Perceiving and acting in depth in Williams syndrome and typical development

• One third of a group of individuals with WS did not exhibit stereopsis.
• In WS stereopsis is at the level of a typically developing three year old.
• Monocularly-guided action in WS is appropriate for non-verbal ability.
• Binocularly-guided action can be poor in WS and could be used as a screening measure.
• Remediation using monocular depth cues could compensate for poor stereopsis.

Individuals with the neurodevelopmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) often report difficulty processing and acting in depth, such as crossing roads or reaching for objects; however little research attention has been directed at understanding depth perception and action in depth in WS and whether deficits in depth perception have an ocular or perceptual root in this group. This study assessed the extent and relationship of deficits in stereopsis (binocular, three dimensional vision) and actions performed in depth in WS, as well as in typically developing participants (TD) matched for non-verbal ability. Stereoacuity was age-appropriate in the TD group but at the level of a TD three year old in WS; one third of the WS group did not show evidence of stereopsis. When monocularly acting in depth there was no difference between the WS and TD groups. When binocularly acting in depth the WS group that did not exhibit stereopsis were significantly poorer than the TD group and the WS group that exhibited stereopsis. When assessing the relationship between stereoacuity and action in depth, stereoacuity negatively correlated with binocular action in depth for the WS group with stereopsis, but not the TD group. Therefore, no deficits in monocular depth perception in WS were evidenced, yet significant deficits are exhibited in binocular depth perception and action. Importantly action in depth under binocular viewing may be a useful gross screening measure for stereodeficits in WS. Remediation of depth perception deficits in WS could train further understanding of monocular cues to compensate for poor stereopsis.