Neuroscience
From the BBC~ Here is the study's abstract:
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Ahmad R Hariri, Karen E Munoz, Carolyn B Mervis, Venkata S Mattay, Colleen A Morris, & Karen Faith Berman. Neural correlates of genetically abnormal social cognition in Williams syndrome. Nature Neuroscience Published online: 10 July 2005; [ doi:10.1038/nn1494 ].
Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS), caused by a microdeletion of approximately 21 genes on chromosome 7q11.23, is characterized by unique hypersociability combined with increased non-social anxiety. Using functional neuroimaging, we found reduced amygdala activation in individuals with WBS for threatening faces but increased activation for threatening scenes, relative to matched normal controls. Activation and interactions of prefrontal regions linked to amygdala, especially orbitofrontal cortex, were abnormal, suggesting a genetically controlled neural circuitry for regulating human social behavior.
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Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
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Neuroscience
Williams Syndrome: fMRI Study of Social Cognition
From the BBC
‘Over-friendly' brain clues found[ ... Read the full report ... ]
Scientists have uncovered clues about what happens in the brain to make some people "over-friendly".
US National Institute of Mental Health experts looked at differences in the brains of people with an abnormality which makes them highly sociable.
Researchers used scans to identify areas which failed to work properly when they saw frightening faces.
In Nature Neuroscience, they say this could give clues for understanding social disorders in others.
Scary faces
People with the genetic condition Williams Syndrome lack around 21 genes on chromosome seven.
Their lack of fear means they will impulsively engage in social situations, even with strangers.
But they often have heightened anxiety about non-human fears, such as spiders or heights.
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Ahmad R Hariri, Karen E Munoz, Carolyn B Mervis, Venkata S Mattay, Colleen A Morris, & Karen Faith Berman. Neural correlates of genetically abnormal social cognition in Williams syndrome. Nature Neuroscience Published online: 10 July 2005; [ doi:10.1038/nn1494 ].
Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS), caused by a microdeletion of approximately 21 genes on chromosome 7q11.23, is characterized by unique hypersociability combined with increased non-social anxiety. Using functional neuroimaging, we found reduced amygdala activation in individuals with WBS for threatening faces but increased activation for threatening scenes, relative to matched normal controls. Activation and interactions of prefrontal regions linked to amygdala, especially orbitofrontal cortex, were abnormal, suggesting a genetically controlled neural circuitry for regulating human social behavior.
-
Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
- Sweaty Work In The Hunt For The Brain Basis Of Social Anxiety
Anxiety has overtaken depression to become the most commonly diagnosed psychological disorder in the United States, with social anxiety its most frequent manifestation. Part of the cause of extreme social anxiety is thought to be related to...
- A Social 'viagra' For Shy People?
The days of finding Dutch courage in a quick drink before a stressful situation could soon be over – researchers have reported that a few sniffs of the hormone oxytocin can dampen the brain’s fear response to threatening images. The finding follows...
- Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene - Fire Eye'd Boy (WATCH on YouTube) An interesting new study used eye-tracking methodology to compare how individuals with Williams syndrome ("hyper social") and autism ("hypo social") view pictures of social scenes containing...
- Williams Syndrome
From tomorrow's New York Times Sunday Magazine: The Gregarious Brain By DAVID DOBBS Published: July 8, 2007 If a person suffers the small genetic accident that creates Williams syndrome, he’ll live with not only some fairly conventional cognitive...
- Williams Syndrome
From the National Institutes of Health: Rare Deficit Maps Thinking Circuitry Using brain imaging, neuroscientists at the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have pinpointed the site of a defect in a brain circuit associated with...