BJP College Seminars Series
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by BODDAERT, N.
Right arrow Articles by ZILBOVICIUS, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by BODDAERT, N.
Right arrow Articles by ZILBOVICIUS, M.
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005) 187: 83-86
© 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Autism: functional brain mapping of exceptional calendar capacity

NATHALIE BODDAERT, MD

ERM 0205 INSERM-CEA, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, and Service de Radiologie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, Paris

CATHERINE BARTHÉLÉMY, MD, PhD

INSERM Unité 316, CHU Bretonneau, Tours

JEAN-BAPTISTE POLINE, PhD

ERM 0205 INSERM-CEA, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay

YVES SAMSON, MD

Service des Urgences Cerebro-Vasculaires, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris

FRANCIS BRUNELLE, MD

ERM 0205 INSERM-CEA, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, and Service de Radiologie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, Paris

MÔNICA ZILBOVICIUS, MD, PhD

ERM 0205 INSERM-CEA, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, France

Correspondence: Mônica Zilbovicius, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, DRM, DSV, CEA, 4 Place du General Leclerc 91406, Orsay, France. Tel: +33 (1)01 69 86 78 90; fax: +33 (1)01 69 86 77 28; e-mail: zilbo{at}shfj.cea.fr

Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background 'Autistic savants' are individuals with autism who have extraordinary skills. Brain mechanisms underlying such capacities are still unknown.

Aims To map the exceptional calendar capacity of a man with primary autism.

Method Positron emissiontomography was used to map brain activity in a man who is able to associate a day of the week with the corresponding calendar date.

Results During the calendar task, the left hippocampus, the left frontal cortex and the left middle temporal lobe were activated.

Conclusions The cerebral circuit involved in this man's prodigious calendar skill is similar to that normally involved in memory retrieval tasks. These results suggest that the prodigious capacities may be sustained by memory processing.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br. J. PsychiatryHome page
F. TOAL, D. G.M. MURPHY, and K. C. MURPHY
Autistic-spectrum disorders: lessons from neuroimaging
The British Journal of Psychiatry, November 1, 2005; 187(5): 395 - 397.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
Minerva
BMJ, July 30, 2005; 331(7511): 300 - 300.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Br. J. PsychiatryHome page
P. Tyrer
Editor's response:
The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1, 2005; 187(1): 91 - 91.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
Copyright © 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.