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savant syndrome

savant syndrome

1 8.9
A rare condition where a person with a mental disability has an unusual skill in music, math, or art
  • noun
  • /səˈvænt ˈsɪnˌdroʊm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : síndrome del sabio
  • ...do you know what acquired savant syndrome is?
  • acquire savant syndrome
  • autism and savant syndrome

Examples

  • Neuroscientists have also examined special populations, such as prodigies or those with savant syndrome or Williams syndrome.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Music persists in people who are blind, deaf, emotionally disturbed, profoundly retarded, or affected by disabilities or diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or savant syndrome.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Sudden savant syndrome appears to add a further dimension to the phenomenon, as most have had relatively normal lives until the savantism hits them.

    Blog text (16)
  • Psychologists, who looked at his case, considered him to be one of the world's foremost examples of "sudden savant syndrome" -- a rare, barely understood phenomenon whereby damage to the brain somehow unlocks a hidden talent.

    Blog text (16)
  • Acquired savant syndrome would explain the exponential acceleration of her ability to decode and assimilate information, the hand-eye coordination, but what it doesn't explain is why her memory was all but erased.

  • Many individuals with savant syndrome exhibit extraordinary abilities in mathematics, memorizing complex formulas effortlessly.

  • He became famous for his remarkable artwork, which is attributed to his savant syndrome that enhances his artistic talent.

  • People often think of savant syndrome as a condition where someone can perform incredible mental feats despite having a cognitive disability.

Surface Forms

Morphology

savant + syndrome

The compound is compositionally predictable: 'savant' denotes a person with exceptional skill and 'syndrome' denotes a cluster of symptoms, so together they denote a condition characterized by savant-like abilities. Although clinical and somewhat rare, this noun-noun formation follows regular English patterns and would be understandable to a learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

The term savant syndrome comes from the French word savant, which means 'wise', and the word syndrome, which doctors use for a set of related signs. Doctors used this name after they saw people with serious difficulties in daily life who still showed one amazing skill, like perfect memory or music. That's why savant syndrome now means a person with a disability who has an extraordinary talent.