Elephants and whales have bigger brains than humans, but people are more intelligent. Intelligence resides in the brain tissue that is not needed to control the body.
The size of our brain and our intelligence have increased over the course of evolution. Intelligence is the ability to solve problems, quick reasoning, the capacity to act purposefully, think rationally and interact with your surroundings in an effective manner. There are many types of intelligence: linguistic, logical, mathematical, spatial, musical, social, and motoric intelligence. The intelligence quotient (IQ) is a poor measure of it.
One researcher claims that we all have ‘a small Rainman’ in our brain. Another feels that exceptional talent is primarily a question of training.
There are various theories about the neurobiological background to Savant syndrome. The exceptional gifts associated with that syndrome almost never develop unless the brain has been damaged, preferably on the left side. This allows a strengthening of the connections with other brain structures, which leads to superior functioning of the visual cortex, the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for vision. There is some evidence to support this hypothesis, such as the left-sided brain damage in Kim Peek.
A person with savant syndrome often excels in one talent. Calculations, drawing or playing piano. There are savants who can’t count but can apply algorithms.
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st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } It’s only recently that autism has been recognised as a brain development disorder. A mother can’t help it if her son doesn’t want to be cuddled.
Autism is characterised by severely disrupted social interaction and a severely reduced repertoire of activities and interests. Autism was described for the first time in 1943 by Leo Kanner in Baltimore and, independently, by Hans Asperger in Vienna in 1944, both using the same name for it. There were, however, major differences between the two descriptions.
Swaab
Dick Swaab is a professor of neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam and is associated with the Nederlands Institute for Neuroscience. He writes a weekly column for NRC Handelsblad.
Elephants and whales have bigger brains than humans, but people are more intelligent. Intelligence resides in the brain tissue that is not needed to control the body.
