Autism and extraordinary ability

64. Genius locus
Apr 16th 2009 From The Economist print edition

There is strong evidence for a link between genius and autism. In the first of three articles about the brain this week, we ask how that link works, and whether 'neurotypicals' can benefit from the knowledge

Ronald Grant Archive

64-1-301
THAT genius is unusual goes without saying. But is it so unusual that it requires the brains of those that possess it to be unusual in other ways, too? A link between artistic genius on the one hand and schizophrenia and manic-depression on the other, is widely debated. However another link, between savant syndrome and autism, is well established. It is, for example, the subject of films such as 'Rain Man', illustrated above.
A study published this week by Patricia Howlin of King's College, London, reinforces this point. It suggests that as many as 30% of autistic people have some sort of savant-like capability in areas such as calculation or music. Moreover, it is widely acknowledged that some of the symptoms associated with autism, including poor communication skills and an obsession with detail, are also exhibited by many creative types, particularly in the fields of science, engineering, music, drawing and painting. Indeed, there is now a cottage industry in re-interpreting the lives of geniuses in the context of suggestions that they might belong, or have belonged, on the 'autistic spectrum', as the range of syndromes that include autistic symptoms is now dubbed.

A. 어휘
autism 自閉症(자폐증). locus 위치, 장소, 座(좌). evidence 증거.
article 기사, 논문, 논설.
neurotypicals 자폐증 등 뇌기능 장애자에 比(비)해서 뇌기능이 상대적으로 정상인 사람을 지칭하는 용어, 뇌기능이 정상적인. goes without saying 말할 필요조차 없다.
schizophrenia 정신 분열증. manic-depression 躁鬱症(조울증).
on the one hand 한편으로는. on the other(hand) 다른 한편으로는.
debate 토론하다. savant 저명한 학자, 대 과학자.
savant syndrome 자폐증 등의 뇌기능 장애를 가진 사람들이 천재성을 동시에 갖게 되는 현상. reinforce 보강하다, 강화하다. capability 능력. calculation 계산.
acknowledge 인정하다. symptom 症狀(증상). associate 관련되다.
obsession 强迫觀念(강박관념), 妄想(망상). exhibit 나타내다.
cottage industry 가내공업. re-interpret 재해석하다. context 문맥, 情況(정황).
autistic spectrum 자폐증 증상범위. dub ...라고 부르다, ...에게 별명을 붙이다.

B. 구문
- But is it so unusual that . . . unusual in others ways, too?
cf. those that possess it 천재성을 보유하고 있는 사람들.
.to be unusual 목적어 brains에 걸리는 목적보어.
[천재성은 너무나 특이하여 천재성을 가진 사람의 뇌는 다른 면에서도 특이한 점을 필요로 하는가?]
- illustrated above. →which is illustrated above.
[위의 그림(사진)에 나타나 있다]
- as the range of syndromes . . . is now dubbed.
[자폐증 증후군을 포함하는 증후군들의 범위에 드는 증상을 지칭하는 바와 같이]

64-2-302
So what is the link? And can an understanding of it be used to release flashes of genius in those whose brains are, in the delightfully condescending term used by researchers in the area, 'neurotypical'? Those were the questions addressed by papers (one of them Dr Howlin's) published this week in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The society, Britain's premier scientific club and the oldest scientific body in the world, produces such transactions from time to time, to allow investigators in particular fields to chew over the state of the art. The latest edition is the outcome of a conference held jointly with the British Academy (a similar, though younger, organisation for the humanities and social sciences) last September.

A spectrum of belief
A standard diagnosis of autism requires three things to be present in an individual. Two of these three, impairments in social interaction and in communication with other people, are the results of autists lacking empathy or, in technical jargon, a 'theory of mind'. In other words they cannot, as even fairly young neurotypicals can, put themselves in the position of another being and ask themselves what that other is thinking. The third criterion, however, is that a person has what are known as restrictive and repetitive behaviours and interests, or RRBI, in the jargon.

A. 어휘
release 방출하다, 석방하다. delightfully 매우 즐겁게.
condescending 정중한, 겸손한, 생색내는. term 용어. address 연설하다.
papers 논문. transactions 학술협의 회보, 보고서.
the Royal Society 영국 왕립학회. premier 가장 오래된, 最古(최고)의, 총리.
from time to time 때때로. investigator 연구자, 조사자, 수사관.
particular fields 특수분야. chew over 深思熟考(심사숙고)하다.
the latest edition 최신 板(판). outcome 결과. conference 회의.
humanities 인문과학, 고전. diagnosis 진단. impairment 損傷(손상).
interaction 상호작용. autist 자폐증 환자. empathy 感情移入(감정이입).
jargon 특수용어, 隱語(은어). criterion 기준. restrictive 제한적인. repetitive 반복적인.

B. 구문
- 그것(천재와 자폐증과의 관계)의 이해는 천재 연구자들의 겸손한 용어인 “뇌가 neurotypical한 사람들의 천재성의 발휘를 이끌어 내는 데 사용될 수 있을까?