Understanding motor acts and motor intentions in Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder associated with unusually hyper-social demeanor and ease with strangers. These personality traits are accompanied by difficulties in social interactions, possibly related, at least in part, to a difficulty in understanding others' mental states. Studies on mentalizing capacities in individuals with WS have often led to contrasting results, some studies revealing specific impairments, others highlighting spared mentalizing capacities. So far, however, no study investigated the performance of individuals with WS in non-inferential understanding of others' motor intentions. In the present study we investigated this capacity by using a computer-based behavioral task using pictures of hand-object interactions. We asked individuals with WS first to describe what the other was doing (i.e. a task implying no kind of intention reading), and secondly, if successful in answering the first question, to describe the motor intention underlying the observed motor acts (i.e. why an act was being done, a task requiring non-inferential motor intention understanding). Results showed that individuals with WS made more errors in understanding what the other was doing (i.e. understanding a motor act) compared to both mental-age matched controls and chronological-age matched peers with typical development, while showing mental-age appropriate performance in understanding why an individual was acting (i.e. understanding a motor intention). These findings suggest novel perspectives for understanding impairments in social behavior in WS.

Tipo Pubblicazione: 
Articolo
Author or Creator: 
Sparaci, Laura
Stefanini, Silvia
Marotta, Luigi
Vicari, Stefano
Rizzolatti, Giacomo
Publisher: 
Pergamon Press., Oxford, Regno Unito
Source: 
Neuropsychologia (Print) 50 (2012): 1639–1649.
info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Sparaci, Laura; Stefanini, Silvia; Marotta, Luigi; Vicari, Stefano; Rizzolatti, Giacomo/titolo:Understanding motor acts and motor intentions in Williams syndrome/doi:/rivista:Neuropsychologia (Print)/anno:2012/pagina_da:1639/pag
Date: 
2012
Resource Identifier: 
http://www.cnr.it/prodotto/i/218467
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393212001364
Language: 
Eng
ISTC Author: 
Ritratto di Laura Sparaci
Real name: