Abstract
Background: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. FXS is caused by a silencing of the FMR1 gene that results in a loss or absence of the gene's protein product, fragile X mental retardation protein. The phenotype of FXS is consistently associated with heightened anxiety, although no previous study has investigated attentional bias toward threat, a hallmark of anxiety disorders, in individuals with FXS. Methods: The current study employed a passive-viewing eye-tracking version of the dot probe task to investigate attentional biases toward emotional faces in young children with FXS (n = 47) and without FXS (n = 94). Results: We found that the FXS group showed a significantly greater bias toward threatening emotions than toward positive emotions. This threat specificity was not seen in either a mental age-matched group or a chronological age-matched group of typically developing children. Unlike the typically developing groups, the FXS group showed no bias toward positive emotion. Conclusions: The current study shows that children with FXS have a significant bias toward threatening information, an attentional profile that has been linked with anxiety. It also supports the use of eye-tracking methodology to index neural and attentional responses in young children with FXS.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - 2017 |
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Keywords
- Anxiety
- Attention
- Emotion
- Eye tracking
- Fragile X syndrome
- Threat processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Clinical Neurology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Biological Psychiatry
Cite this
Children With Fragile X Syndrome Display Threat-Specific Biases Toward Emotion. / Burris, Jessica L.; Barry-Anwar, Ryan A.; Sims, Riley N.; Hagerman, Randi J; Tassone, Flora; Rivera, Susan M.
In: Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 2017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Children With Fragile X Syndrome Display Threat-Specific Biases Toward Emotion
AU - Burris, Jessica L.
AU - Barry-Anwar, Ryan A.
AU - Sims, Riley N.
AU - Hagerman, Randi J
AU - Tassone, Flora
AU - Rivera, Susan M.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Background: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. FXS is caused by a silencing of the FMR1 gene that results in a loss or absence of the gene's protein product, fragile X mental retardation protein. The phenotype of FXS is consistently associated with heightened anxiety, although no previous study has investigated attentional bias toward threat, a hallmark of anxiety disorders, in individuals with FXS. Methods: The current study employed a passive-viewing eye-tracking version of the dot probe task to investigate attentional biases toward emotional faces in young children with FXS (n = 47) and without FXS (n = 94). Results: We found that the FXS group showed a significantly greater bias toward threatening emotions than toward positive emotions. This threat specificity was not seen in either a mental age-matched group or a chronological age-matched group of typically developing children. Unlike the typically developing groups, the FXS group showed no bias toward positive emotion. Conclusions: The current study shows that children with FXS have a significant bias toward threatening information, an attentional profile that has been linked with anxiety. It also supports the use of eye-tracking methodology to index neural and attentional responses in young children with FXS.
AB - Background: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. FXS is caused by a silencing of the FMR1 gene that results in a loss or absence of the gene's protein product, fragile X mental retardation protein. The phenotype of FXS is consistently associated with heightened anxiety, although no previous study has investigated attentional bias toward threat, a hallmark of anxiety disorders, in individuals with FXS. Methods: The current study employed a passive-viewing eye-tracking version of the dot probe task to investigate attentional biases toward emotional faces in young children with FXS (n = 47) and without FXS (n = 94). Results: We found that the FXS group showed a significantly greater bias toward threatening emotions than toward positive emotions. This threat specificity was not seen in either a mental age-matched group or a chronological age-matched group of typically developing children. Unlike the typically developing groups, the FXS group showed no bias toward positive emotion. Conclusions: The current study shows that children with FXS have a significant bias toward threatening information, an attentional profile that has been linked with anxiety. It also supports the use of eye-tracking methodology to index neural and attentional responses in young children with FXS.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Attention
KW - Emotion
KW - Eye tracking
KW - Fragile X syndrome
KW - Threat processing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028040726&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85028040726&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.06.003
DO - 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.06.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 29348038
AN - SCOPUS:85028040726
JO - Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
JF - Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
SN - 2451-9022
ER -