# How does the brain of a savant work so efficiently? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167 "2005-12-18T14:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kezami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eb8c5e/32.png) [@kezami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kezami)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/21 "2005-12-19T17:32:07Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Actually it is observed frequently in children, hence the term “child prodigy.” As I understand it, many of the people who display these abilities begin to exhibit them during their childhood years. I think you have to differentiate a child prodigy who is born with an ability to soak up and efficiently process information in a particular field such as music, art or whatever and has an overall high intelligence with an autistic or mentally handicapped savant who would likely fall in the lowest range of overall intelligence but has a singular intelligence that is literally off any scale of measurement. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/22 "2005-12-19T17:43:38Z")
> [@Strangelove](#): > > **Spatial Rift 47** is right. One of the cases we learned about was someone who could give you the day of the week for any particular date. What ususally isn’t mentioned is that he would spend most of his day playing with a day/date chart. It’s not surprising that after doing this for 16 hours a day he’d figure out the relationship. > Do -anything- for 16 hours a day and you’ll get pretty darn good at it. The example I always remember is the guy who can recite a whole encyclopedia because his dad read it to him once. He copies the inflection and whatever other things his dad did (coughs, etc.) and when interrupted has to start all over. So he heard this once and can repeat it over and over. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/23 "2005-12-19T21:06:33Z")
Does the SciAm article mention [transcrania magnetic stimulation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation)? This is fascinating, and it seems this could shed some light on what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/24 "2005-12-19T21:09:15Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I’m curious about these kinds of differences because on my son’s autism dx and because I occasionally work with a guy with a near eidetic (or “photographic”) memory. I enjoy talking to that guy as it’s kind of like having my own personal friendly encyclopedia. Isaac Asimov had this ability. He told us at a picnic that it saved him tons of time, since he never had to look up data in reference books that he had read once. I agree with others that a lot more is going on here than practicing. I’m no savant, but in a period of a few weeks in the second half of the first grade I went from struggling with Dick and Jane readers to being able to read at a sixth grade or higher level. (Complete Jules Verne books that summer.) I certainly didn’t practice, my parents didn’t tutor me, and I don’t remember anything special happening. It just happened. Mozart, from listening to his father give his sister music lessons, was able to pick up everything at an astounding rate. I don’t think this thing has anything to do with intelligence, but I suppose the surprise of someone with low intelligence being able to do one thing very well gave rise to the category of idiot savant. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/25 "2005-12-19T21:13:53Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Does the SciAm article mention [transcrania magnetic stimulation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation)? This is fascinating, and it seems this could shed some light on what’s going on. It doesn’t talk about that. However, the brain scan picture comparing Kim’s brain to a normal brain is one of the most striking pictures I have ever seen. Whole brain structures are cleanly and neatly missing like they were removed by an expert knife. It is absolutley bizarre that would give him the ability to memorize over 9000 books by speed reading them once. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/26 "2005-12-20T00:21:48Z")
> [@kezami](#): > > know the day of the week for any particular date Those of us with more traditionally-functioning minds can do this one, too. [All you need to do](http://www.quincunx.org/calendar/index.htm) is memorize a set of twelve numbers and be able to do a few simple math problems in your head. Granted, autistic savants probably don’t use the same methods we employ to arrive at their dates, but it’s still a neat little trick that could possibly win you a few bar bets. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/27 "2005-12-20T01:01:41Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > Just this semester I took a high-level course in the sociology of the mind and the brain, and we addressed this very topic. The problem with understanding it is that most people assume that, given a savant, something about their brain causes their abilities, rather than the other way around. > > The real answer is that, just like any ability acquired by any human being, continued exposure and thousands of hours of practice rewire our neural connections so that we become better at whatever it is. What makes savants different is that they practice their skill almost constantly, to the exclusion of learning basic social norms. Some of them can’t even feed themselves. So they become insanely good at mental arithmetic or remembering license plates or naming the day of the week for any given date, and meanwhile they lack the social graces the rest of us have been learning. Sometimes this lack of social skills becomes a problem in its own right, namely autism. > > Cite: Michael J.A. Howe, _Genius Explained_, especially chapter 5. I apologize in advance for sounding dogmatic, but this is just plain ridiculous. Ok, I take it back. I just read a review of his book (after writing that previous sentence) and it is clear he is not discussing savants, he is discussing people we consider to be geniuses/highly successful, like Einstein or Mozart. Either way, dismissing biological differences seems to imply all human brains have equal capability. But we would never say this about human eyes, ears, arms, etc. Furthermore, is there any actual data to back up a claim that savants practiced for long periods of time before showing these skills? I personally have a low opinion of the ability of psychologists (I know, he said sociology, but the book refers to psychology) to create accurate models of our brain. I think they certainly have discovered much valuable data as to how our brains respond to certain inputs, etc., but it is like testing a black box. The attempts by psychologists to explain how are brains store and process information appear to be far more flawed than the math and neurobiological approaches. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/28 "2005-12-20T07:30:11Z")
> [@kezami](#): > > … play musical instruments well with no prior training … Just a quick comment on this. With some instruments it’s more than simply knowing which keys or buttons to press. Playing the piano takes hand and finger strength and can be very tiring if you don’t play regularly; guitar players need callouses on their chord hands or the chords might come out muddy (or their fingers painfully red). I’ve never heard of a savant brass player, but it’s gotta be more difficult than watching Charlie Parker push his fingers down and memorizing the configuration. Not sayin’ that savants can’t do it — some can and do play musical instruments with no prior training. Whether they can play them **well** first time, without the hand strength or conditioning, depends on your definition of “well.” ---
**Author:** ![kezami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eb8c5e/32.png) [@kezami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kezami)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/29 "2005-12-20T07:55:36Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Just a quick comment on this. With some instruments it’s more than simply knowing which keys or buttons to press. Playing the piano takes hand and finger strength and can be very tiring if you don’t play regularly; guitar players need callouses on their chord hands or the chords might come out muddy (or their fingers painfully red). I’ve never heard of a savant brass player, but it’s gotta be more difficult than watching Charlie Parker push his fingers down and memorizing the configuration. > > Not sayin’ that savants can’t do it — some can and do play musical instruments with no prior training. Whether they can play them **well** first time, without the hand strength or conditioning, depends on your definition of “well.” Fair enough. The ones I’ve seen only played a keyboard or piano, including the young girl in the link I referred to in an earlier post. What’s amazing is she only uses three fingers on each hand, excluding the thumb and pinkie. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/30 "2005-12-20T08:37:47Z")
> [@kezami](#): > > On the site there is a video link to an NBC story about a 15 year old blind mentally handicapped girl who can play the piano and has a repertoire of hundreds of melodies. She has also composed many original pieces, yet the girl barely communicates and cannot tie her own shoelaces. It’s fascinating stuff. I actually saw her perform a few months ago. She is what is termed a “prodigious savant,” which is what I think there are less than 50 of in the world. She actually needed to be coached to even use six fingers - she used to play with four or five. And she can still nail just about anything after hearing it a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/31 "2005-12-20T20:44:27Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Whole brain structures are cleanly and neatly missing like they were removed by an expert knife. It is absolutley bizarre that would give him the ability to memorize over 9000 books by speed reading them once. That’s interesting because the [transcranial magnetic stimulation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation) (fixed link) disables areas of the brain. That link points to an article titled [Savant-like skills exposed in normal people by suppressing the left frontotemporal lobe](http://www.worldscinet.com/jin/02/0202/S0219635203000287.html). ---
**Author:** ![Brute\_Force\_Orthodontics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Brute\_Force\_Orthodontics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brute_Force_Orthodontics)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167/32 "2005-12-20T22:01:48Z")
> [@Dominic Mulligan](#): > > There was a documentary on British television earlier this year following a savant. He, however, was atypical, as he led a perfectly normal life although he was capable of performing impressive sums in his head and remembering game states in chess. That sounds like [The Boy With The Incredible Brain](http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,,1490647,00.html), a show (mostly) about Daniel Tammet. An interesting show. [More on Tammet](http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-brain-of-a-savant-work-so-efficiently/336167.md?page=1)