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It's not clear whether a prodigy's brain is any different from the brain of other children, in part because there have been no studies comparing the brains of prodigies with those of average people.

"But I believe that anything that shows up so early, without training, has got to be either a genetic or some other biological basis," Winner says. "If a child suddenly at age 3 goes to the piano and picks out a tune and does it beautifully, that has to be because that child has a different brain."

Children who are extremely gifted tend to be socially different, too, Winner says. "They feel like they can't find other kids like themselves, so they feel kind of weird, maybe even like a freak, and feel like [they] don't have anybody to connect with."

Gifted children are more likely to be introverted, Winner says, and spend more time alone. "On the other hand, they also long to connect with other kids, and they can't find other kids like themselves."

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"When you start that early, you suddenly start to grow up in public, and I wanted to experiment," Haimovitz says.

So he took his cello into punk rock clubs and coffeehouses. He played Bach and Haydn and Hendrix.

"My teacher, Leonard Rose, we never played any 20th century music. He didn't like it. But once I was exposed to Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and others, I couldn't really turn back. I wanted to know more," he says.

Bow in hand, he even took a stab at Led Zeppelin.

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"I rarely look back, honestly, because there's so much going on in the present and the future. But those moments when I am in the car and I happen to hear an old broadcast or recording, occasionally I am struck and say, 'Wow, I did some good things back then,' " he says.

Winner says that it's often the adults in a prodigy's childhood who determine how they'll fare when they grow up.

"I think it all has to do with how many expectations were put on you as a child: You're a genius. You're going to be a genius when you grow up. That is really dangerous," she says.

"But if you say, 'You're terrifically musical, and you're going to have a wonderfully musical life,' that's a very different kind of message to give to kids, and a much more positive one."




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