Savant's Syndrome. What is it, famous people, how to get it, symptoms, signs

One of the most mysterious and rare diagnoses in traditional medicine is Savant's syndrome. Most often, this disease occurs in autistic or mentally retarded people who have impaired perception of the world around them.

It is difficult for a patient to understand what is happening around him, because of which he cannot normally serve himself in everyday life, as well as solve tasks familiar to a healthy person.

But people with Savant syndrome are endowed with various unique abilities. They may have amazing intellectual development or outstanding skills in any field of activity. In total, about 100 cases have been recorded in the world when people have been diagnosed with savantism.

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Savant syndrome is a rare mental disorder in which the patient has a well-developed specific ability. There are very few people with this diagnosis. With the opportunity of social adaptation, they get interesting jobs, and also inspire directors to shoot great films. A person's giftedness can manifest itself in different ways.

Specialists distinguish several types of the syndrome:

• A person may have a high ability to learn foreign languages ​​at a high level. Often such people become real polyglots.
• From an early age, a person can exhibit an incredible ability for complex mathematical calculations. In just a few seconds, he can voice the result of multiplying multi-digit numbers.
• Artistic inclinations. A person can quickly create original masterpieces, detailing a previously seen plot to the smallest detail.
• Phenomenal memory. Having looked only once at the diagram, or a photo, a person can depict what he saw with the highest accuracy.
• Modeling. People with savantism are excellent at making simple objects from scrap materials, and are also able to recreate the most complex small details.
• Mechanics. A person is able to determine the exact distance between two objects without using any measuring instruments.

The modern classification of diseases does not consider Savant's syndrome as a separate pathology. Psychiatrists tend to assume that savantism is accompanied by neurodevelopmental disorder. Science is not fully aware of the reason for the development of this mental deviation.

In medicine, there is a case when, after examining the patient's brain using MRI, it was revealed the absence of the corpus callosum, as well as other significant damage to the central nervous systems. At the same time, the person was blind from birth, had mental retardation, but played the piano brilliantly.

Stages and degrees

Savant syndrome is a mental disorder that has a genetic predisposition. The disease develops rapidly against the background of a mild degree of mental retardation or autism. But the clear reasons for the occurrence of this pathology are not fully known to science.

In isolated cases, the syndrome can develop as a result of a severe traumatic brain injury or various infectious and inflammatory diseases of the brain.

Most often, the disease is accompanied by various forms of mental retardation - autism, epilepsy, Down syndrome. The sooner parents begin to correct the development and behavior of their child, the higher the likelihood that in the future he will be able to adapt normally in society.

The initial stage of savantism accompanies a person from the first days of his life. Deviations in development are clearly visible from the age of 12. Modern technologies make it possible to identify pathology even in infancy.

In 95% of all cases, the syndrome develops with intrauterine fetal pathology. Most often, this mental disorder is diagnosed in men. Psychiatrists explain this by the fact that the testosterone produced has a suppressive effect on the development of the left hemisphere of the brain. With savantism, this phenomenon is pronounced.

Scientists are conducting laboratory research on the extent to which pathology affects the right hemisphere of the brain. Patients only develop 1 specific skill. For example, excellent memory, unique hearing, keen eyesight.

For a more thorough study of this disease, patients who have acquired savantism as a result of an illness or traumatic brain injury are of great value. It is difficult for such people to contact others.

In the presence of Savant's syndrome, patients are withdrawn in themselves, have a certain mental dysfunction. With this deviation, a person is characterized by stereotyped movements and serious speech disorders. Patients avoid touching others, avoid direct eye contact.

Symptoms

The signs of savantism can be easily confused with oligophrenia, Down's syndrome. For example, a person cannot serve himself in everyday life - he cannot dress and eat on his own.

People with Savant Syndrome find it difficult to shop and talk to a stranger. But with all these shortcomings, they are real geniuses in any business: they can exactly reproduce a previously heard musical composition, add combinations of numbers in your mind, retell a whole book.

The areas of knowledge in these patients are extremely limited. People have phenomenal memory, musical, artistic, mechanical or even mathematical talents, but they may not know their own name and date of birth. In rare cases, a person can have several amazing abilities at once.

Patients with savantism live in their fictional world. They are not very sociable, since it is difficult for them to construct a sentence and express their thoughts.

Together with Savant's syndrome, patients are most often diagnosed with the following diseases and conditions:

• Autism.
• Serious disturbances in the functioning of the brain.
• Mental and physical delays.
• Down Syndrome.
• Mental disorders.

If the condition is congenital, then unusual abilities will begin to manifest in early childhood. For example, Kim Peek, a patient with savantism, at the age of 2 could unmistakably memorize the text of a book that his parents read to him. At the age of 12, the boy graduated from school, as he was able to master the entire school curriculum without anyone's help.

Reasons for the appearance

The results of highly specialized studies in the field of studying the work of the brain have shown that in savantism, the activity the right hemisphere significantly exceeds the indicators of the left hemisphere, due to which a specific functional deficit.

The following factors influence the development of the syndrome:

• The presence of blood relatives with autistic diseases.
• At the time of the conception of the child, the mother was over 45 years old.
• Various congenital malformations.
• Premature birth of a child.
• Poor ecology, due to which, even in the womb, the child experienced a lack of vitamin D.
• Immediately after the birth of the child, doctors were forced to carry out mandatory resuscitation measures.
• The weight of the newborn is significantly less than the norm.

Only 5% of all cases of Savant's syndrome are diagnosed in women. Psychiatrists attribute this to the fact that the male body actively produces testosterone, which is able to suppress the synthesis of the hormone oxytocin, which affects the social adaptation of the individual.

In the scientific community, there is a theory that the development of pathology is associated with viral diseases. Under the influence of unfavorable factors, the infectious agent enters the child's body and, after entering the brain, provokes a cell mutation.

Diagnostics

Savant's syndrome is a complex pathology, which is why it is important to timely identify concomitant lesions of the human psyche. A psychiatrist can make a diagnosis only after conducting a number of different tests, which are developed according to a special scheme.

Additionally, modern diagnostic techniques are used, as this allows you to visually see the structures of the brain. For example, MRI and CT. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the average cost of these procedures varies between 4900-5700 rubles.

Clinical diagnosis of the syndrome is based on the following indicators:

• Results of MRI, CT.
• Age and gender of the patient.
• Encephalogram results.
• Family history of the patient.
• The results of the laboratory tests.

Psychiatrists use special tests, thanks to which it is possible to determine the level of general intellectual development and empathy of the patient. Practice shows that magnetic resonance imaging is most effective.

The patient should be examined by a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist. Specialists must conduct a conversation and collect anamnesis.

If there is a suspicion of savantism, the parents or other relatives of the patient should provide information about the degree of his intellectual development, the level of preparation for solving everyday problems. The following tests and tests are used to determine an accurate diagnosis.

Diagnostic procedure name	Description
Special samples	Depending on the patient's talents, the doctor offers him to perform several relevant tasks. For example, reading and memorizing a book, solving complex arithmetic equations and problems, playing musical instruments, a graphic representation of the picture seen.
Raven's test	The psychiatrist determines the level of intelligence without taking into account the patient's speech development. In people with savantism, the results of this test are almost always high (with autism, the average is much higher than that of a completely healthy person).
Wechsler test	This diagnostic method includes 12 different subtests that measure non-verbal and verbal intellectual abilities. With savantism, a significant decrease in indicators is recorded in relation to those tasks that are associated with speech development. The fastest way for such patients to cope with the subtest "Koos cubes".

Differential diagnostics was in great demand. This method allows you to exclude diseases that are unsuitable for symptoms or some other factor. As a result, only one probable pathology remains. To carry out modern differential diagnostics, special computer programs are used.

When should you see a doctor?

Parents should bring their child to an appointment with a specialist in early childhood, so that, thanks to correctional activities, it is possible to increase the likelihood of his adaptation in society. Otherwise, precious time will be wasted. You need to contact a psychiatrist, since it is this doctor who diagnoses and treats various mental disorders.

Even with the use of modern technologies, doctors and scientists cannot finally determine why children develop savantism. There are only guesses and some hypotheses. Numerous studies confirm that some parts of the brain are enlarged in these patients.

Effective treatment is based on adaptation measures that prepare patients for the world around them and society. To achieve the maximum therapeutic effect, all conditions must be created for the gradual development of a person's genius abilities.

Prophylaxis

Today, there are no effective ways to prevent the development of Savant's syndrome, since science does not know the exact causes of this mental disorder. Gynecologists recommend undergoing a full examination before planning a child.

It is necessary to give up alcoholic beverages and nicotine, as well as adhere to proper nutrition. During gestation, it is necessary to regularly visit a gynecologist in order to reduce the risk of premature birth and in the early stages to determine possible anomalies in the development of the fetus.

Treatment methods

Effective treatment of people with savantism is based on their adaptation to society, improving their physical and emotional state, and acquiring skills that will be useful to them for independent living.

Only in severe cases may expensive drug therapy be required. Any extraordinary abilities that have been found in a child with mental disabilities require increased attention.

Hard pedagogical influence on such patients in 97% of cases ends with the loss of phenomenal abilities. Only with the daily support of a child's giftedness can one significantly improve physical data and communication skills with others, as well as develop new talents.

Drawing and reading fairy tales are most effective in working with such patients. The child is included in the process, due to which his speech and motor functions are improved, which makes it possible to reduce the severity of mental deviation.

Modern medicine identifies several ways to improve the condition of patients with savantism:

• Professional help in human socialization. You need to start this process as early as possible, since a positive effect can be achieved thanks to the actions that were performed before the patient comes of age.
• The question of the need to educate such a child in a regular school cannot be answered unequivocally. Social adaptation can be significantly accelerated, but due to the lack of an individual approach and possible conflicts with classmates, there is a high risk of losing unique abilities.
• Use of medicines. In laboratory conditions, it has been proven that the regular use of medications, in the composition which contains the hormone oxytocin, helps to significantly improve the condition of patients with savantism and autism.
• Complex treatment of pathologies that influenced the development of the syndrome.

At the first sign of savantism, parents should bring the child to a child psychiatrist. First of all, the specialist will prescribe a comprehensive examination, consisting of brain tomography, IQ measurements, MRI and the study of family diseases.

Medications

Savant's syndrome is a pathological condition in which a person with a profound mental disability can demonstrate outstanding abilities in any field of activity.

There is no special drug therapy to effectively combat savantism. The use of medicines is appropriate only if the patient's condition is gradually deteriorating, and he acutely perceives contact with others.

Combined drug therapy is individual in all cases. The use of drugs is indicated only in the presence of concomitant pathologies. For example, depression, epilepsy, insomnia. To improve the patient's well-being, psychiatrists can prescribe antipsychotics, psychostimulants, as well as vitamin complexes.

Other methods

Savant syndrome is a rare mental disorder that does not pose a threat, but when combined with other developmental disabilities can negatively affect the patient's cognitive abilities. Even with the use of the most expensive procedures, it is impossible to get rid of this disease.

Timely correction of behavior by a psychiatrist, psychologist allows you to achieve good results. Qualified psychological help helps a person with savantism feel confident among strangers, find contact with them and take their place in society.

A positive result can be achieved through the use of psychotherapy. Experts recommend group therapy for those patients who have the same health problems. If the methods of treatment were selected correctly, then the patient's psycho-emotional state will improve, he will become more sociable and open.

Therapy will be successful with the attentive attitude of the psychiatrist to his patient. People with Savant's syndrome should receive qualified help from an early age, since in this case they have every chance of becoming in-demand specialists in a particular field of activity.

Speech development classes, regular listening to soothing classical music, art therapy, and playing musical instruments. To combat pronounced motor dysfunction, regular massage and physiotherapy exercises are indicated.

Possible complications

True genius in people with savantism most often coexists with various mental illnesses on the autism spectrum, which are characterized by certain communication difficulties. As a child grows up, depression may develop, which is associated with problems of self-realization and feelings of loneliness.

Psychiatrists note that a person is most often oppressed by the inability to fully integrate into society and find contact with people around him. Various scientific papers have recorded that patients with savantism are prone to suicidal thoughts.

By itself, Savant's syndrome does not pose a danger to humans. But this disease is combined with other mental disorders that negatively affect the patient's cognitive abilities. It is necessary to surround such a person with care and support so that he does not feel loneliness and detachment. Only then will the savant patient live a long and interesting life.

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