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Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Center
Research Projects (Non-Federal Funding)
Project Title:
Interaction Between Social Anxiety and Memory in Fragile X Syndrome
Principal Investigator:
Laura Holsen, PhD
Social anxiety is commonly cited as one of the core
characteristics of fragile X syndrome (FXS). While individuals with
fragile X appear to be interested in social interaction, failure to
maintain eye contact and awkward social behaviors often prevent the
formation of meaningful relationships outside of the family.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examining
social anxiety in FXS provide evidence for abnormal neural patterns
associated with face processing in the fusiform gyrus and amygdala.
To date, however, no studies have examined whether social anxiety in
FXS is related to higher cognitive processes, such as encoding of
emotional faces. Part of our understanding of social anxiety in FXS
is derived from literature on individuals with autism, who exhibit
gaze-aversion and failure to attend to faces, although an important
distinction between FXS and autism lies in the desire of individuals
with FXS to interact socially, which is often lacking in individuals
with autism. Recent fMRI studies on autism report hypoactivation
during face-processing tasks in the fusiform gyrus, a region well
established as a critical area for this task, and amygdala, a region
crucial for processing of affective signals although the
interpretation of this finding remains unclear. In addition, recent
reports on patients with Social Phobia (SP) indicate face-processing
abnormalities, likely due to increased anxiety in social situations.
Behaviorally, individuals with SP exhibit selective enhanced memory
for threatening and fearful faces. Further, similar to those with
SP, individuals with FXS appear to have a relative strength in
memory for faces, which could be directly related to heightened
social anxiety. Previous findings suggest the possibility that
social anxiety is partially associated with abnormal encoding of
emotional cues resulting from dysfunctional networks linking
cognitive and affective processing of faces, the maintenance of
which results from heightened memory for specific facial
expressions. This study was designed to investigate the interaction
between social anxiety and memory in FXS. We have two specific aims
for this study: 1) investigate potential differences in recognition
memory for emotional faces between individuals with FXS and
age-matched, typically developing individuals through behavioral and
neuroimaging data, and 2) delineate the potential relationship
between eye-gaze patterns and recognition memory for emotional faces
in FXS. We will explore these aims using fMRI and eye-tracking
technology, comparing individuals with FXS with typically developing
individuals.
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