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Thom RP, Canales C, Tresvalles M, McDougle CJ, Hooker JM, Chen Y, Zürcher NR. Neuroimaging research in Williams syndrome: Beginning to bridge the gap with clinical care. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 153:105364. [PMID: 37598875 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder affecting multiple organ systems. Cardinal features include cardiovascular disease, distinct facies, and a unique cognitive profile characterized by intellectual disability, hypersociability, and visuospatial weaknesses. Here, we synthesize neuroimaging research in WS with a focus on how the current literature and future work may be leveraged to improve health and quality of life in WS. More than 80 neuroimaging studies in WS have been conducted, the vast majority of which have focused on identifying morphometric brain differences. Aside from decreased volume of the parieto-occipital region and increased cerebellar volume, morphometric findings have been variable across studies. fMRI studies investigating the visuospatial deficit have identified dorsal stream dysfunction and abnormal activation of the hippocampal formation. Minimal work has been done using PET or MRS. Future approaches that conduct neuroimaging in tandem with clinical phenotyping, utilize novel imaging techniques to visualize brain vasculature or provide biochemical and molecular information, and include more homogenous age groups across the lifespan, have significant potential to advance clinical care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn P Thom
- Lurie Center for Autism, 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Camila Canales
- Lurie Center for Autism, 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Mary Tresvalles
- Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Georgetown University School of Medicine, 3900 Reservoir Rd NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
| | - Christopher J McDougle
- Lurie Center for Autism, 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jacob M Hooker
- Lurie Center for Autism, 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Yachin Chen
- Lurie Center for Autism, 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Nicole R Zürcher
- Lurie Center for Autism, 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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Emotion Priming in People with Williams Syndrome. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13030467. [PMID: 36979276 PMCID: PMC10046012 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13030467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotion categories configure the basic semantic knowledge of the human cognitive structure. Previous studies with people with Williams syndrome (WS) investigated their ability to process basic emotions and the dimensions of emotional valences. However, little is known about the categorization of emotions from the subordinate perspective of lexical words in people with WS. In this study, emotion priming was used as the research paradigm. Three types of emotional valence were used as stimuli: positive, neutral, and negative. Each emotional valence was used as a prime matched to a target in one of these same three types of emotional valence. All participants were asked to judge whether the prime and the target were matched in their emotional valence. People with WS (n = 14, 11M/3F, CA = 10.49, and MA = 6.57) showed priming patterns for emotion valences like those of the typically developing controls. When positive primes were presented, accuracy was higher for positive and negative targets than neutral targets. When neutral primes were presented, accuracy was highest for negative targets. When negative primes were presented, accuracy was the lowest for negative targets. All participants showed high priming accuracy for positive emotions; however, they confused neutral with positive targets. A negative priming effect was observed when negative primes preceded negative targets. Considering previous findings that people with WS show developmental delays in the basic emotions of anger and surprise, this study concludes that people with WS responded least accurately to the classification of emotional valence. The findings regarding the categorization of emotions in people with WS not only advance our understanding of their emotion knowledge and socioemotional cognition but also confirm the superficial enrichment of lexical semantics with weak conceptual change in people with WS. This weakness may result in impaired contextual integration in people with WS.
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Porter M, Gavria P, Reeve J, Green M, Baracz S, Rossi A, Boulton K. Neuroanatomical correlates of social approach in Williams Syndrome and down syndrome. Neuropsychologia 2022; 175:108366. [PMID: 36088994 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with Williams Syndrome (WS) or Downs Syndrome (DS) are often described as hypersociable, friendly and overly trusting of others. This hypersociability is a major concern for parents/caregivers due to the associated increased risk of exploitation and victimisation. Two brain regions - the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) - have been implicated in driving this hypersociability in WS, and in the general population and have associations with emotional evaluation, threat detection and social motivation. However, there has been little neuroimaging research on this topic, especially in DS, to date. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential neuroanatomical and neuropsychological correlates of hypersociability in WS and DS. Twelve individuals with WS (M = 22 years of age) and eleven individuals with DS (M = 26 years of age) completed a neuropsychological battery of executive functioning and social measures, including informant ratings on an ecologically measure of social approach. Clinical groups and twelve typically developing controls (M = 23 years) underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan to investigate volumetric differences in the OFC and the amygdala. As expected, WS individuals displayed the highest overall social approach, especially in relation to need to approach strangers and drive to interact with strangers, as well as inappropriate/overfriendly behaviours. Both groups rated similarly in terms of social trust and unconditional positive regard. Emotion recognition abilities were similar across groups, with the DS group displaying some difficulties with negative emotions (especially anger). Inhibition and flexibility were similarly impaired across WS and DS. Compared to neurotypical controls, the DS group showed increased amygdala volumes bilaterally, while the WS group showed an enlarged right medial OFC. Approach ratings were significantly correlated with left amygdala and medial and left lateral OFC volumes in WS, and with these same regions bilaterally in DS. Results provide potential biological explanations for the hypersociability seen in WS and DS. Future research should focus on other potential neural correlates, as well as potential genetic and hormonal contributions to approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Porter
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia.
| | - Polina Gavria
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Jessica Reeve
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Michael Green
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Sarah Baracz
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Adriana Rossi
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Kelsie Boulton
- School of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
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Qiao H, Tian Y, Huo Y, Man HY. Role of the DUB enzyme USP7 in dendritic arborization, neuronal migration, and autistic-like behaviors in mice. iScience 2022; 25:104595. [PMID: 35800757 PMCID: PMC9253496 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Duplication and haploinsufficiency of the USP7 gene are implicated in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but the role for USP7 in neurodevelopment and contribution to ASD pathogenesis remain unknown. We find that in primary neurons, overexpression of USP7 increases dendritic branch number and total dendritic length, whereas knockdown leads to opposite alterations. Besides, USP7 deubiquitinates the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP). The USP7-induced increase in XIAP suppresses caspase 3 activity, leading to a reduction in tubulin cleavage and suppression of dendritic pruning. When USP7 is introduced into the brains of prenatal mice via in utero electroporation (IUE), it results in abnormal migration of newborn neurons and increased dendritic arborization. Importantly, intraventricular brain injection of AAV-USP7 in P0 mice leads to autistic-like phenotypes including aberrant social interactions, repetitive behaviors, as well as changes in somatosensory sensitivity. These findings provide new insights in USP7-related neurobiological functions and its implication in ASD. Overexpression of USP7 increases dendritic arborization USP7 targets XIAP for deubiquitination and regulates XIAP proteostasis in neurons USP7 regulates dendritic remodeling via the XIAP-caspase 3-tubulin pathway Prenatal overexpression of USP7 in mice leads to autistic-like behaviors
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Ridley E, Arnott B, Riby DM, Burt DM, Hanley M, Leekam SR. The Quality of Everyday Eye Contact in Williams Syndrome: Insights From Cross-Syndrome Comparisons. AMERICAN JOURNAL ON INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2022; 127:293-312. [PMID: 36122327 DOI: 10.1352/1944-7558-127.4.293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Past research shows that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) have heightened and prolonged eye contact. Using parent report measures, we examined not only the presence of eye contact but also its qualitative features. Study 1 included individuals with WS (n = 22, ages 6.0-36.3). Study 2 included children with different neurodevelopmental (ND) conditions (WS, autism spectrum condition, fragile X syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and children with neurotypical development (NT; n = 262, ages 4.0-17.11). Unusual eye contact features, including staring, were found in approximately half of the WS samples. However, other features such as brief glances were frequently found in WS and in all ND conditions, but not NT. Future research in ND conditions should focus on qualitative as well as quantitative features of eye contact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Ridley
- Ellen Ridley, Centre for Neurodiversity & Development, Durham University, and Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Bronia Arnott
- Bronia Arnott, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK
| | - Deborah M Riby
- Deborah M. Riby, Centre for Neurodiversity & Development, Durham University, and Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - D Michael Burt
- D. Michael Burt, Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Mary Hanley
- Mary Hanley, Centre for Neurodiversity & Development, Durham University, and Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Susan R Leekam
- Susan R. Leekam, Cardiff University Centre for Developmental Science, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales, CF10 3AT, UK
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Meisner OC, Nair A, Chang SWC. Amygdala connectivity and implications for social cognition and disorders. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2022; 187:381-403. [PMID: 35964984 PMCID: PMC9436700 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-823493-8.00017-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The amygdala is a hub of subcortical region that is crucial in a wide array of affective and motivation-related behaviors. While early research contributed significantly to our understanding of this region's extensive connections to other subcortical and cortical regions, recent methodological advances have enabled researchers to better understand the details of these circuits and their behavioral contributions. Much of this work has focused specifically on investigating the role of amygdala circuits in social cognition. In this chapter, we review both long-standing knowledge and novel research on the amygdala's structure, function, and involvement in social cognition. We focus specifically on the amygdala's circuits with the medial prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the hippocampus, as these regions share extensive anatomic and functional connections with the amygdala. Furthermore, we discuss how dysfunction in the amygdala may contribute to social deficits in clinical disorders including autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety disorder, and Williams syndrome. We conclude that social functions mediated by the amygdala are orchestrated through multiple intricate interactions between the amygdala and its interconnected brain regions, endorsing the importance of understanding the amygdala from network perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia C Meisner
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Amrita Nair
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Steve W C Chang
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.
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Massol S, Caron C, Franck N, Demily C, Chainay H. Emotional modulation of episodic memory in children and adolescents with Williams-Beuren syndrome. Child Neuropsychol 2021; 28:458-495. [PMID: 34749578 DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2021.1993167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Children and adolescents with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) have been described as having specific memory abilities and emotional reactivity. Although it is well established in the literature that emotion can enhance memory, no such studies have been undertaken in individuals with WBS. In three experiments, the present study tested whether the negative or positive emotional valence of stimuli can influence verbal, visual and visuo-spatial memory by specifically evaluating two memory components: item and associative memory. Sixteen 8- to 18-year-old individuals with WBS performed the first two experiments and, among them, twelve participated in the third. They were compared to equivalent groups of typically developing control children. Participants completed intentional-encoding tasks followed by immediate item recognition, associative recall or item recall tasks. Event-related potential measures during encoding and recognition of pictures were also added in the third experiment. Results demonstrated, for the first time, effects of emotions on visual item memory and visuo-spatial associative memory in individuals with WBS, that were similar to those observed in typically developing children. By combining behavioral and neural measures, our study provides new knowledge of the interaction between emotion and memory in WBS individuals, which seems to be unaffected by their atypical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Massol
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs (EMC), EA3082, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Bron, France
| | - Cora Caron
- Pôle Centre rive gauche et Centre Ressource de réhabilitation psychosociale, Centre hospitalier le Vinatier et Institut Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5229 (CNRS et Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), Bron, France
| | - Nicolas Franck
- Pôle Centre rive gauche et Centre Ressource de réhabilitation psychosociale, Centre hospitalier le Vinatier et Institut Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5229 (CNRS et Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), Bron, France
| | - Caroline Demily
- Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire ADIS, Centre de Référence Maladie Rares GénoPsy, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier et Institut Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5229 (CNRS et Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), Bron, France
| | - Hanna Chainay
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs (EMC), EA3082, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Bron, France
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Niego A, Benítez-Burraco A. Autism and Williams syndrome: truly mirror conditions in the socio-cognitive domain? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2020; 68:399-415. [PMID: 35937179 PMCID: PMC9351567 DOI: 10.1080/20473869.2020.1817717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Williams Syndrome (WS) are frequently characterized as mirror conditions in the socio-cognitive domain, with ASD entailing restrictive social interests and with WS exhibiting hypersociability. In this review paper, we examine in detail the strong points and deficits of people with ASD or WS in the socio-cognitive domain and show that both conditions also share some common features. Moreover, we explore the neurobiological basis of the social profile of ASD and WS and found a similar mixture of common affected areas and condition-specific impaired regions. We discuss these findings under the hypothesis of a continuum of the socio-cognitive abilities in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Niego
- Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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Heaton P, Ridley E, Makhmood S, Riby DM. Hearing the feeling: Auditory emotion perception in Williams syndrome. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2020; 103:103660. [PMID: 32447244 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies investigating recognition of facial expressions of emotions in Williams syndrome (WS) have reported difficulties in recognising negative expressions of emotion and a reliance on atypically developing underlying processes during task performance. AIM The aim of the study was to extend these findings to the recognition of emotions in auditory domains. METHOD AND PROCEDURES Children and adolescents with WS, together with chronological (CA) and verbal mental age matched (VMA) typically developing (TD) comparison groups, were asked to judge expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear in vocal and musical conditions. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS Total emotion recognition scores did not differ between WS and VMA matched groups but profiles of discrimination across emotion categories were markedly different. For all groups, the accessibility of emotion category cues differed across music and speech domains. The results suggested that emotion discrimination is more strongly linked with cognitive ability in WS than in TD. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Although WS and TD groups showed a significantly different profile of discrimination across emotion categories, similarities in the pattern of discrimination across domains and in the correlates of auditory emotion processing were observed. The results are discussed in the context of typical and atypical developmental trajectories and compensatory mechanisms in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela Heaton
- Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW, United Kingdom.
| | - Ellen Ridley
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Upper Mountjoy, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
| | - Sonya Makhmood
- Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW, United Kingdom.
| | - Deborah M Riby
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Upper Mountjoy, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
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Genes dysregulated in the blood of people with Williams syndrome are enriched in protein-coding genes positively selected in humans. Eur J Med Genet 2020; 63:103828. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmg.2019.103828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Revised: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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Lew CH, Groeniger KM, Hanson KL, Cuevas D, Greiner DMZ, Hrvoj-Mihic B, Bellugi U, Schumann CM, Semendeferi K. Serotonergic innervation of the amygdala is increased in autism spectrum disorder and decreased in Williams syndrome. Mol Autism 2020; 11:12. [PMID: 32024554 PMCID: PMC7003328 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-019-0302-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders that demonstrate overlapping genetic associations, dichotomous sociobehavioral phenotypes, and dichotomous pathological differences in neuronal distribution in key social brain areas, including the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. The serotonergic system is critical to many processes underlying neurodevelopment and is additionally an important neuromodulator associated with behavioral variation. The amygdala is heavily innervated by serotonergic projections, suggesting that the serotonergic system is a significant mediator of neuronal activity. Disruptions to the serotonergic system, and atypical structure and function of the amygdala, are implicated in both WS and ASD. METHODS We quantified the serotonergic axon density in the four major subdivisions of the amygdala in the postmortem brains of individuals diagnosed with ASD and WS and neurotypical (NT) brains. RESULTS We found opposing directions of change in serotonergic innervation in the two disorders, with ASD displaying an increase in serotonergic axons compared to NT and WS displaying a decrease. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed between WS and ASD data sets across multiple amygdala nuclei. LIMITATIONS This study is limited by the availability of human postmortem tissue. Small sample size is an unavoidable limitation of most postmortem human brain research and particularly postmortem research in rare disorders. CONCLUSIONS Differential alterations to serotonergic innervation of the amygdala may contribute to differences in sociobehavioral phenotype in WS and ASD. These findings will inform future work identifying targets for future therapeutics in these and other disorders characterized by atypical social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- C H Lew
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, USA
| | - K M Groeniger
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, USA
| | - K L Hanson
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, USA
| | - D Cuevas
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, USA
| | - D M Z Greiner
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, USA
| | - B Hrvoj-Mihic
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, USA
| | - U Bellugi
- Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, San Diego, USA
| | - C M Schumann
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, the MIND Institute, Sacramento, USA
| | - K Semendeferi
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, USA.
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Niego A, Benítez-Burraco A. Williams Syndrome, Human Self-Domestication, and Language Evolution. Front Psychol 2019; 10:521. [PMID: 30936846 PMCID: PMC6431629 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Language evolution resulted from changes in our biology, behavior, and culture. One source of these changes might be human self-domestication. Williams syndrome (WS) is a clinical condition with a clearly defined genetic basis which results in a distinctive behavioral and cognitive profile, including enhanced sociability. In this paper we show evidence that the WS phenotype can be satisfactorily construed as a hyper-domesticated human phenotype, plausibly resulting from the effect of the WS hemideletion on selected candidates for domestication and neural crest (NC) function. Specifically, we show that genes involved in animal domestication and NC development and function are significantly dysregulated in the blood of subjects with WS. We also discuss the consequences of this link between domestication and WS for our current understanding of language evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Niego
- Ph.D. Program, Faculty of Humanities, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature, Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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Luo E, Liu H, Zhao Q, Shi B, Chen Q. Dental-craniofacial manifestation and treatment of rare diseases. Int J Oral Sci 2019; 11:9. [PMID: 30783081 PMCID: PMC6381182 DOI: 10.1038/s41368-018-0041-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/28/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Rare diseases are usually genetic, chronic and incurable disorders with a relatively low incidence. Developments in the diagnosis and management of rare diseases have been relatively slow due to a lack of sufficient profit motivation and market to attract research by companies. However, due to the attention of government and society as well as economic development, rare diseases have been gradually become an increasing concern. As several dental-craniofacial manifestations are associated with rare diseases, we summarize them in this study to help dentists and oral maxillofacial surgeons provide an early diagnosis and subsequent management for patients with these rare diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- En Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Hanghang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Qiucheng Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Bing Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
| | - Qianming Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
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Extending the positive bias in Williams syndrome: The influence of biographical information on attention allocation. Dev Psychopathol 2019; 32:243-256. [PMID: 30728089 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579418001712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
There is evidence that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) show an attention bias toward positive social-perceptual (happy) faces. Research has not yet considered whether this attention bias extends beyond social-perceptual stimuli to perceptually neutral stimuli that are paired with positive (trustworthy) biographical information. Fourteen participants with WS (mean age = 21 years, 1 month) learned to associate perceptually neutral faces with trustworthy (positive), neutral, or untrustworthy (negative) biographical information, before completing a dot-probe task where the same biographical faces were presented. The performance of the WS group was compared to two typically developing control groups, individually matched to the WS individuals on chronological age and mental age, respectively. No between-group bias toward untrustworthy characters was observed. The WS group displayed a selective attention bias toward trustworthy characters compared to both control groups (who did not show such a bias). Results support previous findings that indicate WS individuals show a preference for positive social-perceptual stimuli (happy faces) at the neurological, physiological, and attentional levels. The current findings extend this work to include a "top-down" positive bias. The implications of a positive bias that extends beyond social-perceptual stimuli (or "bottom-up" processes) in this syndrome are discussed.
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Uljarević M, Labuschagne I, Bobin R, Atkinson A, Hocking DR. Brief Report: The Impact of Sensory Hypersensitivity and Intolerance of Uncertainty on Anxiety in Williams Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:3958-3964. [PMID: 29948532 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3631-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
This study explored the interrelationship between intolerance of uncertainty, sensory hyper-sensitivity and anxiety in Williams syndrome (WS). Thirty-two parents or guardians of individuals with WS (Mage = 24.76 years, SD = 7.55) were included. Associations between anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, sensory hyper-sensitivity, and ASD symptoms were assessed. Linear regression analysis revealed that intolerance of uncertainty and sensory hyper-sensitivity were unique independent predictors of anxiety, while social communication score was not. There was evidence of a mediating effect of sensory hyper-sensitivity on the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety. These findings bear strong resemblance to the pattern seen in ASD and emphasize the need for development of anxiety interventions that attempt to reduce negative beliefs about unpredictable situations in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirko Uljarević
- Stanford Autism Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Izelle Labuschagne
- School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Rebecca Bobin
- School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Anna Atkinson
- Developmental Neuromotor & Cognition Lab, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Darren R Hocking
- Developmental Neuromotor & Cognition Lab, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia.
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Vivanti G, Hamner T, Lee NR. Neurodevelopmental Disorders Affecting Sociability: Recent Research Advances and Future Directions in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams Syndrome. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2018; 18:94. [DOI: 10.1007/s11910-018-0902-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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Vivanti G, Hamner T, Lee NR. Neurodevelopmental Disorders Affecting Sociability: Recent Research Advances and Future Directions in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams Syndrome. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2018. [PMID: 30328520 DOI: 10.1007/s11910–018–0902-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW In this review, we summarize current knowledge and hypotheses on the nature of social abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS). RECENT FINDINGS Social phenotypes in ASD and WS appear to reflect analogous disruptions in social cognition, and distinct patterns of social motivation, which appears to be reduced in ASD and enhanced in WS. These abnormalities likely originate from heterogeneous vulnerabilities that disrupt the interplay between domain-general and social domain-specific cognitive and motivational processes during early development. Causal pathways remain unclear. Advances and research gaps in our understanding of the social phenotypes in ASD and WS highlight the importance of (1) parsing the construct of sociability, (2) adopting a developmental perspective, (3) including samples that are representative of the spectrum of severity within ASD and WS in neuroscientific research, and (4) adopting transdiagnostic treatment approaches to target shared areas of impairment across diagnostic boundaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giacomo Vivanti
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, 3020 Market Street, Suite 560, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3734, USA. .,Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3734, USA.
| | - Taralee Hamner
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, 3020 Market Street, Suite 560, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3734, USA.,Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3734, USA
| | - Nancy Raitano Lee
- Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3734, USA
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18
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Toth M. The other side of the coin: Hypersociability. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2018; 18:e12512. [PMID: 30101538 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Affiliative social motivation and behavior, that is, sociability that includes attachment, prosocial behavior (sharing, caring and helping) and empathy (the ability to understand and share the feelings of others), has high variability in the human population, with a portion of people outside of the normal range. While psychiatric disorders and autism spectrum disorders are typically associated with a deficit in social behavior, the opposite trait of hypersociability and indiscriminate friendliness are exhibited by individual with specific neurodevelopmental disorders and following early adverse care. Here we discuss both genetic and environmental factors that cause or increase the risk for developing pathological hypersociability from human to rodent models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miklos Toth
- Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York
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19
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Abnormalities in early visual processes are linked to hypersociability and atypical evaluation of facial trustworthiness: An ERP study with Williams syndrome. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2018; 17:1002-1017. [PMID: 28685402 PMCID: PMC5608800 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0528-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Accurate assessment of trustworthiness is fundamental to successful and adaptive social behavior. Initially, people assess trustworthiness from facial appearance alone. These assessments then inform critical approach or avoid decisions. Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) exhibit a heightened social drive, especially toward strangers. This study investigated the temporal dynamics of facial trustworthiness evaluation in neurotypic adults (TD) and individuals with WS. We examined whether differences in neural activity during trustworthiness evaluation may explain increased approach motivation in WS compared to TD individuals. Event-related potentials were recorded while participants appraised faces previously rated as trustworthy or untrustworthy. TD participants showed increased sensitivity to untrustworthy faces within the first 65-90 ms, indexed by the negative-going rise of the P1 onset (oP1). The amplitude of the oP1 difference to untrustworthy minus trustworthy faces was correlated with lower approachability scores. In contrast, participants with WS showed increased N170 amplitudes to trustworthy faces. The N170 difference to low-high-trust faces was correlated with low approachability in TD and high approachability in WS. The findings suggest that hypersociability associated with WS may arise from abnormalities in the timing and organization of early visual brain activity during trustworthiness evaluation. More generally, the study provides support for the hypothesis that impairments in low-level perceptual processes can have a cascading effect on social cognition.
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20
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Weisman O, Feldman R, Burg-Malki M, Keren M, Geva R, Diesendruck G, Gothelf D. Comparing the broad socio-cognitive profile of youth with Williams syndrome and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH : JIDR 2017; 61:1083-1093. [PMID: 28990288 PMCID: PMC5696079 DOI: 10.1111/jir.12424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Revised: 07/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous studies have assessed the socio-cognitive profile in Williams syndrome (WS) and, independently, in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS). Yet, a cross-syndrome comparison of these abilities between individuals with these two syndromes with known social deficits has not been conducted. METHODS Eighty-two children participated in four study groups: WS (n = 18), 22q112.DS (n = 24), age-matched individuals with idiopathic developmental disability (IDD; n = 20) and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 20). Participants completed four socio-cognitive tests: facial emotion recognition, mental state attribution, differentiating real from apparent emotions and trait inference based on motives and actions-outcomes. RESULTS The current findings demonstrate that children with WS were better in labelling happy faces compared with children with 22q11.2DS, partially reflecting their exaggerated social drive. In the false belief task, however, the WS and IDD groups performed poorly compared with the 22q11.2DS group, possibly due to their difficulty to interpret subtle social cues. When asked to identify the gap between real-negative vs. apparent-positive emotions, the 22q11.2DS group performed similarly to TD children but better than the WS group, possibly due to their anxious personality and their innate bias towards negatively valence cues. Finally, individuals with WS were more willing to become friends with a story character even when the character's motives were negative, reflecting their difficulty to avoid potentially harmful real-life situations. CONCLUSIONS Overall, our multi-facet socio-cognitive battery uncovered strengths and weaknesses in social cognition that are syndrome-specific, shared among the genetic syndromes, or common to the three clinical groups compared with healthy controls. Our findings underscore the need to devise age-specific and condition-specific assessment tools and intervention programs towards improving these children's socio-cognitive deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omri Weisman
- The Behavioral Neurogenetics Center, The Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Department of Psychology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Merav Burg-Malki
- The Behavioral Neurogenetics Center, The Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Miri Keren
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
- Child and Adolescent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, Petah Tikva, Israel
| | - Ronny Geva
- Department of Psychology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Gil Diesendruck
- Department of Psychology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Doron Gothelf
- The Behavioral Neurogenetics Center, The Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
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Ewing L, Farran EK, Karmiloff-Smith A, Smith ML. Understanding Strategic Information Use During Emotional Expression Judgments in Williams Syndrome. Dev Neuropsychol 2017; 42:323-335. [PMID: 28891719 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2017.1353995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Detailed analysis of expression judgments in Williams syndrome reveals that successful emotion categorization need not reflect "classic" information processing strategies. These individuals draw upon a distinct set of featural details to identify happy and fearful faces that differ from those used by typically developing comparison groups: children and adults. The diagnostic visual information is also notably less interlinked in Williams syndrome, consistent with reports of diminished processing of configural information during face identity judgments. These results prompt reconsideration of typical models of face expertise by revealing that an age-appropriate profile of expression performance can be achieved via alternative routes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Ewing
- a Department of Psychological Sciences , Birkbeck, University of London , London , UK.,b School of Psychology , University of East Anglia , Norfolk , UK.,c ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology , University of Western Australia , Crawley , Australia
| | - Emily K Farran
- d UCL Institute of Education , University College London , London , UK
| | | | - Marie L Smith
- a Department of Psychological Sciences , Birkbeck, University of London , London , UK
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Crespi BJ, Procyshyn TL. Williams syndrome deletions and duplications: Genetic windows to understanding anxiety, sociality, autism, and schizophrenia. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 79:14-26. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2016] [Revised: 04/06/2017] [Accepted: 05/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Rossi NF, Giacheti CM. Association between speech-language, general cognitive functioning and behaviour problems in individuals with Williams syndrome. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH : JIDR 2017; 61:707-718. [PMID: 28612476 DOI: 10.1111/jir.12388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2015] [Revised: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 04/26/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Williams syndrome (WS) phenotype is described as unique and intriguing. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between speech-language abilities, general cognitive functioning and behavioural problems in individuals with WS, considering age effects and speech-language characteristics of WS sub-groups. METHODS The study's participants were 26 individuals with WS and their parents. General cognitive functioning was assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Token Test and the Cookie Theft Picture test were used as speech-language measures. Five speech-language characteristics were evaluated from a 30-min conversation (clichés, echolalia, perseverative speech, exaggerated prosody and monotone intonation). The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL 6-18) was used to assess behavioural problems. RESULTS Higher single-word receptive vocabulary and narrative vocabulary were negatively associated with CBCL T-scores for Social Problems, Aggressive Behaviour and Total Problems. Speech rate was negatively associated with the CBCL Withdrawn/Depressed T-score. Monotone intonation was associated with shy behaviour, as well as exaggerated prosody with talkative behaviour. WS with perseverative speech and exaggerated prosody presented higher scores on Thought Problems. Echolalia was significantly associated with lower Verbal IQ. No significant association was found between IQ and behaviour problems. Age-associated effects were observed only for the Aggressive Behaviour scale. CONCLUSIONS Associations reported in the present study may represent an insightful background for future predictive studies of speech-language, cognition and behaviour problems in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- N F Rossi
- Speech Language & Hearing Sciences Master Program, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Marilia, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - C M Giacheti
- Speech Language & Hearing Sciences Master Program, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Marilia, São Paulo, Brazil
- Speech Language & Hearing Sciences Department, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Marilia, São Paulo, Brazil
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24
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Hirai M, Muramatsu Y, Mizuno S, Kurahashi N, Kurahashi H, Nakamura M. Preserved search asymmetry in the detection of fearful faces among neutral faces in individuals with Williams syndrome revealed by measurement of both manual responses and eye tracking. J Neurodev Disord 2017; 9:8. [PMID: 28270868 PMCID: PMC5335849 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-017-9190-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) exhibit an atypical social phenotype termed hypersociability. One theory accounting for hypersociability presumes an atypical function of the amygdala, which processes fear-related information. However, evidence is lacking regarding the detection mechanisms of fearful faces for individuals with WS. Here, we introduce a visual search paradigm to elucidate the mechanisms for detecting fearful faces by evaluating the search asymmetry; the reaction time when both the target and distractors were swapped was asymmetrical. METHODS Eye movements reflect subtle atypical attentional properties, whereas, manual responses are unable to capture atypical attentional profiles toward faces in individuals with WS. Therefore, we measured both eye movements and manual responses of individuals with WS and typically developed children and adults in visual searching for a fearful face among neutral faces or a neutral face among fearful faces. Two task measures, namely reaction time and performance accuracy, were analyzed for each stimulus as well as gaze behavior and the initial fixation onset latency. RESULTS Overall, reaction times in the WS group and the mentally age-matched control group were significantly longer than those in the chronologically age-matched group. We observed a search asymmetry effect in all groups: when a neutral target facial expression was presented among fearful faces, the reaction times were significantly prolonged in comparison with when a fearful target facial expression was displayed among neutral distractor faces. Furthermore, the first fixation onset latency of eye movement toward a target facial expression showed a similar tendency for manual responses. CONCLUSIONS Although overall responses in detecting fearful faces for individuals with WS are slower than those for control groups, search asymmetry was observed. Therefore, cognitive mechanisms underlying the detection of fearful faces seem to be typical in individuals with WS. This finding is discussed with reference to the amygdala account explaining hypersociability in individuals with WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Hirai
- Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Human Service Center, 713-8 Kagiya-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 480-0392 Japan.,Present Address: Center for Development of Advanced Medical Technology, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 392-0498 Japan
| | - Yukako Muramatsu
- Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Human Service Center, 713-8 Kagiya-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 480-0392 Japan
| | - Seiji Mizuno
- Department of Pediatrics, Central Hospital, Aichi Human Service Center, 713-8 Kagiya-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 480-0392 Japan
| | - Naoko Kurahashi
- Department of Pediatrics, Central Hospital, Aichi Human Service Center, 713-8 Kagiya-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 480-0392 Japan
| | - Hirokazu Kurahashi
- Department of Pediatrics, Central Hospital, Aichi Human Service Center, 713-8 Kagiya-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 480-0392 Japan
| | - Miho Nakamura
- Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Human Service Center, 713-8 Kagiya-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 480-0392 Japan
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Opendak M, Gould E, Sullivan R. Early life adversity during the infant sensitive period for attachment: Programming of behavioral neurobiology of threat processing and social behavior. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2017; 25:145-159. [PMID: 28254197 PMCID: PMC5478471 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2016] [Revised: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 02/04/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals, including humans, require a highly coordinated and flexible system of social behavior and threat evaluation. However, trauma can disrupt this system, with the amygdala implicated as a mediator of these impairments in behavior. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as a critical variable in determining its immediate and enduring consequences, with trauma experienced from an attachment figure, such as occurs in cases of caregiver-child maltreatment, as particularly detrimental. This review focuses on the unique role of caregiver presence during early-life trauma in programming deficits in social behavior and threat processing. Using data primarily from rodent models, we describe the interaction between trauma and attachment during a sensitive period in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver's presence in engagement of attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. These data suggest that trauma experienced directly from an abusive caregiver and trauma experienced in the presence of caregiver cues produce similar neurobehavioral deficits, which are unique from those resulting from trauma alone. We go on to integrate this information into social experience throughout the lifespan, including consequences for complex scenarios, such as dominance hierarchy formation and maintenance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA.
| | - Elizabeth Gould
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Regina Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA
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Greer JMH, Hamilton C, McMullon MEG, Riby DM, Riby LM. An event related potential study of ihibitory and attentional control in Williams syndrome adults. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0170180. [PMID: 28187205 PMCID: PMC5302371 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The primary aim of the current study was to employ event-related potentials (ERPs) methodology to disentangle the mechanisms related to inhibitory control in older adults with Williams syndrome (WS). Eleven older adults with WS (mean age 42), 16 typically developing adults (mean age 42) and 13 typically developing children (mean age 12) participated in the study. ERPs were recorded during a three-stimulus visual oddball task, during which participants were required to make a response to a rare target stimulus embedded in a train of frequent non-target stimuli. A task-irrelevant infrequent stimulus was also present at randomised intervals during the session. The P3a latency data response related to task-irrelevant stimulus processing was delayed in WS. In addition, the early perceptual N2 amplitude was attenuated. These data are indicative of compromised early monitoring of perceptual input, accompanied by appropriate orientation of responses to task-irrelevant stimuli. However, the P3a delay suggests inefficient evaluation of the task-irrelevant stimuli. These data are discussed in terms of deficits in the disengagement of attentional processes, and the regulation of monitoring processes required for successful inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna M. H. Greer
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Colin Hamilton
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Mhairi E. G. McMullon
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Deborah M. Riby
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Leigh M. Riby
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) often experience significant anxiety. A promising approach to anxiety intervention has emerged from cognitive studies of attention bias to threat. To investigate the utility of this intervention in WS, this study examined attention bias to happy and angry faces in individuals with WS (N = 46). Results showed a significant difference in attention bias patterns as a function of IQ and anxiety. Individuals with higher IQ or higher anxiety showed a significant bias toward angry, but not happy faces, whereas individuals with lower IQ or lower anxiety showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that attention bias interventions to modify a threat bias may be most effectively targeted to anxious individuals with WS with relatively high IQ.
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Swartz JR, Waller R, Bogdan R, Knodt AR, Sabhlok A, Hyde LW, Hariri AR. A Common Polymorphism in a Williams Syndrome Gene Predicts Amygdala Reactivity and Extraversion in Healthy Adults. Biol Psychiatry 2017; 81:203-210. [PMID: 26853120 PMCID: PMC4909599 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2015] [Revised: 11/12/2015] [Accepted: 12/05/2015] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder resulting from hemizygous microdeletion of chromosome 7q11.23, has emerged as a model for identifying the genetic architecture of socioemotional behavior. Common polymorphisms in GTF2I, which is found within the WS microdeletion, have been associated with reduced social anxiety in the general population. Identifying neural phenotypes affected by these polymorphisms would help advance our understanding not only of this specific genetic association but also of the broader neurogenetic mechanisms of variability in socioemotional behavior. METHODS Through an ongoing parent protocol, the Duke Neurogenetics Study, we measured threat-related amygdala reactivity to fearful and angry facial expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging, assessed trait personality using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and imputed GTF2I rs13227433 from saliva-derived DNA using custom Illumina arrays. Participants included 808 non-Hispanic Caucasian, African American, and Asian university students. RESULTS The GTF2I rs13227433 AA genotype, previously associated with lower social anxiety, predicted decreased threat-related amygdala reactivity. An indirect effect of GTF2I genotype on the warmth facet of extraversion was mediated by decreased threat-related amygdala reactivity in women but not men. CONCLUSIONS A common polymorphism in the WS gene GTF2I associated with reduced social anxiety predicts decreased threat-related amygdala reactivity, which mediates an association between genotype and increased warmth in women. These results are consistent with reduced threat-related amygdala reactivity in WS and suggest that common variation in GTF2I contributes to broader variability in socioemotional brain function and behavior, with implications for understanding the neurogenetic bases of WS as well as social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johnna R. Swartz
- Laboratory of NeuroGenetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA,Correspondence to: Johnna Swartz, Address: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Campus Box 90086, 417 Chapel Drive, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, Phone: (919) 660-5789,
| | - Rebecca Waller
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Ryan Bogdan
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Annchen R. Knodt
- Laboratory of NeuroGenetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Aditi Sabhlok
- Laboratory of NeuroGenetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Luke W. Hyde
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Ahmad R. Hariri
- Laboratory of NeuroGenetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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Attention allocation to facial expressions of emotion among persons with Williams and Down syndromes. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 29:1189-1197. [PMID: 28025955 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579416001231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with Williams syndrome and those with Down syndrome are both characterized by heightened social interest, although the manifestation is not always similar. Using a dot-probe task, we examined one possible source of difference: allocation of attention to facial expressions of emotion. Thirteen individuals with Williams syndrome (mean age = 19.2 years, range = 10-28.6), 20 with Down syndrome (mean age = 18.8 years, range = 12.1-26.3), and 19 typically developing children participated. The groups were matched for mental age (mean = 5.8 years). None of the groups displayed a bias to angry faces. The participants with Williams syndrome showed a selective bias toward happy faces, whereas the participants with Down syndrome behaved similarly to the typically developing participants with no such bias. Homogeneity in the direction of bias was markedly highest in the Williams syndrome group whose bias appeared to result from enhanced attention capture. They appeared to rapidly and selectively allocate attention toward positive facial expressions. The complexity of social approach behavior and the need to explore other aspects of cognition that may be implicated in this behavior in both syndromes is discussed.
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Ng R, Bellugi U, Järvinen A. Anxiety and autonomic response to social-affective stimuli in individuals with Williams syndrome. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2016; 59:387-398. [PMID: 27718424 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2016] [Revised: 08/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic condition characterized by an unusual "hypersocial" personality juxtaposed by high anxiety. Recent evidence suggests that autonomic reactivity to affective face stimuli is disorganised in WS, which may contribute to emotion dysregulation and/or social disinhibition. METHODS Electrodermal activity (EDA) and mean interbeat interval (IBI) of 25 participants with WS (19 - 57 years old) and 16 typically developing (TD; 17-43 years old) adults were measured during a passive presentation of affective face and voice stimuli. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was administered to examine associations between autonomic reactivity to social-affective stimuli and anxiety symptomatology. RESULTS The WS group was characterized by higher overall anxiety symptomatology, and poorer anger recognition in social visual and aural stimuli relative to the TD group. No between-group differences emerged in autonomic response patterns. Notably, for participants with WS, increased anxiety was uniquely associated with diminished arousal to angry faces and voices. In contrast, for the TD group, no associations emerged between anxiety and physiological responsivity to social-emotional stimuli. CONCLUSIONS The anxiety associated with WS appears to be intimately related to reduced autonomic arousal to angry social stimuli, which may also be linked to the characteristic social disinhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rowena Ng
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Institute of Child Development, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Ursula Bellugi
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anna Järvinen
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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Lough E, Rodgers J, Janes E, Little K, Riby DM. Parent insights into atypicalities of social approach behaviour in Williams syndrome. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH : JIDR 2016; 60:1097-1108. [PMID: 27109005 DOI: 10.1111/jir.12279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/24/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with Williams syndrome have been reported to show high levels of social interest and a desire to interact with others irrespective of their familiarity. This high social motivation, when combined with reduced intellectual capacity and a profile of atypical social behaviour, is important in terms of social vulnerability of individuals with the disorder. Therefore, social approach to unfamiliar people and the role of this behaviour within the Williams syndrome (WS) social phenotype warrant further research to inform social skills' intervention design. METHODS The current study used parent interviews (n = 21) to probe aspects of social behaviour and interactions with strangers, as well as the impact of such behaviour on the family. Using thematic analysis, it was possible to explore themes that emerged from the interviews, offering qualitatively rich insight into the variability of social approach behaviour in WS. RESULTS Thematic analysis confirmed a significant desire to interact with strangers as well as a lack of awareness of appropriate social boundaries. However, parental reports about their child's social approach behaviour varied considerably. The within-syndrome variability of the sample was emphasised in parental reports of their child's personality characteristics (e.g. levels of impulsiveness), as well as the level of parental supervision employed. CONCLUSIONS These in-depth parent insights can help target the needs of individuals with WS and emphasise that an individual approach to intervention will be essential because of the heterogeneity of the WS social profile.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Lough
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - J Rodgers
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - E Janes
- Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - K Little
- School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - D M Riby
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK.
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Key AP, Dykens EM. Processing of stimulus content but not of emotional valence is altered in persons with Williams syndrome. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH : JIDR 2016; 60:993-1009. [PMID: 27457303 PMCID: PMC6933513 DOI: 10.1111/jir.12319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2015] [Revised: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) exhibit hypersociability and may respond atypically to emotional information in social and nonsocial stimuli. It is not yet clear whether these difficulties are specific to emotional content or stimulus type. This study examined the neural processes supporting social and emotional information processing in WS. METHOD Visual event-related potentials were recorded in 19 adults with WS and 10 typical peers during a picture-viewing task requiring detection of smiling faces among other social and nonsocial images with positive and negative emotional content. RESULTS The participant groups were not significantly different in affective processing of positive and negative stimuli and perceived faces as different from nonsocial images. Participants with WS showed subtle differences in face-specific perceptual processes (e.g. face inversion, N170 lateralisation), suggesting a more feature-based processing. They also demonstrated reduced attention and arousal modulation (P3, late positive potential) in response to faces vs. nonsocial images. These differences were independent of intelligence quotient. CONCLUSIONS There was no evidence of greater than typical perceptual, attentional or affective processing of social information in WS. The results support the idea that altered face perception processes and not the increased salience of social stimuli or difficulties with emotion discrimination may contribute to the hypersocial phenotype in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- A P Key
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center & Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - E M Dykens
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center & Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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Goldman KJ, Burack JA, Shulman C. Learning from facial expressions in individuals with Williams syndrome. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH : JIDR 2016; 60:982-992. [PMID: 27503702 DOI: 10.1111/jir.12316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2015] [Revised: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite high levels of social engagement, the social competence of individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) is frequently compromised. This descriptive study explores the ability of young people with WS to learn from facial expressions when provided as a source of feedback for their actions. METHOD Using a novel task, the ability to interpret facial expressions and adapt behaviour after receiving feedback in the form of happy or angry faces was assessed in 12 participants with WS aged between 10 and 28 years and with a mean nonverbal mental age of 6.5 years, and in typically developing (TD) children aged between 4 and 7 years. RESULTS Individuals with WS were able to use facial expressions as feedback in a manner commensurate with their mental age, only when other cognitive demands were low. Their performance profile differed from that of the TD children matched for mental age and from the performance profile of 4 year olds. CONCLUSIONS Possible explanations for the unique performance profile observed in the participants with WS are discussed. The results highlight the need to examine social competencies in the context of the cognitive demands characteristic of social environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- K J Goldman
- School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and David Yellin College of Education, Jerusalem, Israel.
| | - J A Burack
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
| | - C Shulman
- The School of Social Work, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Klarić TS, Jaehne EJ, Koblar SA, Baune BT, Lewis MD. Alterations in anxiety and social behaviour in Npas4 deficient mice following photochemically-induced focal cortical stroke. Behav Brain Res 2016; 316:29-37. [PMID: 27574128 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.08.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Revised: 08/21/2016] [Accepted: 08/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
In addition to causing widespread cell death and loss of brain function, cerebral ischaemia also induces extensive neuroplasticity. In humans, stroke is often accompanied by severe cognitive and psychiatric changes that are thought to arise as a consequence of this infarct-induced remodelling. A candidate for producing these post-stroke neuropsychiatric changes is Npas4, an activity-dependent transcription factor involved in synaptic plasticity whose expression is aberrantly up-regulated following ischaemic injury. In this study we investigated the role of Npas4 in modulating these stroke-induced neuropsychiatric responses by comparing the performance of wildtype and Npas4-/- mice in various cognitive and behavioural tasks in a photochemical model of focal cortical stroke. We show that this stroke model results in impaired spatial recognition memory and a reduction in despair-like behaviour that affect both genotypes to a similar degree. Moreover, mice lacking Npas4 also show differences in some aspects of post-stroke sociability and anxiety. Specifically, we show that while stroke had no effect on anxiety levels in wildtype mice, Npas4-/- mice became significantly more anxious following stroke. In addition, Npas4-/- mice retained a greater level of sociability in the acute post-stroke period in comparison to their wildtype littermates. Thus, our findings suggest that Npas4 may be involved in post-stroke psychiatric changes related to anxiety and sociability.
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Affiliation(s)
- T S Klarić
- School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - E J Jaehne
- Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - S A Koblar
- School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - B T Baune
- Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - M D Lewis
- South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia.
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Binelli C, Muñiz A, Subira S, Navines R, Blanco-Hinojo L, Perez-Garcia D, Crippa J, Farré M, Pérez-Jurado L, Pujol J, Martin-Santos R. Facial emotion processing in patients with social anxiety disorder and Williams-Beuren syndrome: an fMRI study. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2016; 41:182-91. [PMID: 26624523 PMCID: PMC4853209 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.140384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) are 2 conditions with major differences in terms of genetics, development and cognitive profiles. Both conditions are associated with compromised abilities in overlapping areas, including social approach, processing of social emotional cues and gaze behaviour, and to some extent they are associated with opposite behaviours in these domains. We examined common and distinct patterns of brain activation during a facial emotion processing paradigm in patients with SAD and WBS. METHODS We examined patients with SAD and WBS and healthy controls matched by age and laterality using functional MRI during the processing of happy, fearful and angry faces. RESULTS We included 20 patients with SAD and 20 with WBS as well as 20 matched controls in our study. Patients with SAD and WBS did not differ in the pattern of limbic activation. We observed differences in early visual areas of the face processing network in patients with WBS and differences in the cortical prefrontal regions involved in the top-down regulation of anxiety and in the fusiform gyrus for patients with SAD. Compared with those in the SAD and control groups, participants in the WBS group did not activate the right lateral inferior occipital cortex. In addition, compared with controls, patients with WBS hypoactivated the posterior primary visual cortex and showed significantly less deactivation in the right temporal operculum. Participants in the SAD group showed decreased prefrontal activation compared with those in the WBS and control groups. In addition, compared with controls, participants with SAD showed decreased fusiform activation. Participants with SAD and WBS also differed in the pattern of activation in the superior temporal gyrus, a region that has been linked to gaze processing. LIMITATIONS The results observed in the WBS group are limited by the IQ of the WBS sample; however, the specificity of findings suggests that the pattern of brain activation observed for WBS is more likely to reflect a neurobiological substrate rather than intellectual impairment per se. CONCLUSION Patients with SAD and WBS showed common and specific patterns of brain activation. Our results highlight the role of cortical regions during facial emotion processing in individuals with SAD and WBS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Rocio Martin-Santos
- Correspondence to: R. Martin-Santos, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clínic, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdicas August Pi I Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Villarroel, 170, 08036-Barcelona, Spain;
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Barak B, Feng G. Neurobiology of social behavior abnormalities in autism and Williams syndrome. Nat Neurosci 2016; 19:647-655. [PMID: 29323671 DOI: 10.1038/nn.4276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2015] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Social behavior is a basic behavior mediated by multiple brain regions and neural circuits, and is crucial for the survival and development of animals and humans. Two neuropsychiatric disorders that have prominent social behavior abnormalities are autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which is characterized mainly by hyposociability, and Williams syndrome (WS), whose subjects exhibit hypersociability. Here we review the unique properties of social behavior in ASD and WS, and discuss the major theories in social behavior in the context of these disorders. We conclude with a discussion of the research questions needing further exploration to enhance our understanding of social behavior abnormalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boaz Barak
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Brain &Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Guoping Feng
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Brain &Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Green T, Fierro KC, Raman MM, Saggar M, Sheau KE, Reiss AL. Surface-based morphometry reveals distinct cortical thickness and surface area profiles in Williams syndrome. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2016; 171B:402-13. [PMID: 26852730 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Morphometric investigations of brain volumes in Williams syndrome (WS) consistently show significant reductions in gray matter volume compared to controls. Cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) are two constituent parts of cortical gray matter volume that are considered genetically distinguishable features of brain morphology. Yet, little is known about the independent contribution of cortical CT and SA to these volumetric differences in WS. Thus, our objectives were: (i) to evaluate whether the microdeletion in chromosome 7 associated with WS has a distinct effect on CT and SA, and (ii) to evaluate age-related variations in CT and SA within WS. We compared CT and SA values in 44 individuals with WS to 49 age- and sex-matched typically developing controls. Between-group differences in CT and SA were evaluated across two age groups: young (age range 6.6-18.9 years), and adults (age range 20.2-51.5 years). Overall, we found contrasting effects of WS on cortical thickness (increases) and surface area (decreases). With respect to brain topography, the between-group pattern of CT differences showed a scattered pattern while the between-group surface area pattern was widely distributed throughout the brain. In the adult subgroup, we observed a cluster of increases in cortical thickness in WS across the brain that was not observed in the young subgroup. Our findings suggest that extensive early reductions in surface area are the driving force for the overall reduction in brain volume in WS. The age-related cortical thickness findings might reflect delayed or even arrested development of specific brain regions in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar Green
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.,Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Kyle C Fierro
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Mira M Raman
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Manish Saggar
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Kristen E Sheau
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Allan L Reiss
- Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.,Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
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Yoshida KCS, Van Meter PE, Holekamp KE. Variation among free-living spotted hyenas in three personality traits. BEHAVIOUR 2016. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Inter-individual differences in behaviour, termed ‘animal personality’, are often consistent over time and across contexts and can be significantly related to fitness. However, most studies of animal personality are conducted in the laboratory or involve experimental protocols. Here, we used longitudinal scan and all-occurrence data collected under naturalistic conditions over 21 years to study boldness, aggressiveness, and sociability in a wild population of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). We found significant variation among individual hyenas in all three traits; however, whereas both sexes exhibited consistent inter-individual differences in aggressiveness and sociability, males were less consistent than females in their boldness. Heritability and maternal effects were small but significant for both boldness and sociability. A large proportion of the variation in aggressiveness could be attributed to genetic and maternal effects, supporting previous research linking hormone exposure in utero to aggressive behaviour later in life. All three traits were correlated with at least one measure of fitness. Particularly aggressive females were more successful in raising their offspring to reproductive maturity than less aggressive females. Interestingly, the reproductive benefits of sociability depended on social rank; for low-ranking hyenas, gaining feeding tolerance via sociability may significantly enhance reproductive success. Both boldness and sociability were linked to survival, but these traits affected longevity in different ways; highly social hyenas lived longer than those that were less social, but selection on boldness was stabilizing, favoring hyenas with intermediate boldness values that balance the benefits of risky behaviour against risks of injury and death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn C. Shaw Yoshida
- Las Vegas Natural History Museum, 900 Las Vegas Boulevard N, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Program, Michigan State University, 293 Farm Lane, Room 103, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Room 203, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Page E. Van Meter
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Room 203, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
- Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Kay E. Holekamp
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Program, Michigan State University, 293 Farm Lane, Room 103, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Room 203, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
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Järvinen A, Ng R, Bellugi U. Autonomic response to approachability characteristics, approach behavior, and social functioning in Williams syndrome. Neuropsychologia 2015; 78:159-70. [PMID: 26459097 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2015] [Revised: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurogenetic disorder that is saliently characterized by a unique social phenotype, most notably associated with a dramatically increased affinity and approachability toward unfamiliar people. Despite a recent proliferation of studies into the social profile of WS, the underpinnings of the pro-social predisposition are poorly understood. To this end, the present study was aimed at elucidating approach behavior of individuals with WS contrasted with typical development (TD) by employing a multidimensional design combining measures of autonomic arousal, social functioning, and two levels of approach evaluations. Given previous evidence suggesting that approach behaviors of individuals with WS are driven by a desire for social closeness, approachability tendencies were probed across two levels of social interaction: talking versus befriending. The main results indicated that while overall level of approachability did not differ between groups, an important qualitative between-group difference emerged across the two social interaction contexts: whereas individuals with WS demonstrated a similar willingness to approach strangers across both experimental conditions, TD individuals were significantly more willing to talk to than to befriend strangers. In WS, high approachability to positive faces across both social interaction levels was further associated with more normal social functioning. A novel finding linked autonomic responses with willingness to befriend negative faces in the WS group: elevated autonomic responsivity was associated with increased affiliation to negative face stimuli, which may represent an autonomic correlate of approach behavior in WS. Implications for underlying organization of the social brain are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Järvinen
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Rowena Ng
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA; Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN, USA
| | - Ursula Bellugi
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
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40
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Järvinen A, Ng R, Crivelli D, Neumann D, Grichanik M, Arnold AJ, Lai P, Trauner D, Bellugi U. Patterns of Sensitivity to Emotion in Children with Williams Syndrome and Autism: Relations Between Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity and Social Functioning. J Autism Dev Disord 2015; 45:2594-612. [PMID: 25800866 PMCID: PMC6462220 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2429-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with atypical social-emotional functioning. Affective visual stimuli were used to assess autonomic reactivity and emotion identification, and the social responsiveness scale was used to determine the level social functioning in children with WS and ASD contrasted with typical development (TD), to examine syndrome-specific and syndrome-general features. Children with ASD exhibited the highest arousal in response to faces, with a lack of difference in autonomic sensitivity across different emotional expressions, unlike in WS and TD. The WS group demonstrated unique deficits in identifying neutral stimuli. While autonomic responsivity to neutral faces was associated with social functioning in all children, converging profiles characterized children with WS contrasted with TD and ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Järvinen
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037-1002, USA,
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41
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Lough E, Hanley M, Rodgers J, South M, Kirk H, Kennedy DP, Riby DM. Violations of Personal Space in Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Williams Syndrome: Insights from the Social Responsiveness Scale. J Autism Dev Disord 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2536-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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42
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Järvinen A, Ng R, Crivelli D, Arnold AJ, Woo-VonHoogenstyn N, Bellugi U. Relations between social-perceptual ability in multi- and unisensory contexts, autonomic reactivity, and social functioning in individuals with Williams syndrome. Neuropsychologia 2015; 73:127-40. [PMID: 26002754 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.04.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2014] [Revised: 04/26/2015] [Accepted: 04/30/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Compromised social-perceptual ability has been proposed to contribute to social dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders. While such impairments have been identified in Williams syndrome (WS), little is known about emotion processing in auditory and multisensory contexts. Employing a multidimensional approach, individuals with WS and typical development (TD) were tested for emotion identification across fearful, happy, and angry multisensory and unisensory face and voice stimuli. Autonomic responses were monitored in response to unimodal emotion. The WS group was administered an inventory of social functioning. Behaviorally, individuals with WS relative to TD demonstrated impaired processing of unimodal vocalizations and emotionally incongruent audiovisual compounds, reflecting a generalized deficit in social-auditory processing in WS. The TD group outperformed their counterparts with WS in identifying negative (fearful and angry) emotion, with similar between-group performance with happy stimuli. Mirroring this pattern, electrodermal activity (EDA) responses to the emotional content of the stimuli indicated that whereas those with WS showed the highest arousal to happy, and lowest arousal to fearful stimuli, the TD participants demonstrated the contrasting pattern. In WS, more normal social functioning was related to higher autonomic arousal to facial expressions. Implications for underlying neural architecture and emotional functions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Järvinen
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Rowena Ng
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA; Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN, USA
| | - Davide Crivelli
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrew J Arnold
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Ursula Bellugi
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
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43
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Haas BW, Smith AK. Oxytocin, vasopressin, and Williams syndrome: epigenetic effects on abnormal social behavior. Front Genet 2015; 6:28. [PMID: 25741359 PMCID: PMC4330921 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2014] [Accepted: 01/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is a condition caused by a deletion of ∼26-28 genes on chromosome 7q11.23 often characterized by abnormal social behavior and disrupted oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) functioning. The observation that individuals with WS exhibit OT and AVP dysregulation is compelling. There is currently a lack of evidence that any of the genes typically deleted in WS have any direct effect on either OT or AVP. In this perspective article, we present a novel epigenetic model describing how DNA methylation may impact the expression of key genes within the OT and AVP systems, which may ultimately influence the social behavior observed in WS. We draw support from data pooled from a prior empirical research study (Henrichsen et al., 2011), demonstrating that OXTR is overexpressed in WS. These preliminary findings may create new opportunities to target the OT and AVP systems with the specific goal of improving outcomes in WS and other psychiatric conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian W Haas
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA ; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA
| | - Alicia K Smith
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Emory University , Atlanta, GA, USA
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44
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Binelli C, Subirà S, Batalla A, Muñiz A, Sugranyés G, Crippa J, Farré M, Pérez-Jurado L, Martín-Santos R. Common and distinct neural correlates of facial emotion processing in social anxiety disorder and Williams syndrome: A systematic review and voxel-based meta-analysis of functional resonance imaging studies. Neuropsychologia 2014; 64:205-17. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.08.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2014] [Revised: 08/01/2014] [Accepted: 08/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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45
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Ng R, Järvinen A, Bellugi U. Characterizing associations and dissociations between anxiety, social, and cognitive phenotypes of Williams syndrome. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2014; 35:2403-2415. [PMID: 24973548 PMCID: PMC4112021 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2014] [Revised: 06/05/2014] [Accepted: 06/06/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurogenetic disorder known for its "hypersocial" phenotype and a complex profile of anxieties. The anxieties are poorly understood specifically in relation to the social-emotional and cognitive profiles. To address this gap, we employed a Wechsler intelligence test, the Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Salk Institute Sociability Questionnaire, to (1) examine how anxiety symptoms distinguish individuals with WS from typically developing (TD) individuals; and (2) assess the associations between three key phenotypic features of WS: intellectual impairment, social-emotional functioning, and anxiety. The results highlighted intensified neurophysiological symptoms and subjective experiences of anxiety in WS. Moreover, whereas higher cognitive ability was positively associated with anxiety in WS, the opposite pattern characterized the TD individuals. This study provides novel insight into how the three core phenotypic features associate/dissociate in WS, specifically in terms of the contribution of cognitive and emotional functioning to anxiety symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rowena Ng
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Institute of Child Development, USA
| | - Anna Järvinen
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA.
| | - Ursula Bellugi
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA
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Schulkin J, Raglan GB. The evolution of music and human social capability. Front Neurosci 2014; 8:292. [PMID: 25278827 PMCID: PMC4166316 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/27/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive capabilities. Music is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, tying it to our social instincts. Cognitive systems also underlie musical performance and sensibilities. Music is one of those things that we do spontaneously, reflecting brain machinery linked to communicative functions, enlarged and diversified across a broad array of human activities. Music cuts across diverse cognitive capabilities and resources, including numeracy, language, and space perception. In the same way, music intersects with cultural boundaries, facilitating our "social self" by linking our shared experiences and intentions. This paper focuses on the intersection between the neuroscience of music, and human social functioning to illustrate the importance of music to human behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Schulkin
- Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Washington, DC, USA
| | - Greta B Raglan
- Department of Research, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Washington, DC, USA
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Mapping genetically controlled neural circuits of social behavior and visuo-motor integration by a preliminary examination of atypical deletions with Williams syndrome. PLoS One 2014; 9:e104088. [PMID: 25105779 PMCID: PMC4126723 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2013] [Accepted: 07/10/2014] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study of eight rare atypical deletion cases with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WS; also known as 7q11.23 deletion syndrome) consisting of three different patterns of deletions, compared to typical WS and typically developing (TD) individuals, we show preliminary evidence of dissociable genetic contributions to brain structure and human cognition. Univariate and multivariate pattern classification results of morphometric brain patterns complemented by behavior implicate a possible role for the chromosomal region that includes: 1) GTF2I/GTF2IRD1 in visuo-spatial/motor integration, intraparietal as well as overall gray matter structures, 2) the region spanning ABHD11 through RFC2 including LIMK1, in social cognition, in particular approachability, as well as orbitofrontal, amygdala and fusiform anatomy, and 3) the regions including STX1A, and/or CYLN2 in overall white matter structure. This knowledge contributes to our understanding of the role of genetics on human brain structure, cognition and pathophysiology of altered cognition in WS. The current study builds on ongoing research designed to characterize the impact of multiple genes, gene-gene interactions and changes in gene expression on the human brain.
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Martínez-Castilla P, Burt M, Borgatti R, Gagliardi C. Facial emotion recognition in Williams syndrome and Down syndrome: A matching and developmental study. Child Neuropsychol 2014; 21:668-92. [DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2014.945408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Williams TA, Porter MA, Langdon R. Viewing social scenes: a visual scan-path study comparing fragile X syndrome and Williams syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 2014; 43:1880-94. [PMID: 23224515 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-012-1737-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Williams syndrome (WS) are both genetic disorders which present with similar cognitive-behavioral problems, but distinct social phenotypes. Despite these social differences both syndromes display poor social relations which may result from abnormal social processing. This study aimed to manipulate the location of socially salient information within scenes to investigate the visual attentional mechanisms of: capture, disengagement, and/or general engagement. Findings revealed that individuals with FXS avoid social information presented centrally, at least initially. The WS findings, on the other hand, provided some evidence that difficulties with attentional disengagement, rather than attentional capture, may play a role in the WS social phenotype. These findings are discussed in relation to the distinct social phenotypes of these two disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracey A Williams
- Department of Cognitive Science, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
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Kirk HE, Hocking DR, Riby DM, Cornish KM. Linking social behaviour and anxiety to attention to emotional faces in Williams syndrome. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2013; 34:4608-4616. [PMID: 24210355 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.09.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2013] [Revised: 09/25/2013] [Accepted: 09/25/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The neurodevelopmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) has been associated with a social phenotype of hypersociability, non-social anxiety and an unusual attraction to faces. The current study uses eye tracking to explore attention allocation to emotionally expressive faces. Eye gaze and behavioural measures of anxiety and social reciprocity were investigated in adolescents and adults with WS when compared to typically developing individuals of comparable verbal mental age (VMA) and chronological age (CA). Results showed significant associations between high levels of behavioural anxiety and attention allocation away from the eye regions of threatening facial expressions in WS. The results challenge early claims of a unique attraction to the eyes in WS and suggest that individual differences in anxiety may mediate the allocation of attention to faces in WS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah E Kirk
- School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Australia.
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