Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
Cellular and Systems Neurobiology, Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
Prog Brain Res. 2020;251:269-302. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.11.001. Epub 2019 Dec 6.
Early intervention and environmental optimization have been central to management of Down syndrome (DS) and much of current treatment is still focused in strategies that involve early education plans. This approach has provided significant improvements for Down syndrome but it is not providing a full success. The discovery of an increasing number of genes and molecular pathways linked to intellectual disability and involving a range of synaptic and plasticity-related mechanisms has open new treatment opportunities that focus on targeted treatments boosting neural plasticity. We here discuss some of these approaches, focusing on the effects of environmental enrichment and on the discovery of pharmacological therapies showing beneficial effects even in some clinical trials in adult individuals with Down syndrome. Targeting plasticity impairments in DS is thus a promising strategy to promote cellular mechanisms involved in learning and memory within key cognitive brain region and could lead to improved connectivity.
早期干预和环境优化一直是唐氏综合征（DS）管理的核心，目前的大部分治疗方法仍然集中在早期教育计划等策略上。这种方法为唐氏综合征患者带来了显著的改善，但并没有取得完全的成功。越来越多的与智力障碍相关的基因和分子途径的发现，涉及一系列突触和可塑性相关的机制，为靶向治疗提供了新的治疗机会，从而增强神经可塑性。在这里，我们讨论了其中的一些方法，重点介绍了环境富集的效果，以及发现了一些药物治疗方法，即使在一些针对唐氏综合征成年患者的临床试验中也显示出了有益的效果。因此，针对唐氏综合征的可塑性损伤进行治疗是一种很有前途的策略，可以促进关键认知脑区中涉及学习和记忆的细胞机制，并可能导致连接性的改善。
