This was published 7 years ago
How a head injury turned teenager Zac Tiessen into a musical genius
By Cole Latimer
- Episode 5 of Decoding Genius, a podcast series by General Electric that asks what is a genius and how you become one, is available now for download from decodinggenius.com.au or via iTunes
Zac Tiessen had just turned 13 when a playground accident altered his personality, tastes and intelligence, and led his family and medical professionals to question whether a head injury could turn an average suburban kid into a genius.
In episode five of the podcast Decoding Genius, host Lily Serna speaks to a Canadian family who has not one but two artistic prodigies, with one son acquiring his genius in a very remarkable way.
Josh, left, and Zac Tiessen are a rare example of two geniuses in a single family.
Both Josh and Zac Tiessen have been recognised for their skills; Josh renowned for his paintings and Zac changing the face of music.
"Finding one child with exceptional talents is rare, finding two under the same roof is exceptionally rare," Serna, an SBS presenter and mathematician, says.
If one part of the brain is injured, the right hemisphere may overcompensate, leading to an increased focus on maths and the arts, US psychologist Joanne Ruthsatz says.
Although Josh had long been recognised for this art skills, Zac was always seen as the more typical child.
However, a small accident catapulted him into the realms of genius, making him what is known as an "acquired savant". While playing with friends, Zac tried to jump headfirst over a large box, but he mistimed his leap and knocked himself out, landing face-first on a concrete floor, acquiring what at that time was his ninth concussion.
Almost immediately after the accident, Zac's entire personality changed. He became more focused and introverted, less social and was obsessed with making music.
This was a massive turnaround for Zac, who had previously hated music.
Joanne Ruthsatz, assistant professor of psychology at the Mansfield campus of The Ohio State University.
After the accident, he says, "a switch came on in my brain and all of a sudden nothing else would get in the way of learning guitar".
Since the injury he has made numerous recordings and invented a playing technique called "double handed thumb tapping".
According to new research, his genius may be related to brain damage.
"In the event of an injury to one part of the brain, the right hemisphere [of the brain] compensates," US psychologist Joanne Ruthsatz, who studies child prodigies, says.
"And that's why we see prodigies in the domains we see them in - in the arts, music, maths - which are all right-brain specialities, and so there may be a lesion or an area that's damaged, and the right hemisphere takes over and leads them into being this prodigious person."
Serna called the results potentially concerning for his family. But the Tiessens embraced Zac's newfound skills.
He isn't the first person suddenly to discover artistic talent after suffering a head injury.
American Derek Amato suffered a severe concussion diving headfirst into a pool, and suddenly became a piano maestro in his 40s, despite not playing before.
Roald Dahl underwent a similar swift change in personality and focus after suffering a massive head injury in a World War II plane crash. Beforehand, Dahl was known as a serious, scientific man, but after the crash - which left him in in hospital him for almost a month with a damaged frontal lobe - he became obsessed with writing, and was convinced the brain injuries altered his personality and led him to becoming an author.
While the theory is yet to be proven, evidence is mounting that artistic genius may be created - or accelerated - by the brain attempting to repair itself and overcompensating in its efforts.
"The idea that a brain injury can unleash exceptional talent seems like fodder for a Hollywood film, but the reality is that there is very little science to back it up because there are so few examples to be studied [due to the rareness of child prodigies]," Serna says.
The latest podcast episode also highlights a genetic and mental link between genius and autism, and explores how we can all train our brains.
"When we started this journey of Decoding Genius, I figured we would be talking about IQ scores, and maths theorems, and finding a cure for cancer," Serna says.
"I never expected it would lead us to autism and brain injuries. It turns out that genius can be uncovered in pretty unexpected places."
To find out more about what makes a genius, and the young people who are changing the world, listen to the latest episode below, and download or subscribe to the podcast.
The Decoding Genius podcast was produced by Made by Fairfax in partnership with General Electric.