Savant syndrome: how little we know our brain or 10 incredible stories of genius Bashny.Net

Scientists today put forward a great number of theories on human brain functioning. But despite this, he remains the biggest mystery. An even greater mystery to all, without exception, is Savant syndrome: a condition in which a person shows exceptional ability in one specific area, but very often suffers from serious illness or is mentally retarded. What researchers used to call these extraordinary people "learned idiots" shows that we understand very little of how our brain works.

Savant syndrome called "syndrome of the scientist". People with this syndrome not mentally retarded, they are on the contrary very smart, but their intelligence is focused on one or two specific areas. One researcher of Savant syndrome, noted that the brain "syndrome scientist" just organized differently: it is "island" of genius in the sea of a broader mental disability. Thus, Savant syndrome proves that the human mind is capable of much more than we let it.

 Number 10: Tommy McHugh





For most of his entourage, Tommy McHugh was a crook, a criminal and a drug addict. But at the age of 51 years with him was an accident, which happened bleeding in the brain. The operation lasted more than 12 hours, both hemispheres are literally "floating" in the blood. None of the doctors gave a guarantee that the man will survive.

In the end, Tommy did come around and even said. But soon began to manifest a strange side effect: it began to write poetry. It was his impulsive. In an interview with journalist he said, "the more I wrote poems the more I wanted to write, it was like a drug". But soon the obsession with rhyming gave way to even more bizarre tendencies: Mr. McHugh every waking moment was devoted to drawing. When he couldn't afford canvas, he painted the walls, ceiling and floor of his house. According to the neurologist who followed up Tommy, bleeding in the brain was "flooded" his frontal lobes, which are responsible for creativity. Somehow the injury is "turned off" the natural processes of inhibition that occur in most people, leaving these functions to constantly maintain. One of the techniques Dr. Mr. McHugh described what he sees as "endless and endless corridors." His neurologist explains that when Tommy draws, he displays a mental snapshot of this painting.

 No. 9: Alonzo Clemons





When Alonzo was a child, he received a traumatic brain injury which was the cause of his deficiencies in mental development. Barely able to speak and estimated IQ guy was at level 40 – this was a cause of constant depression Alonzo. All this lasted until he tried to sculpt. At school he sat quietly in the back of the class and tried to quietly sculpt tiny animals out of clay. When the teacher took away his clay, he began to scrape the crumbs of a flexible resin from the pavement around his school and working on sculptures in his room before bed.

Alonzo is now considered one of the most talented sculptors on the planet. He creates incredibly realistic sculptures of animals such as horses, antelopes, bulls – after seeing a picture of an animal only for a few seconds. According to his mother, he can see an animal on TV and then to create a sculpture for half an hour. Even if he is unable to tie their shoes or eat their own, it seems, his mind somehow grasps the shapes of all that he sees, and his hands are the perfect channel through which Alonzo can reproduce these images. When asked how he does it, the guy just smiled and pointed to his head.

Number 8: James Pullen





In the study of Savant syndrome often mention "the Genius of the Royal Earlswood hospital for the mentally ill". The so-called James Pullen, who lived in England during the second half of the 1800-ies. Noticeable the guy was at the age of 15, when he learned wood carving. It is believed that he was born with mental disorders, was deaf and dumb to seven years: at this age, he first said the word "mother". He never learned to read or write, but he was amazingly talented in wood carving, especially he managed ships.

His most famous work — a copy of a British steam ship SS Great Eastern, which included such details as a separate 5585 rivets and all the furniture inside the ship (which he cut by hand). All my life – 60 years, Mr. Pullen held at the Royal hospital for the mentally ill, cutting the figures out of wood.

 Number 7: George and Charles Finny





Count calendar is an extremely difficult skill that allows a person to name the day of the week when given any date. For example, what day of the week was October 16, 1683? For George and Charles Finn, a pair of twins, who are experts in calendar calculation, the answer is as simple as for You to remember what You ate for Breakfast.

George and Charles Finn to name any date for 40,000 years in the past or future, that may be more than you ever will.

 Number 6: Tony Deblois





The average baby weighs about 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) at birth. When Tony Deblois prematurely born in 1974 and he barely weighed 0.45 kg (0.99 pound). The child was barely breathing, so the doctors immediately put him on oxygen. At that time doctors did not know that too much oxygen can make a person blind. And a few days later, it happened with Tony. In addition to blindness and slow physical growth, Tony Deblois also suffered from severe autism. But in the age of two, he sat down at the piano and began to play beautiful melody.

From that moment, Tony turned into a snowball in the music world. Although he struggles with autism and is blind, he learned to play over 20 musical instruments, including guitars, mouth organ, trumpet, harpsichord, mandolin, saxophone and violin. It is difficult to determine the exact number, but it is believed that Tony has about 8000 pieces of music which he knows by heart. It's surprising that he can't even read notes.

Number 5: Florence and Katherine Lyman





Florence and Katherine Lyman also twins, which share the same remarkable ability, and George and Charles Finny. And oddly enough, they're the only other twins with a talent count calendar. But Flo and Kay are unique, even compared with the brothers Finn. Women are not only twins, but they are also women with autism, which is extremely rare.

Their calendar calculation skills fully match the talent of the brothers Finn — they can name the day on which any date falls. If You ask them about any day of your life, they will even tell You what the weather was, what they ate that day and other stuff with photographic accuracy. Also the twins have an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music from the sixties and seventies and a very strange hobby – TV show "Million". Flo and Kay can accurately count all the costumes and equipment of the host – dick Clark.

Number 4: Jason Padgett





Most people are born with the "academic syndrome". But Jason Padgett is the only person on the planet, who had developed this syndrome at the age of 30. After 12 years ago during a violent robbery a man was repeatedly hit on the head, waking the next day, Mr. Padgett saw that there were mathematical formulas. He saw them everywhere, they pursued him, so Jason started drawing what he saw. Surprisingly, instead of numbers, these drawings portrayed a complex fractal forms and geometric patterns.

When neurologists scanned his brain, they discovered something incredible: that the brain of Mr. Padgett used other rarely used areas to compensate for the functions of the damaged part. On this happy occasion, "activated" region turned Jason into a mathematical genius.

Room 3: Leslie Lemke





Leslie Lemke was born with brain damage, glaucoma that made him blind, and cerebral palsy. The mother abandoned this child still in the hospital, where he spent six months. In the end, he was adopted by a nurse from the hospital, who cared for him. Leslie normally talked until two and a half years until the body began to overcome the paralysis. Since then, the child "fell into silence" — the boy stopped to talk.

But at the age of seven, his life changed forever: the foster mother bought the Leslie piano. Like "Blind Tom" Wiggins, Lemke usually was silent and impassive, but he came to the state of ecstasy, when the mother seated in front of the keys. In 1986, at the age of 34 years, Lemke has had a full psychiatric examination, which found that he suffered from severe mental retardation, atonic diplegia, scoliosis and echolalia. His mental development was the same as seven children. Despite this, Leslie was able to play nearly a dozen instruments and remember all musical works ever heard. The guy easily could have played the piano for the 45-minute Opera, heard once on the radio.

Number 2: Jonathan Lerman





Literally translated, the word "savant" means "an idiot savant". This phrase most accurately describes the IQ of Jonathan Lerman, who has autism — more than 150! Currently he is 28 years old. At 10 he began to draw pictures with charcoal, 14 – his works began to be exhibited in art galleries in new York. After quite a bit of time paintings of John were sold for very good money.

Joe was a very quiet child, very worried about his mother. In 2 years the boy showed the doctor, who was diagnosed with autism. While autism complicates verbal communication by Jonathan, his ability to allow you to Express yourself through visualization on the canvas. Work Lerman is very unusual and even kind of professional, after the show, it is hardly possible to think that they have created people with disabilities.

Number 1: Tom Wiggins





We've all heard the story about how a four year old Mozart listened to the songs played by his father and then is played excerpts on the piano. But most people do not know that in 1862, a blind 13-year-old boy named Tom Wiggins could do the same thing, but with two songs at the same time.

Tom was born a slave, but because of birth defects – blindness, he could not be involved. The unusual ability of a black child soon discovered his white master. It was pretty funny, so at first That the guests were entertained by the host, but then Mr. Bertone organized a tour for his slave in the southern United States. It is believed that the Volume owner received about 18,000 dollars per year from such activities. It was shortly before "Blind Tom" became a sensation. He had a remarkable ability to mimic nearly every sound he heard. Tom was able to play one song with his right hand, another song left to sing absolutely third at the same time.published

 

P. S. And remember, just changing your mind — together we change the world! ©

Source: mif-facts.com.ua