Veridical mapping in savant abilities, absolute pitch, and synesthesia: an autism case study

Bouvet, L., Donnadieu, S., Valdois, S., Caron, C., Dawson, M., & Mottron, L. (2014). Veridical mapping in savant abilities, absolute pitch, and synesthesia: an autism case study. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 106-106. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00106

Publication date: 1 Jan 2014 Added to AutiHub: 3 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)

Abstract

An enhanced role and autonomy of perception are prominent in autism. Furthermore, savant abilities, absolute pitch, and synesthesia are all more commonly found in autistic individuals than in the typical population. The mechanism of veridical mapping has been proposed to account for how enhanced perception in autism leads to the high prevalence of these three phenomena and their structural similarity. Veridical mapping entails functional rededication of perceptual brain regions to higher order cognitive operations, allowing the enhanced detection and memorization of isomorphisms between perceptual and non-perceptual structures across multiple scales. In this paper, we present FC, an autistic individual who possesses several savant abilities in addition to both absolute pitch and synesthesia-like associations. The co-occurrence in FC of abilities, some of them rare, which share the same structure, as well as FC's own accounts of their development, together suggest the importance of veridical mapping in the atypical range and nature of abilities displayed by autistic people.

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Cited references
68
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
7 / 68 (10.3%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
7 / 247 (2.8%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 7 / 64 (10.9%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 2 / 195 (1.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
64 / 247 (25.9%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 30 / 195 (15.4%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
57 / 64 (89.1%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 57 / 247 (23.1%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 28 / 30 (93.3%).
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