In CBS Sunday Morning story from today, Dr. Bruce Miller from UCSF describes his work with some dementia patients. He has compared brain scans of dementia patients with those of a child savant:
“We are seeing the same pattern of loss of function on the left side of the brain, [with] increased function in the right posterior parts of the brain, the parts that allow us to take something visual in our mind and put it on a canvas.”
In some dementia patients — so called “acquired savants” — “the disease that destroys some brain areas activates others, unlocking hidden talent.”
Watch the full TV story here:
www.cbsnews.com/news/meet-a-painting-savant/
The story features one patient with frontotemporal dementia.
Robin