Might there be a little Rain Man in each of us?
The idea that some savant capabilities â a little Rain Man â might reside in each of us rises from several observations. First, there have been instances reported of previously non-disabled, "normal" persons in whom some previously latent savant skills emerged following a head injury, a phenomenon called "acquired" savant syndrome. Second, Dr. Bruce Miller's work, as described in detail elsewhere on this site, documents 12 cases of elderly persons, previously non-disabled, with no extraordinary savant skills, whose savant abilities newly emerged, sometimes at a prodigious level, after a particular type of dementia-fronto-temporal dementia-began and progressed. Thirdly, some procedures such as hypnosis or sodium amytal interviews in non-disabled persons, and brain surface electrode exploration during certain types of neurosurgical procedures, provide evidence that a huge reservoir of memories lies dormant, and non-accessed, in each of us. Fourth, the images and memories that surface, often to our surprise, during some dreams , also tap that huge store of buried memories beyond that available in our everyday waking state. Finally, often as we relax or 'tune out' other distractions, sometime after 'retirement' for example, some previously hidden, latent interests, talents or abilities quite suddenly, and surprisingly, emerge. Sometimes that emergence is actually a re-kindling of some earlier childhood abilities, such as art, for whatever reason set aside with maturation and 'growing up'.
There are several theories as to why that might be the case. My own view, described in much greater detail here on this site under this same question, is that while each of us still has the same lower level memory circuitry the savant uses (non-cognitive, habit or procedural memory) we have come generally to rely on our higher level, broader and more versatile cognitive or semantic memory circuits because that particular memory function serves us well, and better. Correspondingly, while each of us have as well many right brain capabilities (non-symbolic, artistic, concrete, directly perceived) we live in a world that rewards left brain strengths (sequential, logical, and symbolic including language specialization). Thus we have generally come to rely on the well-worn circuits of left brain function + semantic memory, to the exclusion or relative disuse of right brain function + habit memory. But when those well worn circuits are disturbed by head injury or CNS disease, for example, the more primitive, lower level circuits of right brain/habit memory do come to the fore. Some refer to that in brain injury and disease as a compensatory phenomenon called "paradoxical facilitation". But is actual brain injury or disease necessary in order to tap some of that buried potential, or might there be other methods short of injury or disease itself to bring us in touch with more buried skills and memory function? Could specific cognitive techniques or other procedures facilitate such a process in all of us? Some investigators are using large magnetic circuits (rTMS) to temporarily disable brain function in certain areas in non-disabled persons to see if these more primitive, buried circuits can emerge in 'normal' persons. That work is described as well in much more detail elsewhere on this web site.
The search for hidden potential that lies, perhaps, within each of us is an intriguing area of research and savant research may provide some clues to that interesting possibility, as well as providing some useful insights to the interface between savant functioning and genius overall.
