Rain Man and Savant Memory

Savant syndrome involves some exceptional abilities in areas of memory and/or other specialized areas (e.g., specific type of information, specific hobby or event. These abilities may be present even when the individual is not specifically trying to memorize autobiographical data. One of the best-known examples of savant memory is said to be that of the man on which the movie Rain Man was based. Kim Peek reportedly had savant memory for most information, not just specialized pieces. In addition, he was able to memorize large pieces of information from the age of 16 months.