Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
J Neurosci. 2012 Oct 10;32(41):14074-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3287-12.2012.
Brain development in neurodevelopmental disorders has been considered to comprise a sequence of critical periods, and abnormalities occurring during early development have been considered irreversible in adulthood. However, findings in mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders, including fragile X, Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, and neurofibromatosis type I suggest that it is possible to reverse certain molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral deficits associated with these disorders in adults by genetic or pharmacological manipulations. Furthermore, recent studies have suggested that critical period-like plasticity can be reactivated in the adult brain by environmental manipulations or by pharmacotherapy. These studies open up a tantalizing possibility that targeted pharmacological treatments in combination with regimes of training or rehabilitation might alleviate or reverse the symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders even after the end of critical developmental periods. Even though translation from animal experimentation to clinical practice is challenging, these results suggest a rational basis for treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders in adulthood.
神经发育障碍中的大脑发育被认为包含一系列关键期，并且早期发育过程中的异常在成年后被认为是不可逆转的。然而，神经发育障碍的小鼠模型研究，包括脆性 X 综合征、雷特综合征、唐氏综合征和神经纤维瘤病 I 型，表明通过遗传或药物操作，有可能逆转与这些疾病相关的某些分子、电生理和行为缺陷。此外，最近的研究表明，通过环境操作或药物治疗，成人大脑中的类似关键期可塑性可以被重新激活。这些研究提出了一个诱人的可能性，即靶向药物治疗与训练或康复方案相结合，即使在关键发育期结束后，也可能减轻或逆转神经发育障碍的症状。尽管从动物实验到临床实践的转化具有挑战性，但这些结果为成年期神经发育障碍的治疗提供了合理的依据。
