van Rijn Sophie
1Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies,Leiden University,Leiden,the Netherlands.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2015 May;21(5):364-72. doi: 10.1017/S1355617715000302. Epub 2015 May 28.
Boys and men with an extra X chromosome (47,XXY, Klinefelter syndrome) are at risk for problems in social functioning and have an increased vulnerability for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In the search for underlying mechanisms driving this increased risk, this study focused on social attention, that is, spontaneous orientation toward facial expressions. Seventeen adults with 47,XXY and 20 non-clinical controls participated in this study. Social attention was measured using an eyetracking method that quantifies the visual scanning patterns of faces expressing different types of emotions (happy, fearful, angry, neutral) and their varying intensity levels (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%). Overall, the group with Klinefelter syndrome fixated less on the eye region of faces when compared to controls (Cohen's d 1.4), and did not show the typical tendency, as was found in the control group, to first fixate on the eyes when presented with a face (Cohen's d 1.0). There was no significant effect of type or intensity of emotion. Shorter looking times toward eyes showed a borderline significant correlation with self-reports of poorer social functioning, with 29% explained variance. These findings suggest a reduced tendency to rapidly and automatically attend to the eyes of others in individuals with 47,XXY. This may have impact on more complex social-cognitive abilities that build upon this. In addition to studies of behaviorally defined disorders such as ASD, studying individuals with Klinefelter syndrome provide insight into mechanisms underlying various "at risk" pathways of social dysfunction and the factors that mediate this risk.
患有额外一条X染色体（47,XXY，克兰费尔特综合征）的男孩和男性存在社交功能问题的风险，并且患自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的易感性增加。在探寻导致这种风险增加的潜在机制时，本研究聚焦于社会注意力，即对面部表情的自发定向。17名患有47,XXY的成年人和20名非临床对照者参与了本研究。使用一种眼动追踪方法来测量社会注意力，该方法量化了表达不同类型情绪（开心、恐惧、愤怒、中性）及其不同强度水平（25%、50%、75%、100%）的面部的视觉扫描模式。总体而言，与对照组相比，克兰费尔特综合征组对面部眼睛区域的注视较少（科恩d值为1.4），并且在呈现面部时没有表现出对照组中发现的典型倾向，即首先注视眼睛（科恩d值为1.0）。情绪类型或强度没有显著影响。对眼睛的较短注视时间与较差社交功能的自我报告呈边缘显著相关，可解释方差为29%。这些发现表明，患有47,XXY的个体快速自动关注他人眼睛的倾向降低。这可能会对基于此的更复杂的社会认知能力产生影响。除了对行为定义的疾病如ASD的研究外，对患有克兰费尔特综合征的个体进行研究有助于深入了解社会功能障碍各种“风险”途径的潜在机制以及介导这种风险的因素。
