Verbal narrative ability and episodic autobiographical memory in adolescents and young adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Article Article scientifique Article Verbal narrative ability and episodic autobiographical memory in adolescents and young adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome eng 2025-03-29 author Mayor Claire 0000-0003-2488-1749 Child Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, Geneva, 1205, Switzerland. Claire.Mayor@unige.ch. 506439 Services communs de la faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation (PSECO) author Husmann Julie Laura Marie Child Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, Geneva, 1205, Switzerland.,Clinical Psychology Unit for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, Geneva, 1205, Switzerland. 928163 Section de psychologie (PSICO) author Benaghmouch Selma Child Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, Geneva, 1205, Switzerland. 898811 author Eliez Stéphan Developmental Imaging and Psychopathology Lab Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 39336 Département de psychiatrie (PSYAT) author Feller Clémence Clinical Psychology Unit for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, Geneva, 1205, Switzerland. 847302 Section de psychologie (PSICO) author Schneider Maude Clinical Psychology Unit for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, Geneva, 1205, Switzerland. 594384 Section de psychologie (PSICO) 17 10.1186/s11689-025-09606-8 40158074 1866-1947 PMC11954204 https://jneurodevdisorders.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s11689-025-09606-8 Background: Poor episodic autobiographical future thinking has recently been reported in 22q11.2 carriers. However, whether these impairments are due to poor language skills or indicate a true episodic autobiographical memory deficit remains unclear. Language impairments are the hallmark of the neuropsychological profile of young children with 22q11DS, but language outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood, especially high-level linguistic skills such as narrative, remain largely unexplored. The aims of this study are first to precisely characterize the narrative abilities of a group of adolescents and young adults with a 22q11DS and normal verbal intellectual functioning, in comparison to a control group. Second, to assess their (past) autobiographical episodic memory and their future episodic thinking abilities. Third, to examine the relationship between linguistic and autobiographical memory skills. Methods: Fifteen adolescents and young adults with 22q11DS were compared with 15 age- and sex-matched controls. Narrative ability was assessed with a storytelling task and included microstructural, macrostructural, and pragmatic linguistic measures. Episodic autobiographical memory was assessed using a paradigm involving recall of past personal memories and future thinking conditions. Results: Adolescents and young adults with 22q11DS still struggled with high-level language skills such as storytelling tasks, and all linguistic levels were impaired, i.e., the microstructural, macrostructural, and pragmatic components of narrative. Second, 22q11DS carriers showed poor episodic autobiographical recall of their personal memories and reduced access to sensory details (visual, auditory…) compared to controls. Their poor autobiographical episodic memory skills were independent of language impairment, and there were no effects of age or intellectual level on their autobiographical (past) memories recollection. On the other hand, age and verbal intellectual functioning significantly contributed to their ability to produce episodic narratives in the future thinking condition, suggesting that the future thinking task relies on more complex and intricate factors than pure episodic memory ability. Conclusions: Verbal narrative impairments did not account for poor recall of personal memories, suggesting dysfunctional episodic memory networks between hippocampi and posterior cortical areas in 22q11DS, where neuroanatomical and neurofunctional alterations have indeed been reported. Adolescent Adult DiGeorge Syndrome / complications DiGeorge Syndrome / physiopathology Female Humans Magnetic Resonance Imaging Male Memory, Episodic Mental Recall / physiology Narration Neuropsychological Tests Young Adult Dewey 616.89 Dewey 150 Dewey 576.5 108 Section de psychologie 71 135 Département de médecine génétique et développement 21D 60 Département de psychiatrie 225 false 1302 Unité de psychologie clinique des situations de handicap 421 Laboratoire d'imagerie et de psychopathologie développementale 693 Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders 17 1 11b1d025-e7af-48a0-8325-2bd76a020d7e Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 1783649 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 ebbacac6721444b7fd517f3296aa6b6ef412080afa0a80edfc15fa0f719ba7b1 openAccess Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation / Section de psychologie Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine fondamentale / Département de médecine génétique et développement Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de psychiatrie

Title	Published in	Year	Views	Downloads

Verbal narrative ability and episodic autobiographical memory in adolescents and young adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome	Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders	2025	43	52
La mémoire épisodique future et les capacités narratives dans la microdélétion 22q11.2		2023	41	1

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