Sometimes the most amazing abilities of the human brain
are revealed exactly when things go wrong with it. Take, for example,
savants - people who have mental abilities that could only be characterized
as superhuman (like having photographic memory, playing music perfectly
after hearing it just once, or doing complex mathematical calculations
in one's head) but otherwise severely disabled in every day cognitive
functions and social interaction.

Does the human brain have latent savant-like abilities? Does our higher
cognitive functions somehow block these abilities, and why? And can we
have savant-like abilities without the accompanying autism and/or developmental
disabilities? One
intriguing study by Dr. Allan Snyder of the Centre for the Mind suggested
that temporarily impairing the left fronto-temporal lobe in healthy subjects
by low-frequency magnetic pulses could result in savant-like mental abilities
(see, for example: article in New York T