An idiot savant calendrical calculator with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: implications for an understanding of the savant syndrome

Abstract

We describe the existence of the savant syndrome in association with Gilles de la Tourette's Syndrome (GTS). The presentation of savant abilities is typical of that previously described. Similarities between autism, the disorder most characteristically associated with savants, and GTS in terms of obsessionality are noted. Previously reported psychological studies of autistic savants are briefly reviewed and, together with evidence from neuroimaging in GTS, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and autism, used to support a model of the underpinnings of savant skills.