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Background: Recently, a study using the subjective straight‐ahead task showed that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) present a bias in the representation of body perception. The aim of the present study is to examine the horizontal midline body representation in WS participants using the bisection line task, which is an important benchmark for an egocentric frame of reference. Method: Fifteen WS participants (mean age = 21.7 ± 9.5 years) were compared with two typical development control groups: one composed of 15 participants matched on chronological age and one composed of 15 children matched on mental age. The task consisted of dividing each line in a series of 18 lines into two equal halves by drawing a vertical mark with a pencil in the centre of the line. Results: Individuals with WS presented a significant leftward bias in comparison to mental age and chronological age groups. Conclusions: The leftward deviation in WS could be linked to the body representation bias and difficulties in the development of the egocentric reference system. An early detection of such deviation should help in the development of targeted interventions for WS individuals to improve visual–spatial skills and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study examined the spontaneous use of allocentric and egocentric frames of reference and their flexible use as a function of instructions. Method The computerized spatial reference task created by Heiz and Barisnikov (2015) was used. Participants had to choose a frame of reference according to three types of instructions: spontaneous, allocentric and egocentric. The performances of 16 Williams Syndrome participants between 10 and 41 years were compared to those of two control groups (chronological age and non-verbal intellectual ability). Results The majority of Williams Syndrome participants did not show a preference for a particular frame of reference. When explicitly inviting participants to use an allocentric frame of reference, all three groups showed an increased use of the allocentric frame of reference. At the same time, an important heterogeneity of type of frame of reference used by Williams Syndrome participants was observed. Conclusion Results demonstrate that despite difficulties in the spontaneous use of allocentric and egocentric frames of reference, some Williams Syndrome participants show flexibility in the use of an allocentric frame of reference when an explicit instruction is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture shapes social cognition in many ways. Yet cultural impact on face tuning remains largely unclear. Here typically developing females and males from the French-speaking part of Switzerland were presented with a set of Arcimboldo-like Face-n-Food images composed of food ingredients and in different degree resembling a face. The outcome had been compared with previous findings obtained in young adults of the South-West Germany. In that study, males exhibit higher thresholds for face tuning on the Face-n-Food task than females. In Swiss participants, no gender differences exist in face tuning. Strikingly, males from the French-speaking part of Switzerland possess higher sensitivity to faces than their German peers, whereas no difference in face tuning occurs between females. The outcome indicates that even relatively subtle cultural differences as well as culture by gender interaction can modulate social cognition. Clarification of the nature of cultural impact on face tuning as well as social cognition at large is of substantial value for understanding a wide range of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Many neurological, neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and psychosomatic disorders are characterized by impairments in visual social cognition, body language reading, and facial assessment of a social counterpart. Yet a wealth of research indicates that individuals with Williams syndrome exhibit remarkable concern for social stimuli and face fascination. Here individuals with Williams syndrome were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images composed of food ingredients and in different degree resembling a face (slightly bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style). The primary advantage of these images is that single components do not explicitly trigger face-specific processing, whereas in face images commonly used for investigating face perception (such as photographs or depictions), the mere occurrence of typical cues already implicates face presence. In a spontaneous recognition task, participants were shown a set of images in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. Strikingly, individuals with Williams syndrome exhibited profound deficits in recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face: they did not report seeing a face on the images, which typically developing controls effortlessly recognized as a face, and gave overall fewer face responses. This suggests atypical face tuning in Williams syndrome. The outcome is discussed in the light of a general pattern of social cognition in Williams syndrome and brain mechanisms underpinning face processing.