Savant syndrome has a distinct psychological profile in autism.
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Authors
Ward, Jamie
Gruffydd, Elin
Baron-Cohen, Simon
Smith, Paula
Allison, Carrie
Simner, Julia
Publication Date
2018Journal Title
Mol Autism
ISSN
2040-2392
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
9
Pages
53
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Physical Medium
Electronic-eCollection
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Hughes, J. E., Ward, J., Gruffydd, E., Baron-Cohen, S., Smith, P., Allison, C., & Simner, J. (2018). Savant syndrome has a distinct psychological profile in autism.. Mol Autism, 9 53. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0237-1
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Savant syndrome is a condition where prodigious talent can co-occur with developmental conditions such as autism spectrum conditions (autism). It is not yet clear why some autistic people develop savant skills while others do not. METHODS: We tested three groups of adults: autistic individuals who have savant skills, autistic individuals without savant skills, and typical controls without autism or savant syndrome. In experiment 1, we investigated the cognitive and behavioural profiles of these three groups by asking participants to complete a battery of self-report measures of sensory sensitivity, obsessional behaviours, cognitive styles, and broader autism-related traits including social communication and systemising. In experiment 2, we investigated how our three groups learned a novel savant skill-calendar calculation. RESULTS: Heightened sensory sensitivity, obsessional behaviours, technical/spatial abilities, and systemising were all key aspects in defining the savant profile distinct from autism alone, along with a different approach to task learning. CONCLUSIONS: These results reveal a unique cognitive and behavioural profile in autistic adults with savant syndrome that is distinct from autistic adults without a savant skill.
Keywords
Humans, Obsessive Behavior, Communication, Social Behavior, Cognition, Aptitude, Adult, Middle Aged, Female, Male, Young Adult, Spatial Navigation, Surveys and Questionnaires, Autism Spectrum Disorder
Sponsorship
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (via Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) (unknown)
Autism Research Trust (unknown)
Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) (TWCF0138/AB89)
Medical Research Council (G0600977)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0237-1
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/286779
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