Visual scanpath abnormalities in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: is this a face specific deficit?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Genetics

Background:

• Individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) exhibit known deficits in face emotion recognition.
• It remains unclear if these deficits are face-specific or indicative of broader information processing challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the specificity of face emotion processing deficits in 22q11DS.
• To compare visual processing and scanpath performance on face and non-face complex stimuli.

Main Methods:

• Seventeen adolescents with 22q11DS and 18 healthy controls completed face and weather scene recognition tasks.
• Visual scanpath analysis and recognition accuracy were measured.

Main Results:

• 22q11DS participants demonstrated generally impoverished scanning strategies and lower accuracy across all stimuli compared to controls.
• Controls adapted their visual strategies between tasks, while 22q11DS participants did not, suggesting cognitive inflexibility.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest a general visual processing deficit in 22q11DS, rather than a deficit solely specific to faces.
• Cognitive inflexibility, indicated by a failure to adapt scanning strategies to different stimuli, characterizes 22q11DS visual processing challenges.