Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain

abilities Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and exe ...

far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...

. This may include rapid calculation, artistic ability, map making, or musical ability. Usually, only one exceptional skill is present. Those with the condition generally have a neurodevelopmental disorder such as

autism spectrum disorder The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

or have a

brain injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or o ...

. About half of cases are associated with autism, and these individuals may be known as "autistic savants". While the condition usually becomes apparent in childhood, some cases develop later in life. It is not recognized as a

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

within the

DSM-5 The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the '' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatri ...

. Savant syndrome is estimated to affect around one in a million people. The condition affects more males than females, at a ratio of 6:1. The first medical account of the condition was in 1783. Among those with autism, 1 in 10 to 1 in 200 have savant syndrome to some degree. It is estimated that there are fewer than a hundred prodigious savants, with skills so extraordinary that they would be considered spectacular even for a non-impaired person, currently living.

Signs and symptoms

Savant skills are usually found in one or more of five major areas: art, memory, arithmetic, musical abilities, and spatial skills. The most common kinds of savants are calendrical savants, "human calendars" who can calculate the day of the week for any given date with speed and accuracy, or recall personal memories from any given date. Advanced memory is the key "superpower" in savant abilities. Approximately half of savants are

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

; the other half often have some form of

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

injury or disease. It is estimated that up to 10% of those with autism have some form of savant abilities.

Calendrical savants

A (or ) is someone who – despite having an

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signif ...

– can name the day of the week of a date, or vice versa, on a limited range of decades or certain millennia. The rarity of human calendar calculators is possibly due to the lack of motivation to develop such skills among the general population, although mathematicians have developed formulas that allow them to obtain similar skills. Calendrical savants, on the other hand, may not be prone to invest in socially engaging skills.

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 Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

. Also, the attention to detail of savants is a consequence of enhanced perception or sensory hypersensitivity in these unique individuals. It has also been hypothesized that some savants operate by directly accessing deep, unfiltered information that exists in all human brains that is not normally available to conscious awareness.

Neurological

In some cases, savant syndrome can be induced following severe head trauma to the left anterior

temporal lobe The temporal lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The temporal lobe is located beneath the lateral fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain. The temporal lobe is involved in pro ...

. Savant syndrome has been artificially replicated using low-frequency

transcranial magnetic stimulation Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive form of brain stimulation in which a changing magnetic field is used to induce an electric current at a specific area of the brain through electromagnetic induction. An electric pulse gener ...

to temporarily disable this area of the brain.

Epidemiology

There are no objectively definitive statistics 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 children 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 (in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

), slightly higher than the

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...

disparity for autism spectrum disorders of 4.3:1.

History

The term ''idiot savant'' ( French for "learned idiot") was first used to describe the condition in 1887 by

John Langdon Down John Langdon Haydon Down (18 November 1828 – 7 October 1896) was a British physician best known for his description of the genetic condition now known as Down syndrome, which he originally classified in 1862. He is also noted for his work in ...

, who is known for his description of

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

. 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

. The term ''autistic savant'' was also used as a description of the disorder. Like ''idiot savant'', the term came to be considered a misnomer because only half of those who were diagnosed 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

Notable cases

Daniel Tammet Daniel Tammet (born Daniel Paul Corney; 31 January 1979) is an English writer and savant. His memoir, ''Born on a Blue Day'' (2006), is about his early life with Asperger syndrome and savant syndrome, and was named a "Best Book for Young Adu ...

, British author and polyglot *

Derek Paravicini Derek Paravicini (born 26 July 1979) is an English autistic savant known as a musical prodigy. He resides in London. Biography On 26 July 1979, Paravicini was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, He was born extremely prematurely, at ...

, British blind musical prodigy and pianist * Henriett Seth F., Hungarian autistic writer and artist * Kim Peek, American "megasavant" * Leslie Lemke, American musician * Rex Lewis-Clack, American pianist and musical savant * Matt Savage, American musician * Stephen Wiltshire, British architectural artist *

Temple Grandin Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...

, American professor of animal science * David M. Nisson, American scientist * Tom Wiggins, American blind pianist and composer *

Tommy McHugh Tommy McHugh (1949 – 19 September 2012) was a British artist and poet. In his early life, McHugh was a builder and was also involved in youth crimes. When he was 51, he suffered a stroke on both sides of his brain that resulted in two burst blood ...

, British artist and poet * Kodi Lee, 2019 '' America's Got Talent'' winner (musician)

Acquired cases

* Alonzo Clemons, American acquired savant sculptor *

Anthony Cicoria Anthony Cicoria (born 1952) is an "acquired savant" — someone who exhibits extraordinary abilities after CNS injury or disease, as opposed to a person born with autism or other developmental disability. He is a doctor specializing in orthoped ...

, American acquired savant pianist and medical doctor * Derek Amato, American composer and pianist, he has developed savant syndrome and synesthesia * Patrick Fagerberg, American acquired savant artist, inventor and former lawyer. * Orlando Serrell, American acquired savant *

Jason Padgett Jason D. Padgett is an American artist with alleged acquired savant syndrome. Jason was born in 1970 in the city of Anchorage, Alaska. As a young man, Jason dropped out of Tacoma community college and worked as a salesman for his father's futon ...

, American mathematician, acquired after being hit in the back of the head while at a bar

Fictional cases

* Raymond Babbitt, autistic savant in the 1988 film ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged ...

'' (inspired by Kim Peek) * Park Shi-on, autistic savant in the 2013 South Korean medical drama ''Good Doctor'' *

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

, autistic savant in the 2017 U.S. medical drama ''The Good Doctor'' *

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

, autistic savant in the 1997 film '' Cube'' *

Kazuo Kiriyama The following is a list of characters that appear in the novel, manga and film versions of ''Battle Royale''. Primary characters Shuya Nanahara * Assigned weapon: Army Knife (novel and manga); Pot lid (film) Boy #15 has witnessed a good de ...

, main antagonist in the Japan 1999 novel '' Battle Royale'' *

Jeong Jae-hee Jeong Jae-hee (; born 28 April 1994) is a South Korean footballer who plays as midfielder for Pohang Steelers in K League 1. Career Jeong joined K League Challenge side FC Anyang in January 2016. After finishing his military service in Gimch ...

, autistic savant in the 2021 South Korean psychological drama ''Mouse'' * Patrick Obyedkov, autistic savant in a 2007 episode of the U.S. medical drama ''House''. * Woo Young-woo, autistic savant in the 2022 South Korean legal drama ''Extraordinary Attorney Woo''. * Mashiro Shiina, autistic savant in the 2012 anime series ''The Pet Girl of Sakurasou''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savant Syndrome Giftedness Syndromes Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate Exceptional memory