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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;297:1423.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Blocking an inhibitory neurotransmitter can improve performance of several memory tasks in a mouse model of Down syndrome, according to new research from Stanford University, in Palo Alto, Calif (Fernandez F et al. Nat Neurosci. doi:10.1038/nn1860 [published online February 25, 2007]).

The Down syndrome mouse shows some of the features of the human disorder, including deficits in memory for facts and events as well as excessive neuronal inhibition in the dentate gyrus region of the brain, an effect mediated by the neurotransmitter GABA.

After 2 weeks of treatment with pentylenetetrazole or bilobalide, drugs that inhibit the GABA receptor, the mice showed improved performance in memory tasks. The effect lasted for up to 2 months after drug treatment ended.

According to the authors, the results point to overinhibition, in at least some brain regions, as one possible mechanism that reduces cognitive performance in the mouse model of . . . [Full Text of this Article]