Abstract
This study aimed to review the scientific literature on etiopathogenic factors of savant syndrome associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Searches were performed in the following databases: Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, Embase, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Latin America and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, and Google Scholar, as well as gray literature and indirect search. A total of 42 studies were included in the present review, and the etiopathogenic theories of each study were assessed. Despite more than 100 years of reports on savant syndrome, most studies on this topic still comprise subjective opinions or qualitative analysis. In the last 3 decades, we found more structured studies with relevant methodology. There are still large gaps in knowledge regarding the concept, etiopathogenic theories, and psychometric assessment of savant syndrome associated with ASD, which indicates the need for future research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability Statement
All data analyzed in this study were collected from previous studies, which are openly available at locations cited in the reference section.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Author.
Anderson, M. (2001). Annotation: Conceptions of intelligence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(3), 287–298.
Baron-Cohen, S. (2003). The Essential Difference: The truth about the male and female brain. Basic Books.
Baron-Cohen, S., Ashwin, E, Ashuin, C, Tavassoli, T, & Chakrabarti, B. (2011). The paradox of autism: Why does disability sometimes give rise to talent? In: Kapur, N. (Ed.). Paradoxical Brain. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press 2011. p 274–288.
Baron-Cohen, S. (2020). The pattern seekers: How autism drives human invention. 1st. ed. Basic Books
Belteczki, Z., & Rihmer, Z. (2020). Savant-syndrome - Something for something? Neuropsychopharmacologia Hungarica, 22(2), 60–71.
Bókkon, I., Salaricd, V., Scholkmanne, F., Dai, J., & Grass, F. (2013). Interdisciplinary implications on autism, savantism, Asperger syndrome and the biophysical picture representation: Thinking in pictures. Cognitive Systems Research, 22(23), 67–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2012.05.002
Bölte, S., & Poustka, F. (2004). Comparing the intelligence profiles of savant and nonsavant individuals with autistic disorder. Intelligence, 32(2), 121–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2003.11.002
Bor, D., Billington, J., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2007). Savant memory for digits in a case of synaesthesia and Asperger syndrome is related to hyperactivity in the lateral prefrontal cortex. Neurocase, 13(5), 311–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554790701844945
Bouvet, L., Amsellem, F., Maruani, A., Tonus-Vic Dupont, A., Mathieu, A., Bourgeron, T., Delorme, R., & Mottron, L. (2019). Synesthesia & autistic features in a large family: Evidence for spatial imagery as a common factor. Behavioural Brain Research, 19(362), 266–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.014
Down, J. L. H. (1887). On some of the mental affections of childhood and youth: Being the Lettsomian lectures delivered before the Medical Society of London in 1887, together with other papers. Churchill.
Fabricius, T. (2010). The Savant hypothesis: Is autism a signal-processing problem? Medical Hypotheses, 75(2), 257–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2010.02.034
Folgerø, P. O., Johansson, C., & Stokkedal, L. H. (2021). The superior visual perception hypothesis: Neuroaesthetics of cave art. Behav Sci (basel), 11(6), 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11060081
Frith, U., & Happé, F. (1994). Autism: Beyond “theory of mind.” Cognition, 50(1), 115–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(94)90024-8
Frith, U. (1989). Autism: Explaining the Enigma. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Geschwind, N. G. A., & Galaburda, A. M. (1985). Cerebral lateralization: Biological mechanisms, associations, and pathology: III A hypothesis and a program for research. Archives of Neurology, 42(7), 634–654. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1985.04060050026008
Gardne, T. H. E. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons in theory and practice. Basic books.
Happé, F., & Vital, P. (2009). What aspects of autism predispose to talent? Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1369–1375. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0332
Horwitz, W. A., Kestenbaum, C., Person, E., & Jarvik, L. (1965). Identical twin--"idiot savants"--calendar calculators. The American journal of psychiatry, 121, 1075–1079. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.121.11.1075
Howe, M. J. (1989). Separate skills or general intelligence: The autonomy of human abilities. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 59(3), 351–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1989.tb03109.x
Hughes, J. R. (2010). A review of Savant syndrome and its possible relationship to epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior: e&b, 17(2), 147–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.12.014
Hughes, J. E., Ward, J., Gruffydd, E., et al. (2018). Savant syndrome has a distinct psychological profile in autism. Molecular Autism, 9(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0237-1
JBI, (2022). JBI system for the unified management, assessment and review of information (JBI SUMARI), Australia.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250.
Kawamura, M., Hanazuka, Y., Midorikawa, A. (2020). Savant syndrome and an “Oshikuramanju hypothesis". Brain and Nerve, 72(3),193–201. https://doi.org/10.11477/mf.1416201508
Meilleur, A. A., Jelenic, P., & Mottron, L. (2015). Prevalence of clinically and empirically defined talents and strengths in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(5), 1354–1367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2296-2
Miller, B. L., et al. (1996). Enhanced artistic creativity with temporal lobe degeneration. Lancet (london, England), 348(9043), 1744–1745. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65881-3
Miller, B. L., Cummings, J., Mishkin, F., Boone, K., Prince, F., Ponton, M., & Cotman, C. (1998). Emergence of artistic talent in frontotemporal dementia. Neurology, 51(4), 978–982. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.51.4.978
Miller, B. L., Boone, K., Cummings, J. L., Read, S. L., & Mishkin, F. (2000). Functional correlates of musical and visual ability in frontotemporal dementia. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, 176, 458–463. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.176.5.458
Mitterauer, B. J. (2013a). Astrocyte mega-domain hypothesis of the autistic savantism. Medical Hypotheses, 80(1), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2012.09.016
Mitterauer, B. J. (2013b). Intuition in autistic savantism: A hypothetical model based on glial–neuronal interactions. Medical Hypoteses, 81(6), 1083–1087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2013.10.009
Mottron, L., Belleville, S., & Stip, E. (1996). Proper name hypermnesia in an autistic subject. Brain and Language, 53(3), 326–350. https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.1996.0052
Mottron, L., Belleville, S., Stip, E., & Morasse, K. (1998). Atypical memory performance in an autistic savant. Memory (hove, England), 6(6), 593–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/741943372
Mottron, L., Peretz, I., & Ménard, E. (2000). Local and global processing of music in high-functioning persons with autism: Beyond central coherence? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 41(8), 1057–1065.
Mottron, L., Lemmens, K., Gagnon, L., & Seron, X. (2006a). Non-algorithmic access to calendar information in a calendar calculator with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(2), 239–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0059-9
Mottron, L., Dawson, M., Soulières, I., Hubert, B., & Burack, J. (2006b). Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: an update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1), 27–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7
Mottron, L., Dawson, M., & Soulières, I. (2009). Enhanced perception in savant syndrome: Patterns, structure and creativity Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1385–1391. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0333
Mottron, L., Bouvet, L., Bonnel, A., Samson, F., Burack, J. A., Dawson, M., & Heaton, P. (2013). Veridical mapping in the development of exceptional autistic abilities. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(2), 209–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.11.016
Murray, A. L. (2010). Can the existence of highly accessible concrete representations explain savant skills? Some Insights from Synaesthesia. Med Hypotheses, 74(6), 1006–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2010.01.014
Nettelbeck, T., & Young, R. (1999). Savant syndrome. In L. M. Glidden (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation, Vol. 22, pp. 137–173). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0074-7750(08)60133-0
Neumann, N., Dubischar-Krivec, A. M., Braun, C., Löw, A., Poustka, F., Bölte, S., & Birbaumer, N. (2010). The mind of the mnemonists: An MEG and neuropsychological study of autistic memory savants. Behavioural Brain Research, 15(1), 114–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2010.07.008
Nurmi, E. L., Dowd, M., Tadevosyan-Leyfer, O., Haines, J. L., Folstein, S. E., & Sutcliffe, J. S. (2003). Exploratory subsetting of autism families based on savant skills improves evidence of genetic linkage to 15q11-q13. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(7), 856–863. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.CHI.0000046868.56865.0F
O'Connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1989). The memory structure of autistic idiot-savant mnemonists. British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953), 80 ( Pt 1), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1989.tb02305.x
O’connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1984). Idiot savant calendrical calculators: Maths or memory? Psychological Medicine, 14(4), 801–806.
O’connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1987). Visual memory and motor programmes: Their use by idiot-savant artists and controls. British Journal of Psychology, 78(3), 307–323. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1987.tb02249.x
O’connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1990). The recognition failure and graphic success of idiot-savant artists. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31(2), 203–215.
O’connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1991). Talents and preoccupations in idiots-savants. Psychological Medicine, 21(4), 959–964.
Peters, M.D.J, Godfrey, C., McInerney, P,, Munn, Z., Tricco, A.C., & Khalil, H. Chapter 11: Scoping Reviews (2020. In: Aromataris E, Munn Z (Editors). , JBI, 2020. Available https://synthesismanual.jbi.globalhttps://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-20-12
Pring, L., Ryder, N., Crane, L., & Hermelin, B. (2010). Local and global processing in savant artists with autism. Perception, 39(8), 1094–1103. https://doi.org/10.1068/p6674
Pring, L., Ryder, N., Crane, L., & Hermelin, B. (2012). Creativity in savant artists with autism. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 16(1), 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361311403783
Selfe, L. (2011). Nadia revisited: A longitudinal study of an autistic savant. Taylor and Francis.
Simner, J., Mayo, N., & Spiller, M. J. (2009). A foundation for savantism? Visuo-spatial synaesthetes present with cognitive benefits. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 45(10), 1246–1260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2009.07.007
Snyder, A. (2009). Explaining and inducing savant skills: Privileged access to lower level, less-processed information Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1399–1405. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0290
Spearman, C. (2020). [1927]). Their nature and measurement. Barakaldo Books.
Tredgold, A. (1914). Chapter XIV: Idiots savants. In: Mental deficiency (amentia). New York: William Wood & Company.
Treffert, D. A. (1988). The idiot savant: A review of the syndrome. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 145(5), 563–572. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.145.5.563
Treffert, D. A. (2009). The savant syndrome: An extraordinary condition. A synopsis: Past, present, future Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1351–1357. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0326
Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O’brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., et al. (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine, 169(7), 467–473. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850
van Leeuwen, T. M., Neufeld, J., Hughes, J., & Ward, J. (2020). Synaesthesia and autism: Different developmental outcomes from overlapping mechanisms? Cognitive Neuropsychology, 37(7–8), 433–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643294.2020.1808455
Vital, P. M., Ronald, A., Wallace, G. L., & Happé, F. (2009). Relationship between special abilities and autistic-like traits in a large population-based sample of 8-year-olds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 50(9), 1093–1101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02076.x
Wallace, G. (2008). Neuropsychological studies of savant skills: Can they inform the neuroscience of giftedness? Roeper Review., 30, 229–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190802363901
Waterhouse, L. (2013). Chapter 6 - Savant skills, special skills, and intelligence vary widely in autism. in: waterhouse, L. (Ed.). Rethinking autism. San Diego: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-415961-7.00006-X
Young, R. (1995). Savant syndrome: processes underlying extraordinary abilities. Thesis (Ph.D.) - Departament Psychology, University of Adelaide Adelaide. https://hdl.handle.net/2440/18543
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by JMJ and PCM. The study was designed by JSS and ECM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JMJ and TMP. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
As the present study is a scoping review, there was no need to submit the study for approval by an ethics committee board.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Muniz Junior, J., Muniz, P.C., Pinto, T.M. et al. Etiopathogenic Theories in Savant Syndrome: Scoping Review. Rev J Autism Dev Disord (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-023-00372-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-023-00372-8