Hsu Ching-Fen, Jiang Qian
School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Laboratory for Language Pathology and Developmental Neurosciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 27;16:1569243. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1569243. eCollection 2025.
People with Williams syndrome (WS) have strong verbal short-term memory but challenged verbal long-term memory given their advantageous lexical semantics.
This study aimed to evaluate the memory of people with WS using virtual reality (VR) to determine the root of challenges associated with virtual navigation.
People with WS ( = 20, chronological age [CA] = 12.5, mental age [MA] = 8.9) were recruited. Four typically developing control groups participated in a navigation task in a shopping setting: CA-matched ( = 20, mean = 12.5), MA-matched ( = 20, mean = 8.8), the 5th graders ( = 20, mean = 10.3), and college students ( = 20, CS, mean = 20.2). Fourteen indices were measured and error patterns were analyzed across groups.
Based on the shopping task, if a participant did not follow the instructions and/or target list, an error was recorded and reported using the software. People with WS shopped the longest and erred the most. The CA group shopped longer and erred more than the MA group; the 5th graders were similar to the CS group. People with WS replaced and confused more than controls. Further analyses revealed atypical processing of the semantic features of the target items in people with WS. As control groups, the practice effect emerged through pause time and duration in people with WS.
The findings revealed that people with WS show bizarre lexical semantic knowledge, which may be an influential factor in impaired long-term memory and sentence comprehension. The practice effect seems to be an important factor in the rehabilitation potential of people with WS.
VR technology could be a promising tool for assessing memory and cognitive abilities in people with WS. With computerized-assisted technological advancements in training, people with WS can improve their long-term memory and sentence comprehension abilities with a specific design and aim for the target issue.
威廉姆斯综合征（WS）患者具有较强的言语短期记忆，但鉴于其优势词汇语义，其言语长期记忆存在挑战。
本研究旨在使用虚拟现实（VR）评估WS患者的记忆，以确定与虚拟导航相关挑战的根源。
招募了WS患者（n = 20，实际年龄[CA]=12.5，心理年龄[MA]=8.9）。四个发育正常的对照组参与了在购物场景中的导航任务：年龄匹配组（n = 20，平均年龄=12.5）、心理年龄匹配组（n = 20，平均年龄=8.8）、五年级学生组（n = 20，平均年龄=10.3）和大学生组（n = 20，平均年龄=20.2）。测量了14个指标，并对各组的错误模式进行了分析。
基于购物任务，如果参与者未遵循指示和/或目标列表，则使用软件记录并报告错误。WS患者购物时间最长，错误最多。年龄匹配组比心理年龄匹配组购物时间更长且错误更多；五年级学生组与大学生组相似。WS患者比对照组替换和混淆的情况更多。进一步分析显示，WS患者对目标项目的语义特征存在非典型加工。作为对照组，WS患者通过停顿时间和持续时间出现了练习效应。
研究结果表明，WS患者表现出奇异的词汇语义知识，这可能是长期记忆和句子理解受损的一个影响因素。练习效应似乎是WS患者康复潜力的一个重要因素。
VR技术可能是评估WS患者记忆和认知能力的一种有前景的工具。随着训练中计算机辅助技术的进步，WS患者可以通过针对目标问题的特定设计和目标来提高他们的长期记忆和句子理解能力。
