Health: Real Life Super Powers

By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ordinary people with super powers could be compared to the superheroes we see in the movies.

They are people with remarkable abilities that often come with a disability and that almost defy explanation.

From Superman to Spider-Man, who hasn't looked at these characters and thought what it would be like to have super human abilities.

And there are a few, very real and very gifted people in this world.

"I can take an LP record, look at the grooves and identify the piece of music," said Arthur Lintgen.

The retired physician who lives in Perkasie, PA doesn't only listen to vinyl records he can even tell you the name of the elaborate musical composition of a full orchestra.

"This is the 1812 Overture here," said Lintgen. "Violins will look different on a groove than cellos."

Amazingly,  Lintgen's musical background comes from the few piano lessons he took as a child.

Daniel Kish has biked all over the world.

"I got my first bicycle at age six," says Kisk.

Now at age 50, he is biking the globe.

While that may not be an impressive accomplishment, it is when you realize he is blind.

Kish says he sees the same way that bats see by using a kind of sonar called echolocation.

That's the super power behind superhero Daredevil.

Then there's Stephen Wiltshire.

His memory, just like Batman, is so precise he can draw an exact city skyline after seeing it just once.

Another super power that some people possess is autobiographical memories.

These people can remember things that happened on certain dates going back years.

"Each of us is endowed with potential," explains neurologist Dr. Daniel Antoniello.

But for those who have these seemingly super powers,  Antoniello says, their brain is different.

"Some circuits may not have developed fully,  this may allow other circuits to be hyperactive," he said.

And that hyperactivity, Dr. Antoniello says, creates overcompensation that can result in a super human ability.