[Exceptional musical performance in early childhood catatonia]

Many years ago the author, jointly with a psychologist, described a patient who, in spite of her alleged idiocy, showed an exceptional musical capacity. However, in the meantime the author has recognized and described early childhood catatonics and, as a consequence of this new knowledge, he has to admit an error. Even according to our then findings it would have been identifiable that, as has been confirmed now by follow-up, the patient is suffering from catatonia, starting in infancy. The high musical performance, then arousing our greatest astonishment, is now explicable, for childhood schizophrenics do not develop general mental deficiency but only specific circumscribed deficits.