title: Anxiety and autonomic response to social-affective stimuli in individuals with Williams syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic condition characterized by an unusual "hypersocial" personality juxtaposed by high anxiety. Recent evidence suggests that autonomic reactivity to affective face stimuli is disorganised in WS, which may contribute to emotion dysregulation and/or social disinhibition.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electrodermal activity (EDA) and mean interbeat interval (IBI) of 25 participants with WS (19 - 57 years old) and 16 typically developing (TD; 17-43 years old) adults were measured during a passive presentation of affective face and voice stimuli. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was administered to examine associations between autonomic reactivity to social-affective stimuli and anxiety symptomatology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The WS group was characterized by higher overall anxiety symptomatology, and poorer anger recognition in social visual and aural stimuli relative to the TD group. No between-group differences emerged in autonomic response patterns. Notably, for participants with WS, increased anxiety was uniquely associated with diminished arousal to angry faces and voices. In contrast, for the TD group, no associations emerged between anxiety and physiological responsivity to social-emotional stimuli.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The anxiety associated with WS appears to be intimately related to reduced autonomic arousal to angry social stimuli, which may also be linked to the characteristic social disinhibition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Institute of Child Development, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Rowena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bellugi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA. Electronic address: pasley@salk.edu.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Järvinen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000786:Anger; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000066499:Facial Recognition; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012938:Social Perception; D014831:Voice; D018980:Williams Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety; Autonomic nervous system; Electrodermal activity; Emotion; Social behaviour; Stress regulation; Williams syndrome