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. 2016 Dec;11(6):652-64.
doi: 10.1080/17470919.2015.1130743. Epub 2016 Jan 10.

Face repetition detection and social interest: An ERP study in adults with and without Williams syndrome

Alexandra P Key  1   2 , Elisabeth M Dykens  1   3
Affiliations

Face repetition detection and social interest: An ERP study in adults with and without Williams syndrome

Alexandra P Key et al. Soc Neurosci. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

The present study examined possible neural mechanisms underlying increased social interest in persons with Williams syndrome (WS). Visual event-related potentials (ERPs) during passive viewing were used to compare incidental memory traces for repeated vs. single presentations of previously unfamiliar social (faces) and nonsocial (houses) images in 26 adults with WS and 26 typical adults. Results indicated that participants with WS developed familiarity with the repeated faces and houses (frontal N400 response), but only typical adults evidenced the parietal old/new effect (previously associated with stimulus recollection) for the repeated faces. There was also no evidence of exceptional salience of social information in WS, as ERP markers of memory for repeated faces vs. houses were not significantly different. Thus, while persons with WS exhibit behavioral evidence of increased social interest, their processing of social information in the absence of specific instructions may be relatively superficial. The ERP evidence of face repetition detection in WS was independent of IQ and the earlier perceptual differentiation of social vs. nonsocial stimuli. Large individual differences in ERPs of participants with WS may provide valuable information for understanding the WS phenotype and have relevance for educational and treatment purposes.

Keywords: ERP; Williams syndrome; face; familiarity; memory.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Electrode layout and the selected electrode clusters used for data analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Averaged ERP waveforms in response to repeated and single stimuli at left and right occipito-temporal clusters for typical participants and individuals with WS.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Averaged frontal old/new ERP response to repeated and single stimuli for typical participants and individuals with WS.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Averaged parietal old/new ERP response for repeated and single stimuli in typical participants and individuals with WS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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