The Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation (DSRTF) announces the identification of a new potential therapeutic strategy to address cognitive decline and improve cognition in Down syndrome. The findings were published in Science Translational Medicine on November 18, 2009 by DSRTF-supported researchers, Drs. Ahmad Salehi, William Mobley, and colleagues at Stanford and UCSD Schools of Medicine. The study explored contextual learning, and discovered that specific drug compounds can restore this important aspect of learning and memory in a mouse model, indicating a new potential therapeutic strategy to improve contextual learning for individuals with Down syndrome.
Generally, people do not have trouble finding, for example, a specific store in a shopping mall, especially if they have been there before. They are able to integrate input from their senses (such as sight, sound, smell, etc.) with navigational cues from the environment to remember and find their way. This is called contextual learning. For people with Down syndrome, contextual learning is a particular challenge. In addition it is believed that poor contextual learning and memory is involved in cognitive decline as people with Down syndrome age.
In this new study, the researchers explored the basis of contextual learning in a mouse model of Down syndrome and discovered that: