Genetically Regulated Sociability:
Hyper Amygdala Reactivity and Event-
Related Responses to Positive Social
Stimuli in Williams Syndrome
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1
Stanford University School of Medicine, Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR), United States
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2
University of Zagreb, Department of Psychology, United States
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3
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, United States
The drive towards social engagement is a fundamental characteristic of the human species. Scientific pursuits have not yet fully determined the neural and genetic basis of social drive in humans. Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder caused by a hemizygous microdeletion on chromosome 7q11.23. WS is associated with a compelling symptom profile characterized by relative deficits in visuospatial function and preserved and in some cases enhanced social function. We examined the neural basis of social drive in WS by assessing brain function in WS participants during two types of social stimuli, negative (fearful) and positive (happy) emotional facial expressions. Here, we report a double dissociation such that WS participants exhibited absent amygdala reactivity to negative (fearful) social stimuli, and heightened amygdala reactivity to positive (happy) social stimuli compared to controls. Furthermore, by using ERP we report that WS participants exhibited reduced N200 response to negative (fearful) social stimuli and heightened P300-500 response to positive (happy) social stimuli compared to controls. This study provides evidence that specific genetic deletions (such as in WS) may not only influence the reduction (or absence) of brain function, but in some cases enhance brain function during psychological processing.
Conference:
12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome, Garden Grove,CA, United States, 13 Jul - 14 Jul, 2008.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
SESSION 3: Neuroimaging and Brain Functioning in Williams Syndrome
Citation:
Haas
BW,
Mills
DL,
Yam
A,
Hoeft
F,
Bellugi
U and
Reiss
AL
(2009). Genetically Regulated Sociability:
Hyper Amygdala Reactivity and Event-
Related Responses to Positive Social
Stimuli in Williams Syndrome.
Conference Abstract:
12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.07.011
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Received:
29 Apr 2009;
Published Online:
29 Apr 2009.
*
Correspondence:
B. W Haas, Stanford University School of Medicine, Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR), Stanford, CA, United States, bhaas@uga.edu