There is a man who acquired super-human memory skills, after being hit in the head by a baseball.
Orlando L. Serell, born 1968 is the person who acquired super-human memory skills after being hit by a baseball. Orlando was similar to other children of his age and didn’t carry any special skills until he was hit by a baseball.
He was 10 years old in 1979, when while playing he was bumped by a baseball on the left side of his head, he fell down and stood up at once and continued playing as if nothing had happened. Though, he suffered continuous headaches after the incident and did not consult a doctor because he never told his parents about this.
The headache, at last ended. But Orlando no lately came to know that somehow, he was able to do complex calendrical calculations. He can also memorize the weather and each thing he has done after the day he was struck by the baseball.
He is also known as an “Acquired Savant” which means, a person who has achieved extraordinary skills by some external force. The savant syndrome results from the damage of left part of the brain which is responsible for sensory input, recognizing objects and forming visual memories.
People with savant syndrome have exceptional brilliance in some areas such as calendrical calculations, art, memory and musical abilities. This syndrome is six times more found in males than in females.
Some examples of people with savant skills:
Jonathan Lerman – A famous artist who couldn’t speak or communicate and only expressed himself by his artistic ability. His paintings appeared in the New York art gallery and were sold for $1,200!
Alonzo Clemons– Suffered from a traumatic brain injury which left him with a permanent learning disability. He had nothing to look forward in his life until he started sculpting tiny animals. Now he is considered as one of the most talented sculptors in the world!
People having such special savant skills make up only a 10% of the total population of the world!
Reference (s): wikipedia, listverse