Washington: In an incident which appears to be a perfect plot for any reality-based work of fiction, an American college dropout after being brutally attacked by a group of street robbers has turned into a mathematics genius.
It happened after 41-year-old Jason Padgett's brain was damaged in a brutal attack by muggers. He was left concussed after being ambushed outside a karaoke club and repeatedly kicked in the head, the Daily Mail reported.
Now, wherever Padgett looks, he sees mathematical formulas and turns them into stunning, intricate diagrams he can draw by hand.
He is the only person in the world known to possess the skill, which, experts say, was caused by his head injury.
They believe the damage to Padgett's brain has left him with a ‘remarkable gift' for figures.
To understand how Padgett's brain works, neuroscientist and philosophy professor Berit Brogaard and her team flew Padgett to Finland to run a series of tests. His brain scan showed damage that was forcing his brain to overcompensate in certain areas that most people do not have access to.
Brogaard, who is based at the Centre for Neurodynamics at the University of Missouri, St Louis, said the result showed that Padgett is now an acquired savant, meaning brilliant in a specific area.
"Savant syndrome is the development of a particular skill, that can be mathematical, spatial, or autistic and that develops to an extreme degree that sort of makes a person superhuman," the professor added.
