Savant syndrome is a condition in which a person with a mental disability, such as an
autism spectrum disorder, demonstrates profound and prodigious capacities or abilities far
in excess of what would be considered normal.
People with savant syndrome may have neurodevelopmental disorders, notably autism spectrum disorders,
or brain injuries.
The most dramatic examples of savant syndrome occur in individuals who score very low on
IQ tests, while demonstrating exceptional skills or brilliance in specific areas, such
as rapid calculation, art, memory, or musical ability.
In spite of the name "syndrome", it is not recognized as a mental disorder nor as part
of mental disorder in medical manuals such as the ICD-10 or the DSM-V.
Characteristics According to psychiatrist Darold Treffert,
almost all savants have prodigious memory which he describes as "very deep, but exceedingly
narrow."
It is narrow in the sense that savants may exhibit exceptional memory but have difficulty
putting it to use.
Some individuals with savant syndrome also have a keen sense of priority, which can involve
a broad understanding of politics, law, and a conceivably heightened vocabulary.
Savant skills are usually found in one or more of five major areas: art, musical abilities,
calendar calculation, mathematics and spatial skills.
The most common kind of autistic savants are the calendrical savants, ‘human calendars’
who can calculate the day of the week with speed and usually with accuracy.
Memory feats are the second most common savant skill in a survey.
50% of savants are autistic; the other 50% often have some form of central nervous system
injury or disease.
Among autistics, 10% have some form of savant abilities.
Mechanism Psychological
No widely accepted cognitive theory explains savants' combination of talent and deficit.
It has been suggested that individuals with autism are biased towards detail-focused processing
and that this cognitive style predisposes individuals either with or without autism
to savant talents.
Another hypothesis is that savants hyper-systemize, thereby giving an impression of talent.
Hyper-systemizing is an extreme state in the empathizing–systemizing theory that classifies
people based on their skills in empathizing with others versus systemizing facts about
the external world.
Also, the attention to detail of savants is a consequence of enhanced perception or sensory
hypersensitivity in these unique individuals.
It has also been confirmed that some savants operate by directly accessing low-level, less-processed
information that exists in all human brains but is normally unavailable to conscious awareness.
Neurological Savant syndrome results from damage to the
left anterior temporal lobe, an area of the brain key in processing sensory input, recognizing
objects and forming visual memories.
Savant syndrome has been artificially replicated using transcranial magnetic stimulation to
temporarily disable this area of the brain.
Epidemiology
There is no agreement about how many people have savant skills.
The estimates range from "exceedingly rare" to one in ten people with autism having savant
skills in varying degrees.
A 2009 British study of 137 parents of autistic children found that 28% believe their offspring
met the criteria for a savant skill, defined as a skill or power "at a level that would
be unusual even for "normal" people".
As many as 50 cases of sudden or acquired savant syndrome have been reported.
Males with savant syndrome outnumber females by roughly 6:1—slightly higher than the
sex ratio disparity for autism spectrum disorders, which is 4.3:1.
History The term idiot savant was first used to describe
the condition in 1887 by John Langdon Down, who is known for his description of Down syndrome.
The term "idiot savant" was later described as a misnomer because not all reported cases
fit the definition of idiot, originally used for a person with a very severe intellectual
disability.
The term autistic savant was also used as a diagnosis for this disorder.
Like idiot savant, the term autistic savant also became looked at as a misnomer because
only one-half of those who were diagnosed at the time with savant syndrome were autistic.
Upon realization of the need for accuracy of diagnosis and dignity towards the individual,
the term savant syndrome became widely accepted terminology.
Society and culture Prodigious savants
A prodigious savant is someone with a skill level equivalent to or greater than that of
a prodigy, regardless of any cognitive disability.
The most common trait of prodigious savants is their seemingly limitless mnemonic skills,
with many having eidetic or photographic memories.
Prodigious savants are extremely rare, with fewer than one hundred noted in more than
a century of literature on the subject.
Treffert estimates that fewer than fifty or so such individuals are alive today.
Prodigious Godly Savants were mentioned in both The Arabic Infancy Gospel > and The Infancy
Gospel of Thomas which were a large part of The Apocryphal New Testament, and which describe
the Savant life of Jesus as a child.
In other religious writings, these gifted individuals were called Godly Savants or Spiritual
Geniuses and were described in The Second Coming of Christ by Paramahansa Yogananda.
Godly Savant references to Jesus, Shukadeva and the Hindu Saint Swami Shankara can also
be found here.
Prodigious Savants were widely written about in India as a part of their spiritual lore
and writings in the Bhagavad Gita Notable cases
The following are well-known people with savant syndrome, noted for their talent in their
identified fields:
See also Asperger's syndrome
Ideasthesia Creativity and mental illness
Hyperthymesia References