Marianne Psychology: Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant, and Autism

Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.

Savant Syndrome is a condition in which a person has prodigious intellectual gifts in a specific area. These can vary from music, to art, to mathematics, and mechanical abilities. Individuals suffering from Savant Syndrome have expertise in a certain, while they extremely lack social skills and abilities beyond their area of expertise.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282018/savant-syndrome

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

A genius can be defined as a person with extreme intellectual capability beyond the ones of the majority of people. Geniuses apply skills in all areas, ranging from simply knowledge all the way to creativity. The difference between genius and savant is basically that geniuses do not lack social skills, while savants do.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Genius

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

A stroke occurs when blood supply is not reaching the brain, causing cells to die. This may happen through the blockage of an artery or the rupture of an artery. Since strokes cause cells in the brain to die, this could affect mental functioning in a negative way. This could affect a persons thinking and reasoning skills as well as their performance skills.

http://www.medicinenet.com/stroke/article.htm

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

A functional magnetic resonance imaging is a specialized MRI that measures hemodynamic response in the brain or spinal cord. This machine aids in the understanding of brain activity, for it measures the blood flow in the brain, or where more activity is happening in the brain when a certain function is being done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_magnetic_resonance_imaging

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

The corpus callosum is the arched bridge of nervous tissue underneath the cortex the brain. It connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain, allowing communication between them to occur.

http://www.answers.com/topic/corpus-callosum

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

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures when wrong signals are sent out by the brain. This type of disorder can have both negative and positive effects, for example by making your rain work slower, or also enhancing abilities on certain areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy#Pathophysiology
7. What is autism?

Autism is a disorder that involves delay in the development of basic skills, most commonly with social interaction, communication and imagination.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/mental-health-autism

8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?

Asperger’s can be defined as a developmental disorder that makes it really difficult for people to interact with other.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-syndrome-topic-overview