Kim Peek, aka Rain Man Focus of NASA Study

Kim Peek – an autistic man who has been deemed a “mega-savant” for his astonishing knowledge of 15 grand subjects ranging from history and literature, geography and numbers, to sports, music and dates – is a part of a new NASA study to explore the changes in his brain since MRI images were originally taken in 1988. Not only was he the basis of the main character in the movie Rain Man, but he apparently is getting smarter in his specialty areas as he gets older. The study has scientists hoping that technology used to study the effects of space travel on the brain will help explain his mental capabilities.