Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns of Sensitivity to Emotion in Children with Williams Syndrome and Autism: Relations Between Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity and Social Functioning

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with atypical social-emotional functioning. Affective visual stimuli were used to assess autonomic reactivity and emotion identification, and the social responsiveness scale was used to determine the level social functioning in children with WS and ASD contrasted with typical development (TD), to examine syndrome-specific and syndrome-general features. Children with ASD exhibited the highest arousal in response to faces, with a lack of difference in autonomic sensitivity across different emotional expressions, unlike in WS and TD. The WS group demonstrated unique deficits in identifying neutral stimuli. While autonomic responsivity to neutral faces was associated with social functioning in all children, converging profiles characterized children with WS contrasted with TD and ASD.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adolphs, R. (2001). The neurobiology of social cognition. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 11, 231–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: APA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bal, E., Harden, E., Lamb, D., Van Hecke, A. V., Denver, J. W., & Porges, S. W. (2010). Emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders: Relations to eye gaze and autonomic state. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder, 40, 358–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barry, R. J., & James, A. L. (1988). Coding of stimulus parameters in autistic, retarded, and normal children: evidence for a two-factor theory of autism. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 6, 139–149.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgartner, T., Esslen, M., & Jäncke, L. (2006). From emotion perception to emotion experience: Emotions evoked by pictures and classical music. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 60, 34–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bellugi, U., Lichtenberger, L., Jones, W., Lai, Z., & St. George, M. (2000). The neurocognitive profile of Williams syndrome: A complex pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12(Supplement 1), 7–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ben Shalom, D., Mostofsky, S. H., Hazlett, R. L., Goldberg, M. C., Landa, R. J., Faran, Y., et al. (2006). Normal physiological emotions but differences in expression of conscious feelings in children with high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 395–400.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benevides, T. W., & Lane, S. J. (2013). A review of cardiac autonomic measures: Considerations for examination of physiological response in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1971-z].

  • Bernston, G. G., Cacioppo, J. T., & Quigley, K. S. (1995). The metrics of cardiac chronotropism: Biometric perspectives. Psychophysiology, 42, 246–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, M. M., Cuthbert, B. N., & Lang, P. J. (1996). Picture media and emotion: Effects of a sustained affective context. Psychophysiology, 33, 662–670.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breiter, H. C., Etcoff, N. L., Whalen, P. J., Kennedy, W. A., Rauch, S. L., Buckner, R. L., et al. (1996). Response and habituation of the human amygdala during visual processing of facial expression. Neuron, 17, 875–887.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calkins, S. D. (1997). Cardiac vagal tone indices of temperamental reactivity and behavioral regulation in young children. Developmental Psychobiology, 31(2), 125–135.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Masyn, K., Mastergeorge, A., & Hessl, D. (2013). Psychophysiological responses to emotional stimuli in children and adolescents with autism and fragile X syndrome. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.

  • Cole, P. M., Zahn-Waxler, C., Fox, N. A., Usher, B. A., & Welsh, J. D. (1996). Individual differences in emotion regulation and behavior problems in preschool children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105(4), 518–529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J. N., & Gruber, C. P. (2005). The social responsiveness scale. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, K. M., Nacewicz, B. M., Johnstone, T., Schaefer, H. S., Gernsbacher, M. A., Goldsmith, H. H., et al. (2005). Gaze fixation and the neural circuitry of face processing in autism. Nature Neuroscience, 8, 519–526.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, M., Francis, D. J., Cirino, P. T., Schachar, R., Barnes, M. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (2009). Why IQ is not a covariate in cognitive studies of neurodevelopmental disorders. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15, 331–343.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodd, H. F., & Porter, M. A. (2010). I see happy people: Attention bias towards happy but not angry facial expressions in Williams syndrome. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 15, 549–567.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty-Sneddon, G., Riby, D. M., Calderwood, L., & Ainsworth, L. (2009). Stuck on you: Face-to-face arousal and gaze aversion in Williams syndrome. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 14, 510–523.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doussard-Roosevelt, J. A., Porges, S. W., Scanlon, J. W., Alemi, B., & Scanlon, K. B. (1997). Vagal regulation of heart rate in the prediction of developmental outcome for very low birth weight preterm infants. Child Development, 68(2), 173–186.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dykens, E. M. (2003). Anxiety, fears, and phobias in persons with Williams syndrome. Developmental Neuropsychology, 23, 291–316.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ewart, A. K., Morris, C. A., Atkinson, D., Jin, W., Sternes, K., Spallone, P., et al. (1993). Hemizygosity at the elastin locus in a developmental disorder, Williams syndrome. Nature Genetics, 5, 11–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gagliardi, C., Frigerio, E., Burt, D. M., Cazzaniga, I., Perrett, D. I., & Borgatti, R. (2003). Facial expression recognition in Williams syndrome. Neuropsychologia, 41, 733–738.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haas, B. W., Mills, D., Yam, A., Hoeft, F., Bellugi, U., & Reiss, A. (2009). Genetic influences on sociability: Heightened amygdala reactivity and event-related responses to positive social stimuli in Williams syndrome. Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 1132–1139.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haas, B. W., & Reiss, A. L. (2012). Social brain development in Williams syndrome: The current status and directions for future research. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 186.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hariri, A. R., Tessitore, A., Mattay, V. S., Fera, F., & Weinberger, D. R. (2002). The amygdala response to emotional stimuli: A comparison of faces and scenes. Neuroimage, 17(1), 317–323.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harms, M. B., Martin, A., & Wallace, G. L. (2010). Facial emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorders: A review of behavioral and neuroimaging studies. Neuropsychology Review, 20(3), 290–322.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hillier, L. W., Fulton, R. S., Fulton, L. A., Graves, T. A., Pepin, K. H., Wagner-McPherson, C., & Wilson, R. K. (2003). The DNA sequence of human chromosome 7. Nature, 424, 157–164.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hirstein, H., Iversen, W. P., & Ramachandran, V. S. (2001). Autonomic responses of autistic children to people and objects. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, 268(1479), 1883–1888.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hubert, B. E., Wicker, B., Monfardini, E., & Deruelle, C. (2009). Electrodermal reactivity to emotion processing in adults with autistic spectrum disorders. Autism, 13, 9–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Järvinen, A. M., & Bellugi, U. (2013). What does Williams syndrome reveal about the determinants of social behavior? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 321.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Järvinen, A., Dering, B., Neumann, D., Ng, R., Crivelli, D., Grichanik, M., et al. (2012). Sensitivity of the autonomic nervous system to visual and auditory affect across social and non-social domains in Williams syndrome. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Järvinen, A., Korenberg, J. R., & Bellugi, U. (2013). The social phenotype of Williams syndrome. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 3, 414–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Järvinen-Pasley, A., Bellugi, U., Reilly, J., Mills, D. L., Galaburda, A., Reiss, A. L., & Korenberg, J. R. (2008). Defining the social phenotype in Williams syndrome: A model for linking gene, brain, and cognition. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 1–35.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Järvinen-Pasley, A., Vines, B. W., Hill, K. J., Yam, A., Grichanik, M., Mills, D., et al. (2010). Cross-modal influences of affect across social and non-social domains in Williams Syndrome. Neuropsychologia, 48, 456–466.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, W., Carr, K., & Klin, A. (2008). Absence of preferential looking to the eyes of approaching adults predicts level of social disability in 2-year-old toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(8), 946–954.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, R. M., Ehrman, K., McNally, R., & Keehn, B. (2008). Affective response to eye contact and face recognition ability in children with ASD. Journal of International Neuropsychological Society, 14, 947–955.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J., Reznick, J. S., & Snidman, N. (1988). Biological bases of childhood shyness. Science, 240(4849), 167–171.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein-Tasman, B. P., Li-Barber, K. T., & Magargee, E. T. (2011). Honing in on the social phenotype in Williams syndrome: Using multiple measures and multiple raters. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 341–351.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein-Tasman, B. P., Mervis, C. B., Lord, C., & Phillips, K. D. (2007). Socio-communicative deficits in young children with Williams syndrome: Performance on the autism diagnostic observation schedule. Child Neuropsychology, 13, 444–467.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein-Tasman, B. P., Phillips, K. D., Lord, C., Mervis, C. B., & Gallo, F. J. (2009). Overlap with the autism spectrum in young children with Williams syndrome. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 30(4), 289–299.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R., Volkmar, F., & Cohen, D. (2002). Defining and quantifying the social phenotype in Autism. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 895–908.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kylliäinen, A., & Hietanen, J. K. (2006). Skin conductance responses to another person’s gaze in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 517–525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lacroix, A., Guidetti, M., Rogé, B., & Reilly, J. (2009). Recognition of emotional and nonemotional facial expressions: A comparison between Williams syndrome and autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30(5), 976–985.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laine, C. M., Spitler, K. M., Mosher, C. P., & Gothard, K. M. (2009). Behavioral triggers of skin conductance responses and their neural correlates in the primate amygdala. Journal of Neurophysiology, 101, 1749–1754.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laing, E., Butterworth, G., Ansari, D., Gsödl, M., Longhi, E., Panagiotaki, G., et al. (2002). Atypical development of language and social communication in toddlers with Williams syndrome. Developmental Science, 5, 233–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lang, P. J. (1995). The emotion probe. Studies of motivation and attention. The American Psychologist, 50(5), 372–385.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lang, P., Bradley, M., & Cuthbert, B. (1995). International affective picture system. Gainsville: Center for Research. in Psychophysiology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1998). Emotion, motivation, and anxiety: Brain mechanisms and psychophysiology. Biological Psychiatry, 44, 1248–1263.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leyfer, O. T., Woodruff-Borden, J., Klein-Tasman, B. P., Fricke, J. S., & Mervis, C. B. (2006). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in 4 to 16-year-olds with Williams syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 141B, 615–622.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Little, K., Riby, D. M., Janes, E., Fleck, R., Clark, F., & Rodgers, J. (2013). Heterogeneity of social approach behaviours in Williams syndrome. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 959–967.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Cook, E. H., Leventhal, B., & Amaral, D. G. (2000). Autism spectrum disorders. Neuron, 28, 355–363.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P. C., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism diagnostic observation schedule—Generic (ADOS-G). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism diagnostic interview—revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 659–685.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martens, M. A., Wilson, S. J., & Reutens, D. C. (2008). Research review: Williams syndrome: A critical review of the cognitive, behavioral, and neuroanatomical phenotype. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 576–608.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mathersul, D., McDonald, S., & Rushby, J. A. (2013). Autonomic arousal explains social cognitive abilities in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 89, 475–482.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mendes, W. B. (2009). Assessing autonomic nervous system activity. In E. Harmon-Jones & J. S. Beers (Eds.), Methods in social neuroscience (pp. 119–147). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mervis, C. B., Morris, C. A., Klein-Tasman, B. P., Bertrand, J., Kwitny, S., Appelbaum, G., & Rice, C. E. (2003). Attentional characteristics of infants and toddlers with Williams syndrome during triadic interactions. Developmental Neuropsychology, 23, 243–268.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mervis, C. B., Robinson, B. F., Bertrand, J., Morris, C. A., Klein-Tasman, B. P., & Armstrong, S. C. (2000). The Williams syndrome cognitive profile. Brain and Cognition, 44, 604–628.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Hariri, A. R., Munoz, K. E., Mervis, C. B., Mattay, V. S., Morris, C. A., & Berman, K. F. (2005). Neural correlates of genetically abnormal social cognition in Williams syndrome. Nature Neuroscience, 8, 991–993.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, D. L., Dai, L., Fishman, I., Yam, A., Appelbaum, L. G., St George, M., et al. (2013). Genetic mapping of brain plasticity across development in Williams syndrome: ERP markers of face and language processing. Developmental Neuropsychology, 38(8), 613–642.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, J. S., Frith, C. D., Perrett, D. I., Rowland, D., Young, A. W., Calder, A. J., & Dolan, R. J. (1996). A differential neural response in the human amygdala to fearful and happy facial expressions. Nature, 383(6603), 812–815.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osterling, J., & Dawson, G. (1994). Early recognition of children with autism: A study of first birthday home videotapes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(3), 247–257.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osterling, J. A., Dawson, G., & Munson, J. A. (2002). Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation. Development and Psychopathology, 14(2), 239–251.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Palkovitz, R. J., & Wiesenfeld, A. R. (1980). Differential autonomic responses of autistic and normal children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10(3), 347–360.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phan, K. L., Wager, T., Taylor, S. F., & Liberzon, I. (2002). Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: A meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in PET and fMRI. Neuroimage, 16, 331–348.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro, J. C., & Bates, D. M. (2000). Mixed-effects models in S and S-PLUS. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro, J., Bates, D., DebRoy, S., Sarkar, D., & R Development Core Team (2013). nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R package version 3.1-110.

  • Plesa Skwerer, D., Borum, L., Verbalis, A., Schofield, C., Crawford, N., Ciciolla, L., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2009). Autonomic responses to dynamic displays of facial expressions in adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome. Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 4, 93–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Plesa Skwerer, D., Faja, S., Schofield, C., Verbalis, A., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2006). Perceiving facial and vocal expressions of emotion in individuals with Williams syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 111, 15–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Plesa Skwerer, D., Verbalis, A., Schofield, C., Faja, S., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2005). Social-perceptual abilities in adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22, 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W., Doussard-Roosevelt, J. A., Portales, A. L., & Greenspan, S. I. (1996). Infant regulation of the vagal ‘brake’ predicts child behavior problems: A psychobiological model of social behavior. Developmental Psychobiology, 29(8), 697–712.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. A., & Coltheart, M. (2005). Cognitive heterogeneity in Williams syndrome. Developmental Neuropsychology, 27, 275–306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quintana, D. S., Kemp, A. H., Alvares, G. A., & Guastella, A. J. (2013). A role for autonomic cardiac control in the effects of oxytocin on social behavior and psychiatric illness. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7, 48.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riby, D. M., Doherty-Sneddon, G., & Bruce, V. (2008). Exploring face perception in disorders of development: Evidence from Williams syndrome and autism. Neuropsychology, 2, 47–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riby, D. M., & Hancock, P. J. (2008). Viewing it differently: Social scene perception in Williams syndrome and Autism. Neuropsychologia, 46, 2855–2860.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riby, D. M., & Hancock, P. J. (2009). Do faces capture the attention of individuals with Williams Syndrome or autism? Evidence from tracking eye movements. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 421–431.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riby, D. M., Hanley, M., Kirk, H., Clark, F., Little, K., Fleck, R., et al. (2014). The interplay between anxiety and social functioning in Williams syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44, 1220–1229.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riby, D. M., Whittle, L., & Doherty-Sneddon, G. (2012). Physiological reactivity to faces via live and video-mediated communication in typical and atypical development. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 34, 385–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sasson, N. J., Dichter, G. S., & Bodfish, J. W. (2012). Affective responses by adults with autism are reduced to social images but elevated to images related to circumscribed interests. PLoS ONE, 7, e42457.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scarpa, A., Raine, A., Venables, P. H., & Mednick, S. A. (1997). Heart rate and skin conductance in behaviorally inhibited Mauritian children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(2), 182–190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, S. A., Miller, L. J., Brett-Green, B., & Hepburn, S. L. (2008). Psychophysiology of children with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2, 417–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searcy, Y. M., Lincoln, A. J., Rose, F. E., Klima, E. S., Bavar, N., & Korenberg, J. R. (2004). The relationship between age and IQ in adults with Williams syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 109, 231–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snidman, N., Kagan, J., Riordan, L., & Shannon, D. C. (1995). Cardiac function and behavioral reactivity during infancy. Psychophysiology, 32(3), 199–207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sommerville, L. H., Kim, H., Johnstone, T., Alexander, A. L., & Whalen, P. J. (2004). Human amygdala responses during presentation of happy and neutral faces: Correlations with state anxiety. Biological Psychiatry, 55(9), 897–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stifler, C., & Fox, N. (1990). Infant reactivity: Physiological correlates of newborn and 5-month temperament. Developmental Psychology, 26, 528–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strømme, P., Bjørnstad, P. G., & Ramstad, K. (2002). Prevalence estimation of Williams syndrome. Journal of Child Neurology, 17, 269–271.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H., & Sullivan, K. (2000). A componential view of theory of mind: Evidence from Williams syndrome. Cognition, 76, 59–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2008). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna: Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL:http://www.R-project.org.

  • Thornton-Wells, T. A., Avery, S. N., & Blackford, J. U. (2011). Using novel control groups to dissect the amygdala’s role in Williams syndrome. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 295–304.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tottenham, N., Tanaka, J., Leon, A. C., McCarry, T., Nurse, M., Hare, T. A., et al. (2009). The NimStim set of facial expressions: Judgments from untrained research participants. Psychiatry Research, 168, 242–249.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van der Fluit, F., Gaffrey, M. S., & Klein-Tasman, B. P. (2012). Social cognition in Williams syndrome: Relations between performance on the social attribution task and cognitive and behavioral characteristics. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 3, 197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Venables, P. H., & Christie, M. J. (1980). Electrodermal activity. In I. Martin & P.H. Venables (Eds.), Techniques in psychophysiology (pp. 3–67). Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler intelligence scale for children, 3rd edn (WISC-III). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NICHD 033113, NINDS 22343, and The Oak Tree Philanthropic Foundation to UB. We warmly thank all the participants, their families, and the Williams Syndrome Association for their generous cooperation in these studies. We also thank Patricia Fillet, Courtney Pollock, Wenny Wong, Nicholas Woo-VonHoogestyn, and Molly Hanson for their assistance in the data collection. Illustrations copyright Ursula Bellugi, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037-1002.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037-1002, USA

    Anna Järvinen, Rowena Ng, Davide Crivelli, Mark Grichanik, Andrew J. Arnold, Philip Lai & Ursula Bellugi

  2. Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

    Davide Crivelli

  3. Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Rowena Ng

  4. Emotion and Social Cognition Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Dirk Neumann

  5. Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Doris Trauner

Authors
  1. Anna Järvinen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rowena Ng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Davide Crivelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dirk Neumann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mark Grichanik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Andrew J. Arnold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Philip Lai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Doris Trauner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ursula Bellugi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Järvinen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Järvinen, A., Ng, R., Crivelli, D. et al. Patterns of Sensitivity to Emotion in Children with Williams Syndrome and Autism: Relations Between Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity and Social Functioning. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2594–2612 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2429-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2429-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation