Robert Helmick 7/3/07 Introduction to Psychology Savant Syndrome and Autism Myth has it that a human being only

uses 10% of their brain throughout their entire life. If humans are the most psychologically advanced organisms on Earth and they only use 10% of their brains, what if they could use 30%? -- 50%? -- 100%? For centuries psychologists have been trying to manipulate the human brain in order to unlock all of the other senses, thoughts and abilities that humans potentially possess. However, no one has the power to do so. Humans cannot memorize all acquaintances phone numbers, self-teach foreign languages, or even remember the correct number of eggs to put in an omelet. Some people, however, have uncanny abilities to memorize things more complex than these, for example: words in a dictionary, complex multiplication tables, series of piano chords and multiple foreign languages. One may label these people as geniusesprodigies, instead they are merely diagnosed with a mental disorder: Savant Syndrome. Savant Syndrome is a mental disorder in which the diagnosed individuals experience neurological delays in socialization and communication. However, they

possess (Shah) astonishing islands of brilliance that stand in stark, markedly incongruous contrast to the overall handicap (Treffert). In other words, Savants may be socially and developmentally delayed, but show small pockets of genius that far exceed that of a non-Savant in specific areas. Savant Syndrome, although a separate mental disorder, is usually linked with Autism, a developmental disorder characterized by impaired communication, emotional detachment, and excessive rigidity (Shah). People

living with Savant autism show an obsession and fascination with one or more things, usually numbers, words, or music (Treffert). These fascinations are called splinter skills. Although many Savants may have different splinter skills, there are 4 main types of Savantism: Musical, Polyglot or Linguistic, Mechanical and Arithmetic (Savant Syn.). A young autistic Savant sat on the piano bench next to his piano teacher while she played a complex system of chords. As she finished, he was allowed to play. He unmistakably recreated every note and chord the teacher had previously played (Shah). Daniel Tammet, a high functioning autistic Savant, was placed in Iceland, the home of the proclaimed hardest foreign language on Earth, for seven days. At the end of the seven days, he had a television interview in Icelandic, where he fluently responded in Icelandic. Aside from Icelandic, Tammet knows eight other foreign languages; German, Finnish, French, Lithuanian, Esperanto, Spanish, Romanian and Welsh. Tammet says in his book Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, Associating the different colors and emotions I experience for each word with its meaning helps bring the words to life. (Tammet, 2007, p. 11). Unlike most Savants, Tammet has 2 splinter skills. He also relates numbers to colors, personality traits and emotions in order to calculate huge sums in his head. For example, in 2004 Tammet set a world record for reciting over 22,000 digits of pi (Tammet, 2007). This correlation between colors and numbers or words is called synesthesia, a rare neurological mixing of the senses, which most commonly results in the ability to see alphabetical letters and/or numbers in colors The number 1, for example is a brilliant and bright white Five is a clap of thunder 89 reminds me of falling snow. (Tammet, 2007, p. 2)

Although these seemingly super-human abilities are admirable, there are still many disadvantages to Savant Syndrome. As aforementioned, Savants possess astonishing islands of brilliance that stand in stark, markedly incongruous contrast to the overall handicap (Treffert). This overall handicap that Treffert stated, refers to the developmental and social delays that most Savants experience. Like autism, Savants may have problems with communication and may seem emotionless and hard to get along with because of these developmental delays. So the question still remains: if humans dont use the whole of their brains, what other abilities would humans have if the entire brain was used? No one may ever know the answer, but individuals with Savant Syndrome give scientists a small insight into the power of the human brain. If these abilities shown by Savants are plausible, what if the human brain is able to be manipulated into displaying these fascinating behaviors in everyone without have the disadvantages of the overall handicap? What powers would humans possess? How would the lives of man be altered? How would the world adversely benefit? These are just some of the questions that can only be answered with some research on the astounding mind of an individual with Savant Syndrome.