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An idiot savant calendrical calculator with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: implications for an understanding of the savant syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. Moriarty ,
H. A. Ring  and
M. M. Robertson
J. Moriarty*
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology; and University College and Middlesex Hospital School of Medicine, London
H. A. Ring
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology; and University College and Middlesex Hospital School of Medicine, London
M. M. Robertson
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology; and University College and Middlesex Hospital School of Medicine, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr J. Moriarty, Room 808, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG.
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Synopsis

We describe the existence of the savant syndrome in association with Gilles de la Tourette's Syndrome (GTS). The presentation of savant abilities is typical of that previously described. Similarities between autism, the disorder most characteristically associated with savants, and GTS in terms of obsessionality are noted. Previously reported psychological studies of autistic savants are briefly reviewed and, together with evidence from neuroimaging in GTS, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and autism, used to support a model of the underpinnings of savant skills.

Type
Brief Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , November 1993 , pp. 1019 - 1021
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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