unlocking

our

Savant-----------------------------------14-15
Allan
Synder
rTMS---------------------------------------------------------14-15
Allan
Synder

Inner
and
and

tCDS--------------------------------------------------------------15
Other
Information
on
Allan
Synder----------------------------------------------15
Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
5
Bibliography------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

PROLOGUE

In the movie Rain Man, Raymond Babbit is depicted as an individual who has no
clue of the worth of money, but can memorise an entire telephone book and even
predict statistics. In other words, Raymond is a savant. Raymond Babbit, a character
inspired by a real-life savant Kim Peek, generated much mainstream interest in
autistic savants back in 1988. Since then, there has been much research into the
Savant Syndrome.

ABSTRACT

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In this paper, I aim to give a brief description of the savant syndrome, introduce the
ways to classify the Savant syndrome, touch on the current theories for the causes
of savant syndrome and experiments related to the syndrome.

INTRODUCTION

The savant syndrome is a disorder in which a person possesses some extraordinary

talent despite almost always having some physical or mental disability. Savants
have neurodevelopmental disorders, notably autism, or brain injuries. A common
feature between all savants is that their extraordinary capabilities are related to
having an incredible memory. Male savants outnumber female savants by a ratio of
6:1. The first recorded case of savant syndrome was the severely mentally
handicapped Thomas Fuller, in 1789, who displayed remarkable calculating abilities.
Most skills observed in savants tend to be right-hemisphere oriented nonsymbolic, creative, artistic, directly perceived rather than left-hemisphere oriented
logical, sequential, symbolic. Most savants have a low IQ, but their skills are IQ
independent. Due to the lack of reasoning ability, savants have difficulty putting their
skills to use and show inability to perform simple tasks such as tying shoe laces or
following instructions. Impaired social and communication skills are common in
savants.

CLASSIFICATION OF SAVANT SYNDROME

BASED ON HOW SAVANT SYNDROME ARISES

Statistics on the prevalence of Savant Syndrome

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50% of those who have the Savant Syndrome are autistic and 10% of the autistic
population are savants. The other 50% of savants have CNS injuries and
developmental disorders combined. Only about 1% of those with learning disabilities
are savants. Thus, a large majority of savants are also autistic. Listed below are the
two ways that an individual can acquire Savant Syndrome.
1) Congenital Savant Syndrome: Savant Syndrome that existed from birth, usually
in autistic individuals.
Example: Alonzo Clemons
As a toddler, Alonzo suffered a head injury in an accident which caused him to be
severely physically impaired. He is unable to do simple tasks such as feeding himself
himself or tying shoelaces, but he gained an extraordinary sculpting ability from the
accident. After seeing only a fleeting image of an animal on a TV screen, Alonzo
could sculpt a perfect 3D figure of it, correct in each and every detail.
2) Acquired Savant Syndrome: Savant Syndrome that resulted from suffering a
brain injury.
Example: Leslie Lemke
Leslie Lemke was born with severe birth defects that required doctors to remove his
eyes. He was physically impaired and could not walk until he was 15. However, at 16
years of age, Leslies talent in music was discovered after playing Tchaikovsky's
Piano Concerto No. 1 flawlessly after hearing it just once earlier on the television.
From then on, Leslie began playing all styles of music from ragtime to classical. He
only has to hear the music once in order to play it again perfectly. He became

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famous after being portrayed in national television shows. Before his health started
to deteriorate, Leslie gave many concerts around the world.

II

BASED ON THE LEVEL OF SKILL

1) Splinter savants: Savants with skills and interest in a specific area, that stand
out in contrast to their overall level of functioning. For example, they may be
obsessively

preoccupied

with

memorizing

books,

historical

facts,

and

geographical statistics.
2) Talented savants: Savants with impressive skills when compared to other nonsavants who specialise in the same field. Talented savants show musical, artistic,
or mathematical skills in contrast to any mental or physical disability they have.
3) Prodigious savants: Savants that display extraordinary skills both in contrast to
their general level of functioning and compared to the general population, which
makes their skills all the more outstanding compared to splinter and talented
savants. This also makes them extremely rare but are most easily recognizable,
while many savants of the other two types go unnoticed. There have been less
than one hundred reported cases of prodigious savants in the past century.

II

BASED ON THE TYPE OF SKILL

1. Mass memorization: Savants who can memorize and regurgitate data and
information such as population statistics, geographical details and maps, every
number in a phone book, and entire books.
Example: Kim Peek ( The Original Rain Man)( Congenital Savant Syndrome)

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Kim Peek was the inspiration for the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the
movie Rain Man mentioned in the Prologue. He was born with severe brain
damage resulting in severe developmental disabilities. While Kim struggles with
ordinary motor skills and has difficulty walking, he has a memory that allows him to
perform extraordinary memory-related feats. He has read about 12,000 books and
remembers everything about them. He can read two pages at once as each of his
eyes can read a page simultaneously. Reading, or more accurately taking a mental
image of two pages takes 3 seconds for him and he can remember everything he
read. Kim can recall facts from 15 subject areas from history to science to sports and
he remembers every piece of music he has ever heard. Kim also has a talent for
calender-calculation( see point 3 ).
2. Arithmetic: Savants who can calculate complex arithmetic at a lightning speed.
They can calculate square root of large numbers, multiply three-figure numbers in
seconds, and find prime numbers instantly.
Example: Jason Padgett ( Acquired Savant Syndrome)
After a fight where Padget suffered injury to his head, Padget suddenly found his
mind with complex mathematical formulas which he could relate to the world around
him. He saw them everywhere he looked, and so he began to draw the things he
saw. Instead of numbers, these drawings took the form of vastly intricate fractal
shapes and geometric patterns.
When neurologists checked Padgets brain activity, they found that while part of his
brain was damaged, the brain started using other rarely used sections to

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compensate for the damaged part. The newly activated areas of his mind happened
to turn him into a mathematical genius.
3. Calendar calculation: Savants who can instantly identify the day of the week
that a particular date will occur or has occurred in any particular year. There have
also been reported cases of individuals who can remember every day of their
lives in photographic detail. In one case, Ellen Boudreax is blind savant who has
a precise clock in her mind and can tell time to the exact second without seeing a
clock.
Example: Florence and Katherine Lyman( Congenital Savant Syndrome)
Florence and Katherine Lyman are twin girls who can calender-count. Not only are
they twins, but they are also female which is rare with autism and the savant
syndrome. They can also remember every day of their lives in photographic detail. In
particular, the twins have detailed knowledge of pop music from the sixties and
seventies.
4. Musical ability: Musical savants have perfect pitch, exceptional sense of
hearing, and can play any complex and long piece of music flawlessly after only
hearing it once. (An example would be Leslie Lemke mentioned previously)
Another example: Tom Wiggins( Congenital Savant Syndrome)
Tom Wiggins is a blind musical savant who is able to listen to a musical piece and
repeat it flawlessly on the piano. Born blind and as a slave, Tom Wiggins abilities
were exploited by his white masters who toured him around Southern USA( United
States of America), making about $18,000 from Toms talent per year. Blind Tom

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was a sensation in Southern USA during that time period. He had an incredible
ability to mimic nearly every sound he heard, including the sounds of any animal.
Tom could play a piece with his back to the piano and could play one song with his
right hand, another song with his left, and sing a third at the same time.
5. Artistic ability: Artistic savants show exceptional talent in painting, drawing, and
sculpturing. The ability seems to involve detail focused processing.
Example: Tommy McHugh(Acquired Savant Syndrome)
After suffering a brain hemorrhage that nearly killed him at the age of 51, Tom
McHugh began to write poetry. It became compulsive for him. The drive to rhyme
gave way to an even more bizarre obsession for painting. For up to 19 hours a day,
McHugh painted every surface in front of him.
According to a neuroscientist who has studied McHugh, the brain hemorrhage
flooded his frontal lobe with blood, which is responsible for creativity. This switched
off a natural inhibition that keeps this section from operating in the background of
most people, causing this part of his brain to be constantly activated resulting in his
urge to express his creativity in the form of painting.
6. Language ability: Linguistic Savants show exceptional ability at speed reading
and learning new languages in a short period of time.
Example: Daniel Tammet-Acquired Savant Syndrome( Refer to detailed
explanation under A special Case: Daniel Tammet)
Daniel speaks 11 languages. In 2007, he was challenged to learn Icelandic in a
week. A week later, Daniel was successfully interviewed on Icelandic television in
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Icelandic. In addition, Tamett also has outstanding mathematical talent and memory
capacity.
7. While extremely rare, some savants have outstanding mechanical ability, such as
building or repairing intricate machines. Some also have incredible spatial ability,
such as estimating distances with precise accuracy. A particular savant named
Jedediah Buxton was noted to be able to tell the perimeter of his village by
walking around it just once.

CAUSES OF SAVANT SYNDROME (CURRENT THEORIES)

Savant syndrome is still poorly understood and the causes and mechanism are
currently unknown. Many researchers have presented theories to attempt to account
for various aspects of the condition, but no single theory is absolutely conclusive or
sufficient to completely explain Savant Syndrome yet. Some possible theories
suggested by researchers have been stated below.
I

ROTE MEMORY AND INABILITY TO ABSTRACT REASONING

The memory of savants appears to have much depth but is repetitive and the
information lacks processing, meaning that the savant cannot make meaning of it. It
relies more on rote learning or memorising but there is a lack of critical thinking. For
example, in many cases, a musical savants talent stands out in his ability to
memorise entire pieces in details up to the last note rather that his ability to come up
with new, original pieces or composing. Similarly, an artistic savant stands out in his
ability to reproduce with great realistic detail from memory a particular subject rather
than his ability to produce new art pieces or include any meaning in his art forms.
However, it has to be noted that there are some musical savants who, after
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memorising a large number of songs, begin to slowly compose their own music.
Thus, this explanation for Savant Syndrome might not be entirely applicable to all
Savants.

II

INNATE ABILITY TO ACCESS LESS-PROCESSED INFORMATION

Researchers have suggested that savants have the ability to directly access the
less-processed, lower level information that exists in all human brains; information
that is normally inaccessible or hidden due to excessive processing of such
information while we attempt to make meaning of it. Thus, such information is
normally unavailable to us but because savants are simple in the sense that they
are unable to process information, they have an incredible memory capacity as they
reach out directly to the unprocessed stores of information.

III LEFT-RIGHT BRAIN COMPENSATION THEORY

Left-right brain compensation is currently the most reliable theory to explain the
causes of savant syndrome. The skills most frequently observed in savants are
associated with the right hemisphere, and the skills that they lack are associated with
the left. (Refer to Introduction)The theory suggests that damage to the left
hemisphere might causes the right hemisphere to have higher level of activation
resulting in the skills savants possess. Brain scans of savants usually show damage
or abnormality in the left hemisphere. Acquired Savant Syndrome is also usually
acquired after a brain injury in the left hemisphere.
This rewiring of the brain to include higher levels of activity in the right hemisphere
can result in the release of previously dormant capacity for memory. Research on the

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autistic brain also shows that autism can be caused by the same process of rewiring,
resulting in increased brain plasticity and synaptic connections. This may be in
response to mutated RNA that could create the need to rewire, resulting in autism,
savant syndrome, or both.
V

OBSESSIVE FOCUS AND ABSENCE OF DISTRACTION

Many savants have underdevelopment in the brain areas that affect social and
communication skills, and therefore spend most of their time in isolation. To pass
time or as a form of adapting, savants become obsessively preoccupied with
memorizing or engaging in repetitive tasks. Since the brain is entirely dedicated to
the task at hand, it allows for extremely high level of focus on a particular task
without distraction, allowing a deep development of a particular skill. Normal
individuals in extreme isolation have shown some degrees of mental calculation or
rote learning as a way of adapting.
VI

GENETIC BASIS AND EXPLANATION FOR THE MALE BIAS

The occurrence of Savant Syndrome in males outnumbers females by a ratio of 6:1.

This could be a result of a difference in adapting in the mothers womb during
gestation period. In a developing human fetus, the left hemisphere is always
exposed to an external damage or injury for a longer period of time. In the male
fetus, high levels of circulating testosterone can act as neurotoxin during this period,
causing damage to the left hemisphere. The same reason may also account for the
high male:female ratio in other developmental disorders like autism. Other studies
showed that females have enhanced ability to eliminate environmental toxins during
the early postnatal period, therefore reducing the risk for brain damage.

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Another hypothesis to explain the male bias is that the Savant syndrome is X-linked,
meaning that it could be caused by certain genes on the X chromosome. A cluster of
genes on the X chromosome may also be responsible for savant syndrome because
the absence of those genes inhibited the normal development of the amygdala. The
amygdala are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep and medially within
the temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. 1
(University of Idaho College of Science (2004)."amygdala".)They perform a primary
role in the processing of memory, decision-making and emotional reactions2(
Amunts K, Kedo O, Kindler M, Pieperhoff P, Mohlberg H, Shah N, Habel U,
Schneider F, Zilles K (2005)) Research has also shown that there might be a linkage
between savant syndrome and chromosome 15q11-q13.

A SPECIAL CASE: DANIEL TAMETT

Like other savants, Daniel Tammet possess incredible talents in the form of
exceptional memory, mathematical abilities and linguistic ability. Daniel first became
famous when he recited from memory Pi to up to 24,000 digits to raise funds for the
National Society for Epilepsy. He is also famous for his linguistic abilities. (Refer to
page 8 ) At the age of four, he suffered a massive epileptic seizure. He believes that
seizure contributed to his condition, thus although Daniel is autistic, he actually has
Acquired Savant Syndrome. He possess a rare crossing of the senses known as
synaesthesia, where he visualises numbers as colors and shapes and textures.

University of Idaho College of Science (2004)."amygdala".

Amunts K, Kedo O, Kindler M, Pieperhoff P, Mohlberg H, Shah N, Habel U, Schneider F, Zilles K (2005). "Cytoarchitectonic mapping

of the human amygdala, hippocampal region and entorhinal cortex: intersubject variability and probability maps". Anat Embryol
(Berl)210 (56): 34352

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What makes Daniel Tammet different from other savants or autistic individuals is that
he is able to communicate and socialise normally. Unlike other autistic savants who
usually have some sort of mental or physical disability and always socially impaired,
Daniel, who was born with autism, has been able to train and teach himself how to
adapt in social settings and has normal social behaviour. Daniel is a highly
functioning autistic savant with exceptional mathematical and language abilities.
However, Daniel admits that socialising and communicating does not come naturally
to him, and he had to learn via observation or setting down a list of rules for himself
in communicating and socialising. Daniel has stated in various interviews that he has
willed himself to learn what to do such as consciously making sure that he makes
eye contact, learning how to initiate conversations, how to ask the appropriate
questions at the right timings to keep conversations going and so on.
The fact that Daniel Tammet can communicate normally with others makes him very
different from other prodigious savants in the world. Daniel can articulate what he
feels and what happens in his mind when he is making complex mathematical
calculations or memorising large amounts of information and that makes him
invaluable to scientists trying to understand the savant syndrome.
In particular, Daniel has published a memoir Born on a Blue Day: Inside the
Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant (Free Press) which is a book on his life as
an autistic savant. He has also published two other books Embracing the Wide Sky
and Thinking in Numbers.

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RESEARCH DIRECTIONS- UNLOCKING OUT INNER SAVANT

Many cases of acquired savant syndrome in individuals with brain injury shed light
on the fascinating possibility that the savant skills may be reproduced in normal
individuals. The key question is how to unlock the immense potential of the brain
without having some form of brain injury, in other words having control over the
activation of various parts of the brain. Researchers hypothesize that all humans
possess savant-like abilities, but they are normally suppressed by the brain's higherlevel circuitry that thinks conceptually and applies preconceived thoughts to stimuli.
In this section, I will give a short introduction to some methods used by Allan Snyder
in his research in this field.
IALLAN SNYDER AND rTMS
Allan Snyder, a leading researcher into the savant syndrome, and his team
demonstrated the potential for artificially inducing savant skills in normal individuals
by directing low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS),
which is a method of stimulating the brain using magnetic fields instead of electric
pulses, to the left anterior temporal lobe.
Allan Snyder has used rTMS many times on university students, measuring its effect
on their ability to draw, to proofread and to perform difficult mathematical functions
like identifying prime numbers by sight. When participants were asked to perform
specific tasks before, during, and after the stimulation, some of them demonstrated
superior recall, improved language ability, better sense of pitch, and an enhanced
drawing ability. 40 percent of test subjects exhibited extraordinary, and newfound,
mental skills. Their abilities, however, returned to normal within about an hour and

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sometimes also produced strange effects on patients' mental functions. For a short
period a time, they may lose the ability to speak. They might regain it easily but
would make odd linguistic errors.
II
Snyder

also

used

ALLAN SNYDER AND tDCS

a

technique

called transcranial

direct-current

stimulation(tDCS). The procedure for tDCS involves applying an electrical current to

the scalp through electrodes, rather than using a magnetic field in contrast to rTMS
However, this technique is still in its preliminary stage and insufficient research or
experimentation has been done on it for there to be conclusive results. For the
experimentation that has been done, more than 40% of participants that received
stimulation showed dramatic improvements in their problem solving skills.
III

OTHER INFORMATION ON ALLAN SNYDER

In an article published in the New York Times by Lawrence Osborne titled Savant for
A Day, the author describes Alan Snyders experiments in a narrative and
interesting form, including giving first-hand accounts of subjects of his experiments.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Alan Snyders experiments and their results presents immense

possibilities into unlocking the potential of the human mind. Especially with the 10%
of our brain myth which hypothesises that humans are currently using 10% of our
brain, the extraordinary talents that Savants have could present insight into how
humans can fully utilise our entire brain and the impact of this on the future of
mankind.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Smith, N.& Tsimpli, I.-M. (1995) The Mind of a Savant: Language learning and
modularity. Blackwell
2) Treffert, A.D. & Wallace, G.L. (2002) Islands of Genius. Scientific American,
(June), p.60-69
3) Treffert, A.D. (1989) Extraordinary People. Bantam.
4) Rimland B., Fein D.A. Special talents of autistic savants. In: Obler L.K., Fine D.A.,
editors. The exceptional brain: neuropsychology of talent and special
abilities. Guilford Press; New York, NY: 1988. pp. 474492.
5) Snyder A (2009). "Explaining and inducing savant skills: privileged access to
lower level, less-processed information.". Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol
Sci 364(1522): 1399405
6) Witzmann A. Remarkable powers of memory manifested in an idiot.Lancet; pp
16-41, June 5, 1909.
7) Miller L.K. The Savant Syndrome: Intellectual impairment and exceptional
skill. Psychological Bulletin; 125:(1):31-46, 1999.
8) Treffert D.A. The Savant Syndrome in Autism in Autism: Clinical and Research
Issues (Eds) Accardo, P., Magnusen, C. and Capute, A. Baltimore, York Press,
2000.
9) Santoso, Alex. "10 Most Fascinating Savants in the World." Neatorama. 5 Sept.
2008.
Accessed
online
21
October
2014
<http://www.neatorama.com/2008/09/05/10-most-fascinating-savants-in-theworld/>.
10)University of Idaho College of Science (2004)."amygdala".
11) Amunts K, Kedo O, Kindler M, Pieperhoff P, Mohlberg H, Shah N, Habel U,
Schneider F, Zilles K (2005). "Cytoarchitectonic mapping of the human amygdala,
hippocampal region and entorhinal cortex: intersubject variability and probability
maps". Anat Embryol (Berl)210 (56): 34352

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