Sawant syndrome

Sawantsyndrome (savant - scholar) is a rare condition in which mentally retarded people have astonishing skills and an excellent memory, almost mechanical. The first case of savantism was described in 1789, when the American pioneering psychiatrist Benjamin Rush took an interest in the case of Thomas Fuller. This man had a scant knowledge of mathematics (limited to simple counting); however, he was able to calculate in less than a minute the number of seconds that an exemplary man had lived in 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours. He had been illiterate almost all his life.

Causes of Sawant syndrome

It is not known exactly what causes savant syndrome. The results of a study by Bernard Rimland of the Autism Research Institute bring us closer to the thesis that the cause is an impairment of the left cerebral hemisphere, resulting in compensatory increased activity of the right cerebral hemisphere, which is responsible for musical, artistic, mathematical and spatial orientation and manual dexterity skills. The study was performed using CT scans showing increased blood flow in the frontal cortex and decreased blood flow in the left temporal lobe in the savant-artist.

Despite having an IQ in the range of 40 to 70, unable to function independently in society and needing round-the-clock care, these individuals show abilities that the ordinary person can only dream of.

Some of the most famous of these include people such as:

Kim Peek - the encyclopaedic man. Born in the US state of Utah, the American memorised everything he read, knew more than 12,000 books by heart, and could read two pages simultaneously, one with one eye and the other with the other. He could tell the story of every ruler's reign, and he also had an incredible knowledge of music - he knew a great many pieces of music, could assign them to authors and give the date when they were first performed. He was the inspiration behind the Oscar-winning film Rain Man.

Stephen Wiltshire - an English autistic savant with a photographic architectural memory. He can reproduce in a drawing the exact massing of any building he has seen for just a moment. He became famous for drawing large panoramas of cities such as Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem and London, which he viewed during a short helicopter flight.

Daniel Tammet- suffers from epilepsy and Asperger's syndrome. Daniel is synesthetic - he perceives numbers as sounds, colours or shapes. He is fluent in 11 languages and has developed his own language, Mänti. He learned Icelandic within a week. He makes complex calculations with astonishing speed, surpassing a calculator in precision. The results of the calculations appear immediately in his brain, taking on different shapes and colours. Tammet holds the European record for reciting the 22 514 digits of the number pi from memory.

Sawant team, photo: shutterstock

Savant syndrome is not a disease, but only a coexisting symptom, for which there is no cure. To date, approximately 100 cases of savant syndrome have been described, most commonly in men, which is probably due to the effect of testosterone on brain development during foetal life. The syndrome is most often congenital, but can also occur as a result of brain damage or disease.

Once regarded as freaks, misfits, they had to hide with their abilities, but today, thanks to them, they are emerging from the shadow of their illness.

way4cure.com

Amazing abilities of Sawant Syndrome patients

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