Do animals think like autistic savants?
From correspondents in New York, United States, 11:30 AM IST Animal scientist Temple Grandin’s argument that animals and autistic savants share cognitive similarities could spur a better understanding of autism. Grandin had put forth the idea in her best-selling 2005 book ‘Animals in Translation’, which provides an unprecedented look at the autistic mind, according to an essay in the latest edition of the journal PloS Biology. Grandin said animals, like autistic humans, sense and respond to stimuli overlooked by ‘normal’ humans. Sensory-based information is inherently more detailed than word-based memories. ‘As a person with autism, all my thoughts are in photo-realistic pictures,’ she said. ‘The main similarity between animal thought and my thought is the lack of verbal language,’ Grandin added. Since animals do not have verbal language, they have to store memories as pictures, sounds, or other sensory impressions, said Grandin. The essay, by cognitive neuroscientist Giorgio Vallortig
