Saccade dysmetria in Williams–Beuren syndrome

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 42; no. 5; pp. 569 - 576
• Main Authors: van der Geest, J.N., Lagers-van Haselen, G.C., van Hagen, J.M., Govaerts, L.C.P., de Coo, I.F.M., de Zeeuw, C.I., Frens, M.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 2004; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Accuracy; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebellar Ataxia - etiology; Cerebellum; Child; Eye movements; Female; Fixation, Ocular - physiology; Genetic disorder; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Oculomotor; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychomotor Performance; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reaction Time - physiology; Saccades - physiology; Spatial vision; Visual Perception - physiology; Williams Syndrome - complications; Genetic disorder; Cerebellum; Oculomotor; Accuracy; Eye movements; Spatial vision; Human; Cognition; Space perception; Saccadic eye movement; Williams syndrome; Vision; Complex syndrome
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.11.003

Numerous studies have described the poor visuo-spatial processing capacities of subjects with Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS), a genetically based developmental disorder. Since visual perception and eye movements are closely related we hypothesized that the poor visuo-spatial processing capacities of subjects with WBS might be related to a poor saccadic control. Thereto, we recorded horizontal and vertical saccadic eye movements to targets using infrared video-oculography in 27 subjects with WBS and eight healthy controls. In the WBS group saccadic gains were highly variable, both between and within individual subjects, and they often needed more than one correction saccade to reach the target. Ten (out of a subgroup of 22) WBS subjects showed a large number of hypometric and/or hypermetric saccades, and, also a left–right asymmetry in saccadic gains was observed in WBS. We conclude that the observed impairments in saccadic control are likely to affect the proper processing of visuo-spatial information.