Kim Peek

Kim Peek ( born November 11, 1951 in Salt Lake City, Utah, † December 19, 2009 ) was an American island Gifted (Savant syndrome). It drew from an exceptional memory capacity. His brain had since his birth on an anomaly - both halves of the brain were only minimally connected to each other, which could have led to his island talent.

Peek was the model for the character of Raymond Babbitt autistic appeared in 1988 movie Rain Man, by whom he was well known. Last Peek was one of the most famous savants. The researcher Darold Treffert autism described him as a " mega- savant ".

Life

Kim Peek came with such severe mental disabilities to the world that the doctors advised his parents to give him a home. His skull was already at birth by one-third greater than in healthy children, the neck muscles were able to keep the weight barely. As a child, he fell on the fact that he was behind in the years to walk and talk, but strange habits such as sorting of shredded paper showed where he reacted hysterically to interfere with his work. He began with 16 months to read and knew the age of four eight - Lexicon books word for word.

By the end of 1963, when he was twelve years old, his disability has been paid no further attention. However, when he should recite to gift giving at Christmas a poem he recited the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke from the Emperor Augustus to the shepherds with about 40 rows from the Bible. He had never read the story before, but it belongs in the church on the same day and memorized.

At the age of 33 years, Peek met at a meeting of the National Association for Retarded Citizens, the American Disability Association, Arlington (Texas ) screenwriter Barry Morrow, who, fascinated processed from peeks history, this in the movie " Rain Man " (published in 1988).

Peek sat since his breakthrough in public for people with disabilities a. A part of its commitment was to the citizens on the students and journalists. His father, affectionately known as " Kim - Puter " called him - and where he lived until recently, there was always at his side. This Peeks social skills themselves had surprisingly improved. In recent years, came to the old interests, add a love of music. Peek was the melodies of the plates of his mother, whom he had heard in his childhood, re-enacting part of a finger on the piano. He should be able to have remembered every tune he had heard once.

Peek died at the age of 58 years to a heart attack.

Skills

Peek had an extraordinary memory. He knew his own words the content of 12,000 books almost by heart. It was enough if he had read the book only once. Each page of a book he needed to see only about seven seconds to memorize the full content. He recorded it with each eye a page at the same time. After that, he was not willing to read the book again. After reading he could play the contents to 99 % accurate. He limited himself consistently on textbooks, in particular to those put together the facts.

In addition to the memorization of books dominated Peek also the calendar arithmetic. He knew several historical data bus and the road network in the USA and Canada and the telephone area codes and postal codes of these countries by heart.

Investigations

Recent studies of brain Peeks showed next to the enlargement and the virtually non-existent connection between the two halves of the brain also that the transition from the cerebrum to the inner layers of the brain was barely pronounced. Peeks cerebellum was also remarkably small.

A missing link between the two halves of the brain draws according to the modern neurobiology an unbridled flow of information into consciousness by itself, since the right and the left brain hemisphere not intervene each other and so, for example, can control access rights to information of the other half of the brain.

So far, however, no connection between the neuroanatomical changes in the brain Kim Peeks and his exceptional skills can be demonstrated. Even if the rare absence of a connection between the two halves of the brain occurs, must not necessarily lead to malfunctions.