Etude des spécificités du comportement d'exploration visuelle présentées par les personnes atteintes du syndrome vélo-cardio-facial et régions cérébrales associées

Individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) exhibit deficits in visuo-spatial reasoning, including impairments in spatial attention and visuo-spatial short-term memory. In the present study, we investigate specific mechanisms contributing to visuo-spatial impairments by recording gaze fixations using a Tobii 1750 eye-tracking machine. Fortyone participants with 22q11DS (aged 8-24, 18M 23F) and 38 healthy controls (aged 9-24, 20M 18F) completed a version of the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) adapted for eye tracking. Participants studied each of the 10 geometric images from the BVRT for a period of 10 seconds. Each image was then followed by a multiple-choice slide containing the original image and three similar choices. Overall, individuals with 22q11DS demonstrated fewer (p=0.002) and shorter (p=0.012) fixations during their exploration of the 10 images compared to the control group. This was especially clear on images that had a lower level of complexity. Moreover, specific regions remained less explored than others in the 22q11DS group. For example, almost all peripheral figures were significantly less explored (from p<0.001to p<0.034) for 7 of the 8 images with a peripheral figure. Moreover, when multiple figures were presented centrally, the simplest of the figures remained significantly less explored (from p<0.004 to p