Savant syndrome or Savant syndrome is also called “idiot savant“, which means “wise idiot.” It gets its name because people with Savant syndrome have significant left hemisphere impairment. However, they can perform some tasks that involve the right hemisphere surprisingly well.
People with Savant syndrome develop talents, that is, extraordinary abilities in particular, concrete and peculiar. For example, a person with savant syndrome might not be able to manage money for daily purchases, yet be able to quickly and accurately answer questions such as: What day of the week will March 3 be? of the year 2100?
In this Psychology-Online article, we will talk about Savant syndrome: what it is, symptoms, causes and treatmentas well as the difference with Asperger’s syndrome and autism and also some examples of the same.
What is Savant syndrome
Savant syndrome or savant syndrome is a syndrome commonly presented by people with . As for Asperger’s syndrome, although in the past it had been considered a disorder completely separate from autism and other pervasive developmental disorders, it is currently included within the concept of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and thus appears in the fifth edition of the Manual. Statistics and Diagnosis of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)1.
In addition to occurring in people with Asperger’s syndrome, Savant syndrome can occur against the background of brain damage, whether due to illness or trauma. For this reason, Savant syndrome usually presents from birth but, depending on the cause, it can also be acquired, such as in cases of trauma.
Savant syndrome is characterized by presenting peculiar and impressive talents or abilitiessuch as hypermnesia, hyperlexia and hypercalculia, special skills in managing the calendar and different artistic expressions such as drawing, painting, sculpture and music.
How many people have Savant syndrome?
The prevalence of savant syndrome is 1 in 10 people with Autism Spectrum Disorders and 1 in 1,000 people with brain damage or cognitive deficits. The sex ratio is approximately 1 girl for every 3 or 4 boys.
Types of Savant syndrome
Three types of Savant syndrome or savant syndrome are considered:
- The prodigious Savant They have great abilities that stand out in all areas of IQ, they are rare, in fact it is considered that there may be less than 25 cases worldwide.
- The Savants with talent They have incredible abilities but at the same time they present great deficiencies in other cognitive areas.
- The Savant of minutiae They have some specific and peculiar but limited abilities, in addition to dysfunctions in other cognitive areas.
Symptoms of Savant syndrome
The symptoms and characteristics that people with Savant syndrome present are a Below average cognitive functioning with one or more talents. They are characterized by having one or more highly developed specific abilities that are attributed to the right hemisphere.
Some examples of them are: calculation skills, artistic skills and hypermnesias, especially mechanical, visual, motor and spatial skills. However, they suffer from significant dysfunction in the skills that belong to the left hemisphere. Such as, for example, logical or symbolic skills and verbal skills. How do I know if I have Savant syndrome? Let’s look at the symptoms of wise man syndrome.
- musical ability: Some people with Savant syndrome have extraordinarily developed musical ability and are able to interpret musical pieces either with an instrument or with the voice, without prior knowledge. In addition to interpreting, they can also to compose pieces musicals.
- Ability for the plastic arts: Some Savants have a great capacity for art in its different forms: drawing, painting, sculpture, among others. The characteristics that stand out most in his works are creativity and detail.
- Mathematical ability: These are the most common but also the most spectacular skills. Savants with high capacity for calculation and mathematics have an exceptional ability to solve calculations with great precision and speed.
All of these skills in which people with Savant syndrome tend to excel have in common that they are closed systems governed by formulas. Therefore, they can be carried out in a rigid and mechanical way, that is, without involving the emotional part.
Causes of Savant syndrome
What causes Savant syndrome? The causes of savant syndrome are diverse. In principle, savant people suffer from a developmental disorder, an autism spectrum disorder, or some type of brain damage in the left cerebral hemisphere.
There is still no general agreement as to the cause of Savant syndrome but there are different hypotheses. The main hypothesis is that damage to it causes the right hemisphere to have greater development to compensate for it.
In addition, many people with Savant syndrome, They also have Autism Spectrum Disorder.. One of the symptoms of ASD is having restricted interests, which may be the reason for developing a specific skill exceptionally.
Savant syndrome treatment
The main treatment that will be carried out with a person with Savant syndrome will not be for this syndrome itself, but rather directed at the cause or larger problem, which may be ASD or brain damage from multiple causes. Below we highlight the specific areas in which the treatment of savant syndrome is developed.
- Cognitive flexibility: In the case of ASD, those areas that the person is affected must be treated. Normally, cognitive rigidity, language alterations, affectation of the social area and behavioral patterns are treated. To do this, you need a plan personalized treatment which involves various health and education professionals.
- Behavioral learning: Regarding the psychological part, they are usually used that promote disappearance of maladaptive behaviors and the incorporation of adaptive behaviors, as well as learning a communication system and training in social skills.
- Cognitive stimulation: In case of brain damage, cognitive stimulation is usually used to maintain and improve the affected functions.
- Skill development: a can be made stimulation of skills in which they stand out so that they develop them to the maximum of their potential. You can also use the Savant’s exceptional ability to improve other capabilities in those that present more problems, such as the social area.
- Improved quality of life: Once the main topic is addressed, the most important goal of intervention for Savant syndrome is to improve your quality of life.
Differential diagnosis of Savant syndrome
Let’s look at the differences between wise man syndrome and other syndromes with which it shares symptoms.
Savant syndrome and autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which is the current term, consists of a neurobiological developmental disorder that begins to occur in childhood and lasts throughout life. The most characteristic symptoms are deficits in the social area and behavioral abnormalities. The relationship that ASD has with Savant syndrome is that the latter occurs, in most cases, in the context of the former.
Savant and Asperger syndrome
He Asperger syndrome It is currently included within ASD, therefore, the same thing happens as with autism. The relationship that Asperger syndrome has with Savant syndrome is that the latter occurs, in most cases, in the context of the former.
Savant syndrome and Rett syndrome
He Rett syndrome it’s a developmental neurobiological disorder which has a clear genetic basis and is associated with the X chromosome, therefore, it mainly affects girls. The main symptoms of Rett syndrome are psychomotor impairment, stereotypies and involvement of the social area with severe language impairment and lack of interest in social interactions.
For all these reasons, the differences between Savant syndrome and Rett syndrome are many, but the main one is that Rett syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes multiple disabilitieswhile Savant syndrome is a manifestation that can occur due to previous conditions.
If you want to obtain more information of this type, consult our post.
Examples of Savant syndrome
Now that we have seen what Savant syndrome consists of, we will show you some examples of it:
Stephen Wiltshire
Stephen Wiltshire is a British artist diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Wiltshire is known worldwide and stands out for its great ability to reproduce landscapes you have only seen once in a precise and detailed manner. Wiltshire is an example of Savant syndrome.
The good doctor
Shaun Murphy, the protagonist of the series “The good doctor”, is a young resident surgeon who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. Shaun has special medical skills and an extraordinary memory that allows him perform the most complex medical diagnoses. Shaun from the series “The Good Doctor” is also an example of Savant syndrome.
Savant syndrome test
If you are wondering “How do I know if I have Savant syndrome?”, the best known and most used test to measure intellectual ability is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (WAIS). If this test is administered to a Savant, a score would come out that indicates an IQ much lower than the person’s real coefficient, the result would be non-assessable.
The cause of this mismatch lies in the nature of the test statements, that is, understanding the instructions of the different tests involves interpreting linguistic information. Therefore, the poor performance in the different tests is due to their disability in verbal skills. To really measure any capability in a Savant it has to be a proof that linguistic ability does not interfere.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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References
- American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Pan-American Medical Publishing House, 2014.
Bibliography
- Etchepareborda, MC, Díaz-Lucero, A., Pascuale, MJ, Abad-Mas, L., & Ruiz-Andrés, R. (2007)….