Spatial representation and attention in toddlers with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Genetics

Background:

• Understanding spatial representations is crucial for visually guided actions.
• Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS) present distinct developmental trajectories.
• Early investigation of cognitive functions in genetic disorders is vital.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate spatial representation deficits in toddlers with WS compared to DS and typically developing controls.
• To test if WS toddlers exhibit impaired use of spatial information for action guidance.
• To assess the role of sustained attention in performance on a spatial task.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a
• double-step
• saccade paradigm to assess visually guided actions.
• Measured sustained attention levels in all participant groups.
• Compared performance between toddlers with WS, DS, and age-matched controls.

Main Results:

• Toddlers with WS showed deficits in combining retinal and extra-retinal information for saccade planning.
• WS toddlers demonstrated a greater reliance on sub-cortical mechanisms and less developed visual exploration.
• Sustained attention differences were observed in DS toddlers, but not WS, ruling out engagement as the sole cause of WS performance deficits.

Conclusions:

• Toddlers with WS exhibit specific difficulties with spatial representations and saccade planning, potentially linked to sub-cortical pathway reliance.
• Findings suggest a possible attention disengagement deficit in WS toddlers.
• Early developmental studies in genetic disorders are essential for understanding unique cognitive profiles.