There are the examples of Orlando Serrell and Temple Grandin, who remember quite a lot, due to autism.
How do their brains compare to a standard brain?
See also: Partitions and Volume:
How do the brains of savants such as Orlando Serrell and Temple Grandin compare to a standard brain?
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$\begingroup$ A question that deals more with CPU can be found here: Theoretical limit to the use of mental faculty of the brain $\endgroup$– draks ...Commented Jun 25, 2012 at 21:36
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1$\begingroup$ Just to clarify: (a) is this question about the two specific individuals you mention or about Savants in general? (b) is this question about any brain differences or just brain differences in memory related areas (c) or is it about behavioural measures of memory and only about brains to the extent that brains constrain memory? $\endgroup$– Jeromy AnglimCommented Jun 26, 2012 at 0:26
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$\begingroup$ @JeromyAnglim, a) Savants in general b) only memory related and c) I didn't get. $\endgroup$– draks ...Commented Jun 26, 2012 at 6:17
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$\begingroup$ Thanks for the info. The third point is about the importance you place on a neural explanation. For example, behavioural results might show simply that savants differ on psychometric tests of memory. Now of course at some level, we assume that test scores relate to something in the brain, but we have a choice. We can focus on what are the actual observed differences in functioning or we can focus on brain differences. It depends on your research question. $\endgroup$– Jeromy AnglimCommented Jun 26, 2012 at 6:23
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$\begingroup$ @JeromyAnglim focus on the brain differences, please. $\endgroup$– draks ...Commented Jun 26, 2012 at 9:27
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1 Answer
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I believe the answer lies in minicolumnar morphology in the neocortex. It's been shown that the minicolumns of autsitics and gifted individuals have narrower minicolumns, with greater spacing between each minicolumn. It's speculated that this creates an increased ability to distinguish percepts. Here is a paper on the topic:
Casanova MF, Switala AE, Trippe J, & Fitzgerald M. (2007) Comparative minicolumnar morphometry of three distinguished scientists. Autism 11(6):557-69.
I recommend reading through more of Casanova's work on the topic if you're interested.
