ABSTRACT
A magnitude comparison deficit has been frequently observed in velocardiofacial syndrome (Del22q11.2). We hypothesized that this deficit extends to impairments in the acuity of the approximate number system (ANS). Three groups of children aged 8-14 years were investigated: Del22q11.2 children (n = 12), low cognitive ability children (LCA; n = 12), and matched typically developing children (TD; n = 28). All children were assessed with a simple reaction time task and symbolic and nonsymbolic number comparison tasks. To estimate the acuity of the ANS, the Weber fraction (w) was calculated from the nonsymbolic comparison task. The Del22q11.2 group exhibited a significantly higher w compared with the other groups. Importantly, no significant differences were found in w between the TD and LCA groups. The performance pattern of the Del22q11.2 group was similar to the TD group in the symbolic comparison task, and both of these groups had better performance than the LCA group. The impairment of ANS acuity observed in individuals with Del22q11.2 cannot be explained by deficits in general processing speed because no significant group differences were found in the simple reaction time task. These results suggest that lower acuity of the ANS should be added to the behavioral phenotype of Del22q11.2. The absence of impaired ANS acuity in the LCA group is consistent with the hypothesis that number sense is a relatively specific and autonomous domain. Investigations of low ANS acuity in mathematics learning difficulties and Del22q11.2 should be intensified...
Subject(s)
Humans , Learning Disabilities , DiGeorge Syndrome/etiology , NeuropsychologyABSTRACT
Objective To explore the genetic defects in patients with pulmonary atresia (PA).Methods Twenty-three patients with PA were studied from recent 1 year.There were 15 boys and 8 girls,aged 2 days to 10 years.Among them,there were 3 cases with complete ventricle septum,20 cases with VSD,3 cases without main pulmonary trunk,20 cases with PDA,6 cases with integrated major aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries(MAPCAs),3 cases with integrated right aortic arch,2 cases with integrated extra-cardiac abnormality with the manifestation of facial abnormality,1 case with integrated aberrant right subclavian artery,and 1 case with integrated tracheal bronchus.The chromosomes of the children were routinely analyzed.Negative chromosomes were examined to identify the 22ql 1.2 microdeletion by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) test.Results One case of trisomy syndrome was found.22ql 1.2 microdeletion was found in 3 cases.Among 22q1 1 microdeletion cases,1 case was intact ventricular septum,2 cases were integrated VSD.22q1 1.2 microdeletion was not found in the rest 19 cases.Conclusions Twenty-one trisomy syndrome and Del 22q1 1.2 syndrome may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PA.TBX1 probe can be used to examine 22q1 1.2 microdeletion.Del 22q1 1.2 syndrome was suspected in cases of incorporating aberrant subclavian artery,MAPCAs and severe poor development of pulmonary artery.