Autism: functional brain mapping of exceptional calendar capacity.
BACKGROUND
'Autistic savants' are individuals with autism who have extraordinary skills. Brain mechanisms underlying such capacities are still unknown.


OBJECTIVE
To map the exceptional calendar capacity of a man with primary autism.


METHODS
Positron emission tomography was used to map brain activity in a man who is able to associate a day of the week with the corresponding calendar date.


RESULTS
During the calendar task, the left hippocampus, the left frontal cortex and the left middle temporal lobe were activated.


CONCLUSIONS
The cerebral circuit involved in this man's prodigious calendar skill is similar to that normally involved in memory retrieval tasks. These results suggest that the prodigious capacities may be sustained by memory processing.
Boddaert
Nathalie
N
Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, DRM, DSV, CEA, 4 Place du General Leclerc 91406, Orsay, France.
Barthélémy
Catherine
C
Poline
Jean-Baptiste
JB
Samson
Yves
Y
Brunelle
Francis
F
Zilbovicius
Mônica
M
D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography