Williams syndrome hypersociability: a neuropsychological study of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex hypotheses

Individuals with Williams syndrome display indiscriminate approach towards strangers.
Neuroimaging studies conducted so far have linked this social profile to structural and/or
functional abnormalities in WS amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In this study, the
neuropsychological hypotheses of amygdala and prefrontal cortex involvement in WS
hypersociability was explored using three behavioral tasks – facial emotional recognition
task, a social approach task and a go no/go task. Thus, a group 15 individuals with Williams
syndrome was compared to two groups of normal developing individuals – a group of 15
individuals matched for chronological age (CA) and 15 individualsmatched for mental age
(MA), and sex. Individuals with WS present a specific impairment in recognizing negative
facial expressions and do not display impairments in response inhibition when compared
with typically developing groups. Although these findings partially support the amygdala
contribution to WS hypersociability, we found that general cognitive functioning
predicted this performance. Additionally, individuals with WS did not differ from both
CA and MA groups in the recognition of angry facial expressions, a finding suggesting that
they are actually able to identify stimuli associated with social threat. Overall, the results
seem to indicate that this social profile must be understood within a developmental
framework.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - bolsa PIC/IC/83290/2007