Age-dependent cognitive impairment in a Drosophila fragile X model and its pharmacological rescue.

ABSTRACT: Fragile X syndrome afflicts 1 in 2,500 individuals and is the leading heritable cause of mental retardation worldwide. The overriding clinical manifestation of this disease is mild to severe cognitive impairment. Age-dependent cognitive decline has been identified in Fragile X patients, although it has not been fully characterized nor examined in animal models. A Drosophila model of this disease has been shown to display phenotypes bearing similarity to Fragile X symptoms. Most notably, we previously identified naive courtship and memory deficits in young adults with this model that appear to be due to enhanced metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) signaling. Herein we have examined age-related cognitive decline in the Drosophila Fragile X model and found an age-dependent loss of learnin

SUBMITTER: Choi CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2866528 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature