My brilliant brain. Part 1, Born genius.

The first in a three-part series looking at people with extraordinary talents which attempts to work out whether they are born with genius or obtain genius through exceptionally hard work. This part features 7-year-old Mark who can already play more than 40 classical pieces from memory. We see Mark's playing assessed by child development specialists as well as famous musicians. Child psychologist Ellen Winner is involved in a project which aims to show whether the brain shapes musical ability or whether music shapes the brain - asking the age-old question: is it nature or nurture that makes a genius? The programme revisits the tragic story of Jeanie, a girl kept in a darkened room strapped to a toilet chair for 12.5 years, whose brain had been deprived of language and a nurturing environment and she was left with the mental age of an 18-month-old. Linguist Susan Curtiss talks about her work with Jeanie and about how although she learnt words she had no concept of grammar. In the early 1970s psychologists in North Carolina set up the ABCDERIAN project for disadvantaged children in which they played specially designed stimulating games for children from birth to 5-years-old. At the age of 3 these children showed much higher IQs than their peers and went on to have successful careers. But this did not produce genius, so what is it that makes a genius? Robert Plowman is testing twins to see if there is a genetic element to genius / high IQ. However, insatiable intellectual appetite comes at a price, Mark has to be taught at home as he doesn't fit in with children his own age and what will happen to him when he is no longer a child prodigy but is in competition as an adult with the world of other highly talented adults?