The nature of social cognitive deficits in children and adults with Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY)

This study was designed to assess types of cognitive deficits in individuals with 47,XXY that may contribute to social‐emotional dysfunction, and to evaluate the nature of such deficits at various levels: ranging from basic visuo‐spatial processing deficits, impairments in face recognition, to emotion expression impairments. A total of 70 boys and men with 47,XXY, aged 8 to 60 years old, participated in the study. The subtests Feature Identification (FI), Face Recognition (FR) and Identification of Facial Emotions (IFE) of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks were used. Level of intellectual functioning was assessed with the WISC or WAIS. Reaction time data showed that in the 47,XXY group, 17 % had difficulties in visuo‐spatial processing (no social load), 26 % had difficulties with face recognition (medium social load) and an even higher number of 33 % had difficulties with facial expressions of emotions (high social load). Information processing impairments increased as a function of ‘social load’ of the stimuli, independent of intellectual functioning. Taken together, our data suggest that on average individuals with XXY may have more difficulties in information processing when ‘social load’ increases, suggesting a specific difficulty in the higher‐order labeling and interpretation of social cues, which cannot be explained by more basic visuo‐spatial perceptual skills. Considering the increased risk for social cognitive impairments, routine assessment o...
Source: Genes, Brain and Behavior - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research