Functional neural anatomy of talent

Abstract

The terms gifted, talented, and intelligent all have meanings that suggest an individual's highly proficient or exceptional performance in one or more specific areas of strength. Other than Spearman's g, which theorizes about a general elevated level of potential or ability, more contemporary theories of intelligence are based on theoretical models that define ability or intelligence according to a priori categories of specific performance. Recent studies in cognitive neuroscience report on the neural basis of g from various perspectives such as the neural speed theory and the efficiency of prefrontal function. Exceptional talent is the result of interactions between goal-directed behavior and nonvolitional perceptual processes in the brain that have yet to be fully characterized and understood by the fields of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Some developmental studies report differences in region-specific neural activation, recruitment patterns, and reaction times in subjects who are identified with high IQ scores according to traditional scales of assessment such as the WISC-III or Stanford-Binet. Although as cases of savants and prodigies illustrate, talent is not synonymous with high IQ. This review synthesizes information from the fields of psychometrics and gifted education, with findings from the neurosciences on the neural basis of intelligence, creativity, profiles of expert performers, cognitive function, and plasticity to suggest a paradigm for investigating talent as the maximal and productive use of either or both of one's high level of general intelligence or domain-specific ability. Anat Rec (Part B: New Anat) 277B:21-36, 2004.

Impact of IQ Discrepancy on Executive Function in High-Functioning Autism: Insight into Twice Exceptionality

“…Mounting evidence suggests that high intellectual aptitude supports the demonstration of higher order cognitive skills in HFA such as reasoning and attention (Brar et al 2009;Dawson et al 2007;Hayashi et al 2008;Kalbfleisch 2004;Kalbfleisch et al submitted;Markram and Markram 2010). In the gifted education literature, some children with HFA fall into the category 'twice exceptional' (Whitmore 1980;Fox et al 1983;Whitmore and Maker 1985), defined descriptively as the co-morbidity of high ability (characterized by a Full Scale Index Quotient (FSIQ) generally C120, due to the fact that this score is often used as a cut-off to identify children for services in gifted programs in school) and a co-morbid disability such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, or HFA (Kalbfleisch 2004;Kalbfleisch and Iguchi 2008).…”

“…Because EF supports higherlevel cognitive processes such as reasoning, it would seem a likely candidate for identifying processes that support successful cognitive performance in HFA. In keeping with this, ability measures do not fully characterize intellect in children who function on the high end of the psychometric intelligence curve (Kalbfleisch 2004;Kalbfleisch and Iguchi 2008). As evidence suggests, outside of Kanner's ''islets of ability'' in autistic savants (1943), much of the high functioning end of the autism spectrum is uncharacterized.…”

“…In the gifted education literature, some children with HFA fall into the category 'twice exceptional' (Whitmore 1980;Fox et al 1983;Whitmore and Maker 1985), defined descriptively as the co-morbidity of high ability (characterized by a Full Scale Index Quotient (FSIQ) generally C120, due to the fact that this score is often used as a cut-off to identify children for services in gifted programs in school) and a co-morbid disability such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, or HFA (Kalbfleisch 2004;Kalbfleisch and Iguchi 2008). Though little is empirically known about the nature of their abilities, twice exceptional children leverage and optimize parts of their cognitive skill for intellectual and creative performance even when they suffer social and emotional impairment (Foley Nicpon et al 2011;Kalbfleisch 2004Kalbfleisch , 2009Kalbfleisch and Iguchi 2008;Kaufmann et al 2000). This pattern of co-morbidity presents an alternative to the medical model of developmental disability (Gilger and Hynd 2008), incorporating the perspective that intellectual ability not only influences cognitive performance, but also impacts the expression of disability, hence the name ''twiceexceptional''.…”

Talent in the taxi: a model system for exploring expertise

“…'Gifted' musicians, artists, mathematicians, chess grandmasters, the multi-lingual and those with exceptional memories are lauded for their talent. Despite our passion for seeking out and appreciating talent, we still know relatively little about the basis of talent, and, in particular, there is a paucity of knowledge concerning its neural substrates (Kalbfleisch 2004;Ericsson et al 2006;Grafton 2008). Perhaps this is not surprising, given that even defining talent is not straightforward.…”

“…Perhaps this is not surprising, given that even defining talent is not straightforward. According to Kalbfleisch (2004), 'Someone exhibits 'talent' when they perform in a certain capacity above the norm'. But is talent innate or can it be acquired?…”