Strange Stuff: Williams syndrome

From npr.org:

People with Williams syndrome — a rare genetic disorder with a variety of symptoms — are known for being almost compulsively loving and trusting. The syndrome is often called the "anti-autism" because people with Williams, rather than isolating themselves from others, are hyper-social. Children with Williams, for example, often climb into cars with perfect strangers or tell random salespeople that they love them.

But this hyper-social quality is not the only thing that characterizes Williams disorder, there are a wide variety of much less-publicized symptoms that affect their interactions with people and handling of daily tasks. And, one of the most unfortunate aspects is that even as people with Williams thrive on emotional closeness, other symptoms of the syndrome make it really tough for them to develop relationships.

People with Williams have something called hyperacusis, which makes them extremely sensitive to noise at certain frequencies, they heard that background noise as if it were directly in front of them.

It's caused by a deletion of around 26 genes on a single chromosome. This alteration produces real strengths but also serious medical, emotional and cognitive problems.

Read more here if you're interested.