On Sunday, September 17, 2006, CNN will air a special report on the subject of genius.

Being gifted and being a genius are not the same thing. Geniuses are a small subset of the total gifted population. Although "genius" is probably the more popular phrase for this subset of individuals, most gifted education professionals choose to use the phrase "profoundly gifted." I think the latter phrase is less loaded with implication, expectation, and bias. However, I don't get to name CNN programs, so I'll use the term "genius" in this post.

The following is excerpted from the CNN press release titled "CNN’s Gupta Unravels Mystery of Genius for Prime-time Special."

In the new Dr. Sanjay Gupta Primetime Special, CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines the mysteries behind genius and attempts to answer the classic nature/nurture question of whether high intelligence is inborn or the product of environment. The one-hour program, “Genius,” premieres Sunday, Sept. 17, at 10 p.m. (ET)

A practicing neurosurgeon, Gupta starts with a look inside the brain and a discussion with scientists who are using cutting-edge brain imaging to find remarkable differences in the brains of highly intelligent people. Gupta’s quest takes him from the physiology of genius to the links and differences between intelligence and creativity. Along the way, he meets savants – people with severe mental limitations who possess breathtaking talent – and gifted students, whose educational needs are often unmet.

"As a new parent myself, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the best ways to nurture intelligence and creativity, especially in children," Gupta said. "From that starting point, we’ve met all sorts of remarkable people, from those you might call geniuses or prodigies to the people who study the concept of genius from all sorts of perspectives. Hopefully, we’ll shed some light on the meaning of genius and the way great ideas are born."