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NASA Scientists Studying 'Rain Man's' Brain, Hoping Space Technology

Will Help Explain His Mental Capabilities

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY Nov 8, 2004 — NASA scientists are studying autistic

savant Kim Peek, hoping that technology used to study the effects of

space travel on the brain will help explain his mental capabilities.

Last week, researchers had Peek who was the basis for

Hoffman's character in the 1988 film " Rain Man " undergo a series of

tests including computerized tomography and magnetic resonance

imaging, the results of which will be melded to create a three-

dimensional look at his brain structure.

The researchers want to compare a series of MRI images taken in 1988

by Dr. Dan Christensen, Peek's neuropsychiatrist at the University of

Utah, to see what has since changed within his brain.

Not only are Peek's brain and his abilities unique, noted D.

Boyle, director of the California center performing the scans, but

that he seems to be getting smarter in his specialty areas as he ages

is unexpected.

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The 53-year-old Peek is called a " mega-savant " because he is a genius

in about 15 different subjects, from history and literature and

geography to numbers, sports, music and dates. But he also is

severely limited in other ways, like not being able to find the

silverware drawer at home or dressing himself.

" The goal is to measure what happens in Kim's brain when he expresses

things and when he thinks about them, " said his father, Fran.

He came to the attention of NASA researchers at the Center for

Bioinformatics Space Life Sciences at the NASA-AMES Research Center

when he spoke in late October at a Rotary Club in central California.

When Kim Peek was born, doctors found a water blister on the right

side of his skull, similar to hydrocephalus. Later tests showed his

brain hemispheres are not separated, forming a single, large " data

storage " area.

It is likely that is why Peek has been able to memorize more than

9,000 books, his father said.

But he has lagged in other areas; his motor skills developed more

slowly than those of his peers.

Fran Peek doesn't need the test results to know much has changed for

his son in the last 16 years.

He was a shy young man with few social skills when the movie

propelled him to public notice. But now, after speaking to more than

two million people over the years, his father says he become calmer

and is more at ease speaking in front of people.

He also no longer reads only nonfiction, Fran Peek said, but has

dabbled with some fiction, such as books by King, because

that is what so many people talk about.

When he's home in Utah, Peek spends afternoons at the Salt Lake City

Public Library poring over books, even memorizing phone books and the

Cole's address directory.

Kim Peek was the model author Barrow Morrow used for the

original " Rain Man " script and screenplay, but the final product

retained only a small part of the original story.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This

material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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