Das Savant-Syndrom: Eine Übersicht
Abstract
Zusammenfassung.Theoretischer Hintergrund: Unter dem Savant-Syndrom versteht man das Auftreten eines herausragenden umschriebenen kognitiven Funktionsbereichs oder einer erstaunlichen Fertigkeit vorwiegend bei allgemeiner Intelligenzminderung. Fragestellung: Mit dieser Arbeit soll ein aktueller Überblick zur Beschreibung, Prävalenz, Neuropsychologie und Theoriebildung bezüglich des Syndroms gegeben werden. Methode: Auf der Basis historischer Berichte und derzeitiger empirischer Studien wird der Forschungsstand zum Savant-Phänomen dargestellt und diskutiert. Ergebnisse: Savants zeigen vor allem Kompetenzen in den Bereichen Gedächtnis, Musik, Zeichnen, Rechnen und Lesen. Spektakuläre Fälle dieser Inselbegabungen sind selten. Öfter anzutreffen sind Leistungen, die nur angesichts der vorherrschenden Psychopathologie der Person bemerkenswert sind. Savants sind unter autistisch beeinträchtigten Individuen vergleichbar häufig zu finden. Zum Verständnis der besonderen Fertigkeiten wurden in der Vergangenheit vielfältige, im Wesentlichen auf Fallstudien basierende Erklärungsansätze angeboten. Darunter die Involvierung von mechanischen Gedächtnisleistungen (rote memory), regelbasierten kognitiven Strategien, low-level-Informationsverarbeitung, repetitiv-übendem Verhalten, genetischen Faktoren und cerebralen Besonderheiten. Schlussfolgerungen: Angesichts der Heterogenität des Phänomens ist eine uneinheitliche Genese des Savant-Syndroms wahrscheinlich.
Abstract.Background: The term savant-syndrome describes a condition of general intellectual impairment, mental or sensory disorder, appearing with an extraordinary performance within a limited area of cognitive function. Objective: To give a contemporary view on the description, prevalence, neuropsychology, and theories of the syndrome. Methods: On the basis of historical reports and current empirical data, the state of the art regarding the phenomenon is summarized and discussed. Results: The savant phenomenon includes talents in the areas of memory, drawing, music, calculation and reading, and still lacks adequate definition. Cases showing truly spectacular islets of abilities are scarce. More often subjects exhibit splinter skills. These competencies are only outstanding because they emerge in parallel with a dominating psychopathology. It seems that the prevalence of savants is elevated in autism. In the past, various attempts were undertaken to explain the savant condition, mostly based on case-studies. Among others, rote memory, cognitive strategies, low-level information processing, extensive rehearsal, genetic factors and cerebral characteristics have been suggested to be involved in the development of the savant-syndrome. Conclusions: Due to the heterogeneity of the phenomenon a non-uniform etiology of the condition is likely.
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