Brain Man

One Man's Gift May Be The Key To Better Understanding The Brain

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on Jan. 28, 2007. It was updated on Sep. 5, 2007.

Almost 25 years ago, 60 Minutes introduced viewers to George Finn, whose talent was immortalized in the movie "Rain Man." George has a condition known as savant syndrome, a mysterious disorder of the brain where someone has a spectacular skill, even genius, in a mind that is otherwise extremely limited.

Morley Safer met another savant, Daniel Tammet, who is called "Brain Man" in Britain. But unlike most savants, he has no obvious mental disability, and most important to scientists, he can describe his own thought process. He may very well be a scientific Rosetta stone, a key to understanding the brain.

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Back in 1983, George Finn, blessed or obsessed with calendar calculation, could give you the day if you gave him the date.

"What day of the week was August 13th, 1911?" Safer quizzed Finn.

"A Sunday," Finn replied.

"What day of the week was May 20th, 1921?" Safer asked.

"Friday," Finn answered.

George Finn is a savant. In more politically incorrect times he would have been called an "idiot savant" - a mentally handicapped or autistic person whose brain somehow possesses an island of brilliance.

Asked if he knew how he does it, Finn told Safer, "I don't know, but it's just that, that's fantastic I can do that."

If this all seems familiar, there’s a reason: five years after the 60 Minutes broadcast, Dustin Hoffman immortalized savants like George in the movie "Rain Man."

Which brings us to that other savant we mentioned: Daniel Tammet. He is an Englishman, who is a 27-year-old math and memory wizard.

"I was born November 8th, 1931," Safer remarks.

"Uh-huh. That's a prime number. 1931. And you were born on a Sunday. And this year, your birthday will be on a Wednesday. And you'll be 75," Tammet tells Safer.

It is estimated there are only 50 true savants living in the world today, and yet none are like Daniel. He is articulate, self-sufficient, blessed with all of the spectacular ability of a savant, but with very little of the disability. Take his math skill, for example.

Asked to multiply 31 by 31 by 31 by 31, Tammet quickly - and accurately - responded with "923,521."

And it’s not just calculating. His gift of memory is stunning. Briefly show him a long numerical sequence and he’ll recite it right back to you. And he can do it backwards, to boot.

That feat is just a warm-up for Daniel Tammet. He first made headlines at Oxford, when he publicly recited the endless sequence of numbers embodied by the Greek letter "Pi." Pi, the numbers we use to calculate the dimensions of a circle, are usually rounded off to 3.14. But its numbers actually go on to infinity.

Daniel studied the sequence - a thousand numbers to a page.

"And I would sit and I would gorge on them. And I would just absorb hundreds and hundreds at a time," he tells Safer.

It took him several weeks to prepare and then Daniel headed to Oxford, where with number crunchers checking every digit, he opened the floodgates of his extraordinary memory.

Tammet says he was able to recite, in a proper order, 22,514 numbers. It took him over five hours and he did it without a single mistake.

[kksg1996]

Would like to connect with wrighbower at 1:20 PM: Jan 29,2007. My granddaughter also has asperber's and she is 10 years old and looking for a penpal. It would be good for her to connect with someone who understand and someone that she can understand.
Please respond:Marilyn Pettigrew..Manchester NH
[e-mail]

[anotherjg]

Thank you for sharing a view of such intellect with 60-minutes viewers!! I am so excited to see such demonstration of intellect - most fascinated by the image of pi and would like to see the image of the golden section. Most wonderful to consider such beauty! Would Daniel show us?
Julie Grabel
Huntington Beach, CA

[anotherjg]

Thank you for sharing a view of such intellect with 60-minutes viewers!! I am so excited to see such demonstration of intellect - most fascinated by the image of pi and would like to see the image of the golden section. Most wonderful to consider such beauty! Would Daniel show us?
Julie Grabel
Huntington Beach, CA

[nsmom]

I thought last night's episode was great, but I thought the story on "Brain Man" was absolutely fascinating. What an insight to the human brain.

ABE25425's comment that Daniel didn't like the number 333 is incorrect. It was 289 he didn't like, and really liked 333.

[abe25425-2009]

Believe it was a mistake when Safer referred to 333 as chubby as response to Daniel saying it not so beautiful of a number to him. The discussion point was about how Daniel sees numbers as images, we saw how he sees Pi a couple times. When he was saying 333 was not beautiful he meant I believe how his translated image of the number apppears, but that image is not some coloring in of "333," rather it is an entirely different image that his mind translates. Safer's comment about 333 appearing chubby seemed to reveal he was missing Daniel's point.

[billzor]

Daniel's website is: www.optimnem.co.uk. he maintains a blog, offers tutoring, and you can order an autographed copy of his book. He is a remarkable, nice, soft spoken man. A true gentleman, in every sense. A hero for me.

[bswood1]

As my husband and I watched this segment, we were amazed at the similarities with our 6 year old son. He has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as well. He can tell you the day of the week a particular date will or did fall on, which totally amazes others. He memorizes many things and is often obsessed with doing this. He is also quite sensitive to sounds and has difficulty with social interaction with peers. We would love to learn more and would like information on dealing with his various daily issues. Thanks for the wonderful story, it really hit home for us.

[desertmaid-2009]

My 7 yr old son has high funtioning autism. In a group of kids his own age, you cannot single him out. However, he has incredible math and memory skills. He also does the age/birthday calculations and calendar memoization. He is in 2nd grade, but is bored in his math class. He just told me recently, "My computer types it into my brain and then BAM! It tells me the answer. Then I tell my teacher." People who don't know about his condition don't notice anthing unique about him, until he starts telling them how old they will be in the year 2035! He amazes me every day.

[carole-line]

Thank you for that wonderful story. I will definately go out and buy the book, being the mom of an autistic child I appreciate all the "insight" I can get. For Daniel... 3.1416 is all I have to say. Cheers and thank you again.

[wmh_seattle]

Anyone who wants to learn more about synesthesia and incredible feats of memory should read A.R. Luria's "The Mind of a Mnemonist".

[wrightbower]

What an interesting and fabulous story! I can't wait to read the book. I appreciate any positive educational media production about Asperger's Syndrome as many people are unaware. I would not call Asperger's Syndrome a mild form of autism. My son has Asperger's Syndrome and there is nothing mild about his challenges. Please know that many individuals with Aspergers are gifted and quite bright; not every one is a savant. Learning and living in this world is a huge challenge for individuals with Asperger's Syndrome; they require specialized educational techniques and help with developing social skills and relationships. There needs to be more research about Asperger's Synrdome. Please support the Autism Society of America, MAAP, and other organizations which aspire to improve the lives of individuals with Asapergers and their families. Professor Linda Wright-Bower, Fort Wayne, Indiana

[swendoog]

Never underestimate the abilities of the man/woman next to you!

[narrator3]

CBS: fascinating story. Especially intriguing Daniel Tammet%u2019s images of numbers. They remind me of the images created by followers of anthroposophy & other meditative movements

[dashbaugh]

I work at a middle school with a child with aspergers. He will memorize word for word along with facial expression and actions every cartoon he watches. He is also very good with numbers. It was encoraging to watch your program last night. I see hope for my student to make it in this world. I can't wait to read "Born on a Blue Day."

[lkh85]

Interesting that Daniel had alot of siblings and can interact socially. My 17 yr. old son who was diagnosed at age 15 with high functioning aspergers, has problems with social skills. Not being able to put a finger on what made him different I overly protected him, and he just has one sibling. My son is some what a whiz at math and he loves keeping statistics. Very interested in finding Daniels book.

[random_radar]

If you are curious about the strange things that can happen to our brain, read the book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat" by Oliver Sacks. Really interesting things can happen due to brain lesions.

[joyalton]

Then there are those of us who can remember numbers fairly well eg. phone numbers and social security numbers but strike out on trying to remember names. The mind is a wonderous thing.

[tinacolada00]

I have a 20 year old autistic son. While he does not display any savant characteristics besides memorizing movies, jingles, voices, etc;
He can drive a car! Makes me nervous, but...
I look forward to reading Daniel's book as much as I read all of Temple Grandin's and Oliver Sacks's books. Temple is another one that can describe her brain processes: such as not they are not in words or pictures but a video tape.
Tina Cooper

[redrumjoe666]

Thanks for running this piece. Sharing many traits of Daniel myself, and many of his difficulties, its nice to see I'm not alone in the world.

[joshua141]

That piece really was something. I have a psychology teacher who would be really intrested in seeing it. Is there any way to get a copy?