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Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research

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

Authors: Masahiro Hirai, Yukako Muramatsu, Seiji Mizuno, Naoko Kurahashi, Hirokazu Kurahashi, Miho Nakamura

Published in: Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders | Issue 1/2017

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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Title: 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
Authors: Masahiro Hirai
Yukako Muramatsu
Seiji Mizuno
Naoko Kurahashi
Hirokazu Kurahashi
Miho Nakamura
Publication date: 01-12-2017
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 1866-1947
Electronic ISSN: 1866-1955
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-017-9190-0

ACC 2024 Congress

Springer Medicine

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

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

ACC 2024 Congress

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

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