Recently, some neuroscientists tried to observe long-term working memory in action.

ECONOMIST: Who wants to be a genius?

So this study seems to provide some neurological evidence for Dr Ericsson's idea that long-term working-memory function underpins prodigy-level performance.

ECONOMIST: Who wants to be a genius?

Mr Gamm appeared to be using his long-term memory to store the working results that he needed to complete his calculations for example, all the dividends and remainders of a division sum.

ECONOMIST: Who wants to be a genius?

Dr Ericsson believes that prodigies get such impressive mileage out of their working memories by placing important pieces of information into their long-term memories in a way that makes them accessible to working-memory processes.

ECONOMIST: Who wants to be a genius?