Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Advance Access originally published online on October 20, 2006
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 2006 1(3):175-182; doi:10.1093/scan/nsl035
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Model syndromes for investigating social cognitive and affective neuroscience: a comparison of autism and Williams syndrome
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Autism and Williams syndrome are genetically based neurodevelopmental disorders that present strikingly different social phenotypes. Autism involves fundamental impairments in social reciprocity and communication, whereas people with Williams syndrome are highly sociable and engaging. This article reviews the behavioral and neuroimaging literature that has explored the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie these contrasting social phenotypes, focusing on studies of face processing. The article concludes with a discussion of how the social phenotypes of both syndromes may be characterized by impaired connectivity between the amygdala and other critical regions in the social brain.
Keywords: autism; Williams syndrome; face processing; emotion processing; amygdala
Correspondence should be addressed to Helen Tager-Flusberg, PhD, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street L-814, Boston, MA 02118, USA. E-mail: htagerf{at}bu.edu.