Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) comes with a range of physical, behavioural, and cognitive challenges, including mild to moderate intellectual disability, hyperphagia (an insatiable appetite), and compulsive behaviours. Despite these challenges, individuals with PWS often have remarkable strengths in specific areas, one of which is solving jigsaw puzzles. A strength in some people with PWS is something called Visuospatial Skills. This is about how you see and interpret objects and things around you, a skill which is used in jigsaw puzzles. Several studies have explored the puzzle-solving abilities of individuals with PWS. One notable study compared the performance of 26 individuals with PWS to that of typically developing controls matched for mental age. The results showed that those with PWS performed better on certain types of puzzles, particularly those that required recognising and fitting together shapes. The study found that individuals with PWS often relied on the shape of the pieces rather than the picture on them. This shape-based strategy is different to the picture-focused approach used by the majority of typically developing individuals. In other words, the approach taken by many people with PWS relies on the shape of the pieces rather than the picture itself and this means that they were able to approach difficult puzzles in a different way to those relying on following the picture. This approach really highlights the enhanced visuospatial abilities in people with PWS. In addition to the enhanced puzzle skills, the repetitive and structured nature of jigsaw puzzles may appeal to some people with PWS, providing a satisfying and engaging activity. Encouraging activities that use these advanced visuospatial skills, such as jigsaw puzzles, can provide a sense of accomplishment and improve cognitive functioning. However, whilst the advanced skills and enjoyment of jigsaw puzzles is present for some
people with Prader Willi Syndrome, it is not pastime everyone with PWS enjoys or excels in. This could partly be due to personal preferences and the fact that PWS is a spectrum condition where individuals experience different levels of different symptoms. But there is also some research behind this, as it appears that PWS subtypes can make a difference when it comes to visuospatial skills. Prader- Willi Syndrome happens when part of our 15th chromosome is either deleted, silenced or not functioning correctly. This loss of information causes the symptoms associated with PWS, but how it comes to be missing can occur in different ways including:
- Paternal Deletions: When a part of the father’s chromosome 15 is missing;
- Maternal Uniparental Disomy (UPD): When both copies of chromosome 15 come from the
mother instead of one from each parent, thus meaning the key information on the father’s
side is not active; - Imprinting Center Defects: When there’s a defect in the region that controls gene
expression on chromosome 15.
Interestingly, higher skills in jigsaw puzzles have been observed more frequently in individuals with the deletion subtype of PWS, particularly Type 1 deletions. This suggests that higher level of visuospatial skills is more prevalent with this subtype of PWS.
This is an interesting area of Prader-Willi Syndrome and also a useful way to improve cognitive and concentration skills if this is an area that a particular person with PWS is interested in. If you’d like to read more of the research on this, please check it out at
https://my.vanderbilt.edu/pwsi/files/2011/10/puzzle-solving-pws.pdf?form=MG0AV3