Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

By: Jean Luc M.

1. Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.

I believe that a Savant syndrome is a syndrome born with, which gives the individual physical and mental abilities superior from the normal people. Usually, scientist will infer that this people have received their power and abilities from a shot down from their left side of their brain, and this activates completely the rights side. 

http://www.mrsonnier.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Stephen-Wiltshire-Autistic-Artist-4.jpg

2. What does genius mean?  Explain the difference between genius and savant.

Genius is someone who has become, or has natural ideas and has become the way he is by the time in which he has constantly done some stuff. While the Savant is a person who is born with the special abilities which make him spark in between the normal people.

3. What is a stroke and how could it affect your mental functioning?

A stroke is a block in the veins conducting to the head which are product of a lack of blood to the brain. How could this affect the mind?  Well I believe that it specifically affects the mind in the mechanical and the logical thinking sides. Why? Easy, because there is no blood running to the part of the brain that needs it. Their actions slow, and the mind changes.

4. What is a functional MRI and how does it help us understand brain activity?

An MRI is a test done by doctors to evaluate the condition in which the brain is. It helps us understand brain activities while the doctors show a series of item to the person, and the computers show the place in the brain which the sensors have been activated; So it gives in depth detail of who where the brain activity is exactly when an action or thing is presented to the humans. 

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2003/mri_press1.jpg 

5. What is the corpus callosum and what role does it play in your brain's activity?

The corpus callosum (Latin: tough body), also known as the colossal commissural, is a wide, flat bundle of neural fibers beneath the cortex in the eutherian brain at the longitudinal fissure. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates inter-hemispheric communication. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_callosum) It is important to the brain activity because it gives the brain the ideas and its where both the right and left hemispheres unite. I mean it’s where the ideas are organized from both sides of the brain.

6. What is epilepsy and how might it affect your brain's abilities?

Epilepsy is a syndrome suffered by people which have problems with their nervous systems. This concludes into losing track of time, and many other psychological effects. It affects the brain in the way in which you stop thinking rationally, and the body goes crazy. As for instance they body shakes and shakes and the brain too, as the brain is nervous. 

http://healthkut.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/epilepsy-recovery.jpg

7. What is autism?

Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?

It’s when a kid or child has problems with anxiety, and doesn’t know how to conclude very well. It is really difficult to the people who behold this sickness to conclude very well, as they are giving simple instructions and signs. 

Synesthesia

Synesthesia

By: Jean Luc M. 

We recently learned about a rare condition called "synesthesia".  Using internet research, explain each of the terms below:

1. Synesthesia:

Synesthesia is an involuntary joining in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense. In addition to being involuntary, this additional perception is regarded by the synesthete as real, often outside the body, instead of imagined in the mind's eye. It also has some other interesting features that clearly separate it from artistic fancy or purple prose. (http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/)

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/synesthesia-3.jpg

2. grapheme-color synesthesia

Grapheme → color synesthesia is a form of synesthesia in which an individual's perception of numbers and letters is associated with the experience of colors. Like all forms of synesthesia, grapheme →color synesthesia is involuntary, consistent, and memorable. Grapheme → color synesthesia is one of the most common forms of synesthesia, and because of the extensive knowledge of the visual system, one of the most studied. (http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Grapheme-color_synesthesia)

http://www.evsc.net/v8/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/synabc.jpg

3. ordinal-linguistic personification  

I found it quite similar to what I did and went to research it. I found out that for me, it’s Ordinal Linguistic Personification (OLP). I associate words, letters or numbers with a personality. It’s a rare form of synesthesia and thus lesser studied(http://theparfaitprincey.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/ordinal-linguistic-personification/) 

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/sf/1016_syn01.jpg

4. number-form synesthesia

A number form is a mental map of numbers, which automatically and involuntarily appears whenever someone who experiences number-forms thinks of numbers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_form)

http://annarosekerr.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/synesthesia-alphabet1.jpg

5. sound-color synesthesia

In sound–>colour synesthesia, individuals experience colours as a response to music/sounds. Sound–>colour synesthesia can be further broken down into two categories, “Narrow band” and “Broad band” sound->colour synesthesia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia)

http://www.bluecatsandchartreusekittens.com/voorkantomslag.jpg

6. lexical-gustatory synesthesia

Lexical → gustatory synesthesia is one of the rarer forms of synesthesia, in which spoken or written words evoke vivid sensations of taste, sometimes including temperature and texture. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical-gustatory_synesthesia) 

http://media.mlive.com/grpress/news_impact/photo/mackenzie-young-grapheme-color-synesthesia-3acb163c34a8bf31_large.jpg