Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

1. Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.

This is a syndrome that developes a mental or physical disability and in rare cases it developes an exceptional talent in an individual. It is an incredible phenomena that lets scientist know that the capability of the brain is extraordinary.

http://www.psy.dmu.ac.uk/drhiles/Savant%20Syndrome.htm

http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/_SAVANT/_PROFILES/kim_peek/_media/images/kimpeek_salinashospital2.jpg

2.What does genius mean? Explain the difference between genius and savant.

Genius is an incredible intelligence that a human has possesion of, usually has a very high skill in certain fields.

http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/genius.htm

The main difference between a savant and a genius is that savants are handicap people that develope a dissability, unlike the genius that they don't develope any disability they just develope a high intelligence.3. What is a stroke and how could it affect your mental functioning?

A stroke is also called a brain attack, in this medical emergency there is a rupture in the arteries of the brain causing a disease in the circulatory system.

http://www.womensheart.org/content/stroke/what_is_a_stroke.asp

This affects your mental functioning because when these arteries are lost they lose abilities that are controlled by the brain such as movement, speech and memory. A minor stroke will just make your arms or legs weaker while a larger stroke can leave you paralyzed.

http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=stroke

http://medicalimages.allrefer.com/large/stroke-series-4.jpg

4.What is a functional MRI and how does it help us understand brain activity?

It is a specialized MRI scan that measures the hemodynamic response, the change of blood flow and it scans the neural activity in the brain or spinal cords. This produces an image of the brain's metabolism of a human and even an animal

https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1273&bih=609&defl=en&q=define:Functional+MRI&sa=X&ei=XqtyTcDPOYHrgQfHkpk4&ved=0CBEQkAE

This helps us understand better the brain activity because it produces a scan of the blood flow in the brain. These scans generate maps of the human brain activity and tells us which parts of the brain are working the most during a certain activity.

http://www.pnas.org/content/89/12/5675.abstract

5. What is the corpus callosum and what role does it play

in your brain's activity?

The corpus callosum is a bundle of nerves that connects the left hemisphere of the brain to the right hemisphere of the brain.

https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1273&bih=609&defl=en&q=define:corpus+callosum&sa=X&ei=-q1yTcmlLZTfgQflnJXSAQ&ved=0CBQQkAE

Besides connecting both hemispheres an important role that the corpus callosum plays in the brain is facilitation of the interhemispheric communication and also allows both hemispheres to coordinate and communicate all their activities.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/corpus-callosum-function.html

http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~Brainmd1/brmodelc.gif

6. What is epilepsy and how might it affect your brain's abilities?

Epilepsy is a disorder in the central part of the nervous system that causes a loss of consciousness and convulsions

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=epilepsy&sub=Search+WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&h=0

An epilepsy could affect the brain by damaging any of the lobes. For example, if your temporal lobe is affected they your brain could suffer of memory problem, besides that if you've got epilepsy in your brain your ability concentration would be affected also.

http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/AboutEpilepsy/Epilepsyandyou/Universityandepilepsy/Howepilepsycanaffectlearning

7. What is autism?

Autism is a developmental disability that is caused by a brain abnormality, people with this will normally find it challenging to use their communicating skills, social skills and they will have repetitive type of behaviors.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/

8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?

The Asperger's Syndrome is a psychiatric disorder (also called an autism spectrum disorder) that is normally appreciable at an early age; people with this syndrome will have impaired social relations and will have repetitive types of behavior.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:asperger%27s+syndrome&sa=X&ei=rtlyTfLMIomE0QHcppHFAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCEQkAE