Acquired savant syndrome fractals

This has left many wondering if we are all capable of such miraculous skills. There are so many areas in which human beings may excel. This includes individuals with a developmental or intellectual disability, or brain injury. Most of those with this syndrome are male, with relatively few reports of female savants. This may be due to the fact that more boys are affected with autism than girls.

Sometimes the damage is due to illness, such as dementia. Other times the trauma is external. Orlando Serrell is one example of genius-level skills unearthed by traumatic brain injury. At 10 years old, Serrell was hit on the head by a baseball while playing with friends. Serrell suffered intense headaches for some time afterward, but once they cleared, calendar calculation ability emerged.

Futon salesman, Jason Padgett , cared little about anything besides partying and women prior to being attacked and robbed by two men outside of a karaoke bar. As a result of the beating, Padgett began developing a variety of negative consequences, such as OCD. However, he also became fascinated by the mathematical idea of fractals, later drawing in-depth patterns and geometric shapes.

Another example of acquired savant syndrome occurred with Derek Amato , who gained remarkable skills after he was knocked senseless on the shallow cement bottom of a Jacuzzi. However, four days later, another symptom emerged: an intuitive, complex understanding of how to arrange and play melodies, harmonies, and arpeggios. Despite little to no previous musical training, Derek was now a full-fledged composer.

Acquired savant syndrome fractals

Of course, the downside is he still must contend with the very real, very painful additional symptoms of his injury. The punch left him with a severe concussion and post-traumatic stress disorder. Doctors diagnosed him with a bruised kidney and sent him home with painkillers. Immediately after the attack, Padgett recalled seeing a bright white flash of light, and his life took a sharp turn.

After experiencing debilitating social anxiety for weeks and months, Padgett noticed something was wrong. The world appeared different to him, like picture frames of a video. Soon, he realized that the incident, which left him feeling like a cat on hot bricks, was revealing itself to be a gift of astounding capacity. The blow to his head unlocked brain areas where senses bleed into one another, creating a mathematical view of everything.

Suddenly, he could access the gold previously buried in his subconscious. A post shared by Jason Padgett jasonquantum1. Darold Treffert , a world-recognized expert on savantism who eventually diagnosed Padgett with acquired savant syndrome. Padgett now views the attack and its effects as a gift. Since the attack, he began selling his artwork on his personal website portraying the shapes he sees, has written a book about the attack and life thereafter, and has given TEDx talks.

Studio Sony picked up the rights to make a movie about his life. Fifteen years after the attack, one of Padgett's attackers, Brady Simmons, reached out and apologized to Padgett for the incident, which Padgett accepted. In , Padgett and his family moved to Carmel, Indiana after he wrote a program to determine a place to live. TED talk.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. Doctors say Padgett, 31 at the time, developed acquired savant syndrome from the "profound concussion" he suffered during the attack. The syndrome causes the average person to suddenly become a prodigy in math, art, or music.

The perfect spiral is an important shape to me. Since the head injury, Padgett says his world is filled with mathematical patterns that make up the whole. Even his dreams, he told the NY Post , are made up of geometry. This change in his life happened after he was attacked by two men on Friday, Sept.