Abstract
Elevated laughing and smiling is a key characteristic of the Angelman syndrome behavioral phenotype, with cross-sectional studies reporting changes with environment and age. This study compares levels of laughing and smiling in 12 participants across three experimental conditions [full social interaction (with eye contact), social interaction with no eye contact, proximity only] at two data points. No differences were noted in frequency of laughing and smiling over time in any condition. However, with age as a covariate, the frequency of laughing and smiling decreased over time in the full social interaction (with eye contact) condition only. As this is the first longitudinal study to explore these behaviors in Angelman syndrome, the results suggest a gene–environment–time interaction within the behavioral phenotype.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the individuals with Angelman Syndrome and their families for giving their time to support this research study. Dr. Dawn Adams is funded by a National Institute for Health Research Post-Doctoral Fellowship and Prof. Chris Oliver is funded by Cerebra. This papers presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
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Adams, D., Horsler, K., Mount, R. et al. Brief Report: A Longitudinal Study of Excessive Smiling and Laughing in Children with Angelman Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2624–2627 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2404-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2404-y