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What does savants mean?
Savantism is a condition that occurs primarily in people with developmental disorders, mental retardation, or brain damage. A savant has an extraordinary ability in some area that contrasts greatly with the person's normal level of ability, such as being able to remember everything he or she has read or to make incredibly quick mathematical calculations in his or her head. Approximately half of the occurences of savantism are in people with autism spectrum disorders, although most people with an autism spectrum disorder do not also have savantism. A small number of people with savantism do not seem to have developmental disorders, mental retardation, or brain damage.
What are savant sisters?
Flo and Kay Lyman are identical twin autistic savant sisters. They have both autism and savantism. As is typical of savants, they have incredible memories.
What are savant?
Flo and Kay Lyman are identical twin autistic savant sisters. They have both autism and savantism. As is typical of savants, they have incredible memories.
How do you become a savant?
well, of all the videos and documentarys ive seen, you could say.... you have to lower your IQ in order to become more intelligent or savant you might say.... then have some sort of accident and have brain damage that increase your brain in some areas you don't and we don't use.... so thar injure, actuallly help your brain to be more smart.... GV ******* Answer #2********* You can't BECOME a savant intentionally. Research has shown that the difference between a savant's brain and an average person's brain is the left anterior temporal lobe. A scientist called Allan Snyder became intrigued with the ability shown by savants and posed the question that if these select few human beings could realize so much potential, is it possible that other, ordinary humans are also capable of such feats? He has worked with numerous savants and performed numerous tests. He has found a test that actually induces savant-esque qualities in ordinary humans. I don't know much about it but I do know that the effects were fleeting. If you want to find out more, Google "Allan Snyder" and I'm sure you'll find something. *********************** Answer #3 Though this is not true savantism, you can train your mind to think of everything in math visually. Instead of thinking of one fourth as needing four of those to make a whole, actually imagine a 3-d object floating in space-time, and imagine empty space which represents the four of those objects to make a whole.
What are the characteristic of autism?
Autism is a neurological condition, which means one feature of autism is a brain that is a little different than the brain of a person who does not have autism. Other features of autism are:impairment in social interactions, including inability to make friendsimpairment in or atypical use of languagerestricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (some of which are referred to as stimming)preoccupation with special interests which can involve memorizing every fact they can find about a topic (and can be parts of things such as tires instead of vehicles)difficulty understanding and using nonverbal languageinsistence on specific routines or rituals, becoming stressed when they are disruptedoften sensory integration disorderoften retardation, but greater occurrence of savantism than in those without autismlack of imagination, at least in early yearsThere are more features of autism, but these are common ones.
The difference between artificial neural network and human neural network?
Difference # 1: Brains are analogue; computers are digitalIt's easy to think that neurons are essentially binary, given that they fire an action potential if they reach a certain threshold, and otherwise do not fire. This superficial similarity to digital "1′s and 0′s" belies a wide variety of continuous and non-linear processes that directly influence neuronal processing.For example, one of the primary mechanisms of information transmission appears to be the rateat which neurons fire - an essentially continuous variable. Similarly, networks of neurons can fire in relative synchrony or in relative disarray; this coherence affects the strength of the signals received by downstream neurons. Finally, inside each and every neuron is a leaky integrator circuit, composed of a variety of ion channels and continuously fluctuating membrane potentials.Failure to recognize these important subtleties may have contributed to Minksy & Papert's infamous mischaracterization of perceptrons, a neural network without an intermediate layer between input and output. In linear networks, any function computed by a 3-layer network can also be computed by a suitably rearranged 2-layer network. In other words, combinations of multiple linear functions can be modeled precisely by just a single linear function. Since their simple 2-layer networks could not solve many important problems, Minksy & Papert reasoned that that larger networks also could not. In contrast, the computations performed by more realistic (i.e., nonlinear) networks are highly dependent on the number of layers - thus, "perceptrons" grossly underestimate the computational power of neural networks.Difference # 2: The brain uses content-addressable memoryIn computers, information in memory is accessed by polling its precise memory address. This is known as byte-addressable memory. In contrast, the brain uses content-addressable memory, such that information can be accessed in memory through "spreading activation" from closely related concepts. For example, thinking of the word "fox" may automatically spread activation to memories related to other clever animals, fox-hunting horseback riders, or attractive members of the opposite sex.The end result is that your brain has a kind of "built-in Google," in which just a few cues (key words) are enough to cause a full memory to be retrieved. Of course, similar things can be done in computers, mostly by building massive indices of stored data, which then also need to be stored and searched through for the relevant information (incidentally, this is pretty much what Google does, with a few twists).Although this may seem like a rather minor difference between computers and brains, it has profound effects on neural computation. For example, a lasting debate in cognitive psychology concerned whether information is lost from memory because of simply decay or because of interference from other information. In retrospect, this debate is partially based on the false asssumption that these two possibilities are dissociable, as they can be in computers. Many are now realizing that this debate represents a false dichotomy.Difference # 3: The brain is a massively parallel machine; computers are modular and serialAn unfortunate legacy of the brain-computer metaphor is the tendency for cognitive psychologists to seek out modularity in the brain. For example, the idea that computers require memory has lead some to seek for the "memory area," when in fact these distinctions are far more messy. One consequence of this over-simplification is that we are only now learning that "memory" regions (such as the hippocampus) are also important for imagination, therepresentation of novel goals, spatial navigation, and other diverse functions.Similarly, one could imagine there being a "language module" in the brain, as there might be in computers with natural language processing programs. Cognitive psychologists even claimed to have found this module, based on patients with damage to a region of the brain known as Broca's area. More recent evidence has shown that language too is computed by widely distributed and domain-general neural circuits, and Broca's area may also be involved in other computations (see here for more on this).Difference # 4: Processing speed is not fixed in the brain; there is no system clockThe speed of neural information processing is subject to a variety of constraints, including the time for electrochemical signals to traverse axons and dendrites, axonal myelination, the diffusion time of neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft, differences in synaptic efficacy, the coherence of neural firing, the current availability of neurotransmitters, and the prior history of neuronal firing. Although there are individual differences in something psychometricians call "processing speed," this does not reflect a monolithic or unitary construct, and certainly nothing as concrete as the speed of a microprocessor. Instead, psychometric "processing speed" probably indexes a heterogenous combination of all the speed constraints mentioned above.Similarly, there does not appear to be any central clock in the brain, and there is debate as to how clock-like the brain's time-keeping devices actually are. To use just one example, the cerebellum is often thought to calculate information involving precise timing, as required for delicate motor movements; however, recent evidence suggests that time-keeping in the brain bears more similarity to ripples on a pond than to a standard digital clock.Difference # 5 - Short-term memory is not like RAMAlthough the apparent similarities between RAM and short-term or "working" memory emboldened many early cognitive psychologists, a closer examination reveals strikingly important differences. Although RAM and short-term memory both seem to require power (sustained neuronal firing in the case of short-term memory, and electricity in the case of RAM), short-term memory seems to hold only "pointers" to long term memory whereas RAM holds data that is isomorphic to that being held on the hard disk. (See here for more about "attentional pointers" in short term memory).Unlike RAM, the capacity limit of short-term memory is not fixed; the capacity of short-term memory seems to fluctuate with differences in "processing speed" (see Difference #4) as well as with expertise and familiarity.Difference # 6: No hardware/software distinction can be made with respect to the brain or mindFor years it was tempting to imagine that the brain was the hardware on which a "mind program" or "mind software" is executing. This gave rise to a variety of abstract program-like models of cognition, in which the details of how the brain actually executed those programs was considered irrelevant, in the same way that a Java program can accomplish the same function as a C++ program.Unfortunately, this appealing hardware/software distinction obscures an important fact: the mind emerges directly from the brain, and changes in the mind are always accompanied by changes in the brain. Any abstract information processing account of cognition will always need to specify how neuronal architecture can implement those processes - otherwise, cognitive modeling is grossly underconstrained. Some blame this misunderstanding for the infamous failure of "symbolic AI."Difference # 7: Synapses are far more complex than electrical logic gatesAnother pernicious feature of the brain-computer metaphor is that it seems to suggest that brains might also operate on the basis of electrical signals (action potentials) traveling along individual logical gates. Unfortunately, this is only half true. The signals which are propagated along axons are actually electrochemical in nature, meaning that they travel much more slowly than electrical signals in a computer, and that they can be modulated in myriad ways. For example, signal transmission is dependent not only on the putative "logical gates" of synaptic architecture but also by the presence of a variety of chemicals in the synaptic cleft, the relative distance between synapse and dendrites, and many other factors. This adds to the complexity of the processing taking place at each synapse - and it is therefore profoundly wrong to think that neurons function merely as transistors.Difference #8: Unlike computers, processing and memory are performed by the same components in the brainComputers process information from memory using CPUs, and then write the results of that processing back to memory. No such distinction exists in the brain. As neurons process information they are also modifying their synapses - which are themselves the substrate of memory. As a result, retrieval from memory always slightly alters those memories (usually making them stronger, but sometimes making them less accurate - see here for more on this).Difference # 9: The brain is a self-organizing systemThis point follows naturally from the previous point - experience profoundly and directly shapes the nature of neural information processing in a way that simply does not happen in traditional microprocessors. For example, the brain is a self-repairing circuit - something known as "trauma-induced plasticity" kicks in after injury. This can lead to a variety of interesting changes, including some that seem to unlock unused potential in the brain (known as acquired savantism), and others that can result in profound cognitive dysfunction (as is unfortunately far more typical in traumatic brain injury and developmental disorders).One consequence of failing to recognize this difference has been in the field of neuropsychology, where the cognitive performance of brain-damaged patients is examined to determine the computational function of the damaged region. Unfortunately, because of the poorly-understood nature of trauma-induced plasticity, the logic cannot be so straightforward. Similar problems underlie work on developmental disorders and the emerging field of "cognitive genetics", in which the consequences of neural self-organization are frequently neglected .Difference # 10: Brains have bodiesThis is not as trivial as it might seem: it turns out that the brain takes surprising advantage of the fact that it has a body at its disposal. For example, despite your intuitive feeling that you could close your eyes and know the locations of objects around you, a series of experiments in the field of change blindness has shown that our visual memories are actually quite sparse. In this case, the brain is "offloading" its memory requirements to the environment in which it exists: why bother remembering the location of objects when a quick glance will suffice? A surprising set ofexperiments by Jeremy Wolfe has shown that even after being asked hundreds of times which simple geometrical shapes are displayed on a computer screen, human subjects continue to answer those questions by gaze rather than rote memory. A wide variety of evidence from other domains suggests that we are only beginning to understand the importance of embodiment in information processing.Bonus Difference: The brain is much, much bigger than any [current] computerAccurate biological models of the brain would have to include some 225,000,000,000,000,000 (225 million billion) interactions between cell types, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, axonal branches and dendritic spines, and that doesn't include the influences of dendritic geometry, or the approximately 1 trillion glial cells which may or may not be important for neural information processing. Because the brain is nonlinear, and because it is so much larger than all current computers, it seems likely that it functions in a completely different fashion. (See here for more on this.) The brain-computer metaphor obscures this important, though perhaps obvious, difference in raw computational power.
What are the symptoms of Asperger's in kids?
Asperger's Syndrome (AS) has many characteristics in common with autism and is thus viewed as a variant of it. It is a neurological condition. If a person has an IQ under 70, it is typically labeled as autism. If a person has average or above average IQ, it is typically labeled as AS. Asperger's Syndrome is also known as high-functioning autism, although there is some disagreement about whether they truly are the same. Some people describe AS as a mild version of autism, but actually it is just as severe. (The conditions are similar but have differences, and both autism and AS can range from mild to severe.) One difference is that the people with Asperger's Syndrome have better language abilities and typically have higher intelligence; thus, they might be more able to compensate to function in society.Here is a list of some of the possible signs or symptoms in those who have AS (many of which are also common to autism), compiled from several sources. No person with AS has all these traits, and they do not have them at the same levels. Some traits are opposites, but stem from the same underlying issue. Although neuro-typical people (ones without an autism spectrum disorder) might experience some of these characteristics, the problems are usually tenfold to a hundredfold worse for the person with AS or autism. These characteristics are based on observation of males with AS; it is thought that females could exhibit AS in different ways because they might react to the same difficulty in a different manner. In adults, some of these traits only occur in specific situations or when under stress. Compensating for some traits and learning ways to do some things can be accomplished with explicit instructions. Some of these characteristics usually occur only in children because adults have learned to compensate through trial and error or observation of other people. Some of these characteristics are comparisons to the development of neuro-typical children.Social interactions- seems content when left alone- does not understand social cues and thus might act inappropriately, appearing rude, uncaring, and tactless- might be able to function in one-to-one interactions but not with multiple people- has strong sense of loyalty; very loyal to friends- has strong sense of social justice; tends to defend others and causes- achieves social success by intellectual analysis rather than intuition- often has a sense of humor as an adult that is not frequently understood by others, often a very dry sense of humor- might or might not desire friendships; most seem to desire friendships but the stress involved makes them decide it is not worth itChild development:- does not play turn-taking games- is more likely to play by him- or herself, or next to other children, than with them- uses adult's hand as a tool- does not interact socially with same age group; indifference to peer contacts; difficulties interacting with peersVerbal communication- rarely initiates communication; might speak only when discussing favorite subjects (special interests)- when trying to participate in conversations, it might seem odd or awkward; does not know how to keep a conversation going- understands and uses words literally, resulting in misinterpretations; might not understand idiomatic expressions and metaphors; might not pick up double meanings; might not understand subtle satire and irony; might not understand when exaggeration is being used; is often the last person to understand the point of a joke- discusses objects and facts, not feelings- might sound overly formal or excessively technical; pedantic; includes too much detail- is more comfortable writing than speaking; more comfortable in situations where body language is not an issue, such as in the dark or back-to-backChild development:- fails to imitate actions or sounds- might have echolalia - repeats or echoes words and phrases just heard- might have delayed language acquisition; might have precocious language acquisitionNonverbal communication- eye contact is limited/fleeting, staring, or otherwise seems atypical; might make appropriate eye contact when talking but look away when listening or processing an answer; more likely to look at mouth than eyes- has atypical body language; does not accurately express intents, thoughts, and feelings via nonverbal language- might not use gestures; gestures might seem stilted or clumsy; gestures might be exaggeratedChild development:- has a deficit in joint attention; does not point at object to share interest and does not realize that gaze should be directed where other person is pointingRelating to surroundings (including change)- is upset by or resists changes; inflexible; desires predictability; should be warned about changes to environment and routines- develops rigid routines; prefers to know rules for all situations; seemingly simple activities that are not part of the routine, such as going out to eat, can be extraordinarily stressful- might be reluctant to enter unknown places or visit friends' homes because of not knowing the "rules" for that place- has a tendency to collect objects or information / facts- tends to notice patterns; tends to notice license plates numbers; often notices details that other people do not- might refuse to eat foods that are touching other foods on the plateChild development:- play is repetitiveResponses to sensory stimuli- usually has sensory integration disorder - unusual perception of sensory input, sensory processing abnormalities- might be oversensitive to sound, hearing sounds most people do not or panicking at certain sounds, or undersensitive to sound, appearing deaf at times- might be oversensitive to sight, preferring dimly lit rooms or certain colors, or undersensitive to sight, desiring lots of colors and interested in flashing lights- might be oversensitive or undersensitive to taste, preferring either extra spicy or very bland foods, or preferring sourness such as lemon slices- might be oversensitive or undersensitive to touch; might become very stressed by light touches, but less stressed by firm ones; might feel calmer in Temple Grandin's "hugging machine"- might be oversensitive or undersensitive to smell- might be under or oversensitive to balance (vestibular stimulation); might frequently twirl or might easily become dizzy- might have proprioceptive dysfunction - insufficient processing of information from muscles and joints so is unaware of where body is in space; might hit, kick, or bang head against objects intentionally to gain awareness of where one's body parts are in space; might watch one's feet or hands to be aware of where they are- might prefer to wear the same clothing day after day (because of how it feels, as well as preferring the same routines)- might prefer to sleep under many blankets for the pressure of the weight or similarly to wear heavy clothes for the comforting pressure- might be oversensitive or undersensitive to pain- is often very inactive or very activeChild development:- plays with light and reflections- flicks fingers before eyesMotor clumsiness- has a lack of coordination in physical activities; cannot synchronize leg and arm movement; might be described as clumsy or accident-prone- might have problems with both fine and gross motor control; might have fine motor control but not gross motor control or vice versaChild development:- is behind age group performance on neurodevelopmental examinationSpecial interests- are all-absorbing, narrow interests done to the exclusion of other activities, done with repetitive adherence, or done with more rote than meaning (as a child)- often include a fascination with facts or numbers, science, or something related to transportation- often involve a couple lifelong primary special interests; might include short-term, but very intense, secondary special interests; might acquire more primary interests over time so adults might have 4 or more- are calming and reduce stress (as opposed to an obsession), but might give appearance of obsessive-compulsive disorderThinking and memory- has excellent long-term memory for facts and routines; often have an excellent memory for dialogue- might have difficulty with short-term memory- is logical and detail-oriented; easily able to identify errors- can focus on tasks intensely; persistent; difficulty leaving tasks unfinished- often has poor imagination as a young child; might have extraordinary imaginative abilities as a teenager and adultBrain differences- the amygdala (the brain's social and emotional control center) is enlarged during early childhood and then shrinks; resulting in an amygdala that appears the same as the amygdala in children who were subjected to physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect; a person with a "damaged" amygdala might sense danger when there is none- researchers believe that children with autism related disorders suffer chronic stress from fear of people that results in the atypical development of the amygdalaChild development:- larger than normal head circumference is commonOther characteristics- often only minimally affected by peer pressure, so does what is comfortable for him or her; or, tries to fit in by doing anything peers suggest without realizing peers' true intentions- has an aversion to being interrupted; compulsion for completion- is often very spiritual, but not necessarily religious- is a perfectionist- has an impaired fight or flight response - possibly because fight or flight is already activate in almost all situations; often does not recognize dangerous situations- has difficulty making friends; often might misinterpret kindness as friendship; might never form long-term intimate relationships due to lack of social skills and ability; might invent imaginary friends, worlds, or scenarios due to social difficulties- unusual attachment to objects; is attached to one particular object; might be preoccupied with parts of objects- might be especially sensitive to mind-affecting medicines, such as anti-anxiety and anti-depressant ones; might have atypical side effects from medicines, such as codeine causing insomnia- might have nicknames such as "little professor" and "encyclopedia" (more often male) or "little philosopher" (more often female)- the combination of misunderstandings due to taking words literally, possessiveness and intense loyalty to perceived friends, and socially odd or inappropriate behavior can make others feel as if they might be being stalked- often has family members with a smaller number of these traits or learning disabilities; has a genetic factor to autism related disorders which is probably then triggered by environmental factorsOther conditions that might occur with Asperger's Syndrome- might suffer anxiety disorder and panic attacks due to effects of Asperger's- might suffer depression and have suicidal tendencies due to effects of Asperger's- might suffer post-traumatic stress disorder due to victimization which is due to effects of Asperger's- might have prosopagnosia (face blindness) - difficulty with facial recognition- might have learning disabilities- might have dyspraxia, also known as sensory integration disorder (difficulty planning and performing complex movements such as drawing, writing, buttoning, or other fine motor skill tasks)- might have sleep problems- might have dietary intolerances, such as gluten, casein, or lactose intolerance; greater risk of immune system disorders related to digestion, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease; food allergies- might not process B6 vitamins efficiently; a study on children with autism showed that they seem to benefit from what are normally toxic doses of B6, but this is not something to try at home- might have chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation for years- other co-existing conditions include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), oppositional defiance disorder (ODD), antisocial personality disorder (APD or ASPD), and Tourette's Syndrome (TS) and other tic disorders- has a slightly greater incidence of epilepsy- has a greater incidence of tuberous sclerosis (benign tumors in the brain and other vital organs)- has 10 times greater incidence of savantism, often in the form of mental calculation or fast computer programming skillsSources include, among others:The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony AttwoodThe Oasis Guide to Asperger Syndrome: Advice, Support, Insights, and Inspiration by Patricia Romanowski Bashe and Barbara L. KirbyHandbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Volumes I and II, 3rd Edition edited by Fred R. VolkmarUnderstanding the Nature of Autism: A Guide to the Autism Spectrum, Second Edition by Janice E. JanzenAsperger's and Girls by Tony Attwood et. al.Asperger's Syndrome and Sensory Issues: Practical Solutions for Making Sense of the World by Brenda Smith Myles et. al.Asperger Syndrome & Your Child: A Parent's Guide by Michael D. Powers and Janet PolandMindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind by Simon Baron-Cohen
