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If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with any neurological disorder, the prognosis can seem daunting.

But some neurological disorders can sometimes act more like super powers than an actual disease. While Nuerodegenerative disorders like dementia or Alzheimer's take away a persons standing ability to function, people with some forms of Aspergers or even schizophrenia can have retention abilities similar to Rain Man.

A new study suggests that people who bear the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease, a disorder similar to Alzheimer's that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain, learn faster than healthy people. The more pronounced the mutation was, the more quickly they learned.

Experts reason that fast past deterioration of nerves in the brain cause  neurological cells work faster, leading to increased learning efficiency.

Dr. Christian Beste, head of the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group "Neuronal Mechanisms of Action Control" at the RUB notes:

"It is possible that the same mechanisms that lead to the degenerative changes in the central nervous system also cause the considerably better learning efficiency"

Through experiments where controlled groups without the disease (45 in total) and subjects with genetic mutations for Huntington's (29 total) were given visual stimulus tests that gauged their ability on how quickly they could detect changes of brightness and orientation of objects among selected slides, researchers found that the latter group was highly more efficient.

After two such experiments researchers found that subjects with the Huntington's mutation had an average performance rate as twice as fast as those without the mutation, with increasnig rates depending on the person but never lower.

They also noted that subjects with the higher number of genetic mutations (associated with persons with juvenile Huntington's disorder) were faster at processing new information and had better retention or memory abilities.

The authors of the studies explain the contradictory find:

"This shows that neurodegenerative changes can cause paradoxical effects" says Christian Beste. "The everyday view that neurodegenerative changes fundamentally entail deterioration of various functions can no longer be maintained in this dogmatic form.