Researchers find new way to prevent attention deficits associated with Fragile X syndrome
Mount Sinai Researchers find a new way to prevent attention deficits associated with Fragile X, a leading genetic cause of autism, in an animal model.
Corresponding author:
Hirofumi Morishita, MD, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.
Bottom line:
The adolescent maturation of the frontal cortex is important for establishing cognitive function, and disruption of this process is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
This study uncovered a new molecular driver of frontal circuit maturation that is essential for cognitive function, and demonstrated, in an animal model, that this mechanism can be targeted to restore attention deficits caused by a leading genetic cause of autism.
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IMAGE: Hirofumi Morishita, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Opthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and lead author of the study. view more
Credit: Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Researchers find a new way to prevent attention deficits associated with Fragile X, a leading genetic cause of autism, in an animal model
Corresponding Author: Hirofumi Morishita, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.
Bottom Line: The adolescent maturation of the frontal cortex is important for establishing cognitive function, and disruption of this process is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. This study uncovered a new molecular driver of frontal circuit maturation that is essential for cognitive function, and demonstrated, in an animal model, that this mechanism can be targeted to
Researchers identify a neural pathway critical to correcting behavioral errors
Mount Sinai researchers have identified a neural pathway through which the brain detects errors and guides subsequent behavioral improvement. This process, called cognitive control, is frequently dysregulated in a wide range of psychiatric disorders.
The team s research, published February 19 in
Neuron, also suggests that neurostimulation of this brain pathway could provide an important mechanism for attention adjustments following behavioral errors.
When errors are committed, such as missing a stop sign or running a red light while driving, it s important for our survival to immediately adapt behavior by paying more attention to prevent further errors. This ability to adapt behavior after erroneous actions are one of the key components of human cognitive control.
Credit: Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai researchers have identified a neural pathway through which the brain detects errors and guides subsequent behavioral improvement. This process, called cognitive control, is frequently dysregulated in a wide range of psychiatric disorders. The team s research, published February 19 in
Neuron, also suggests that neurostimulation of this brain pathway could provide an important mechanism for attention adjustments following behavioral errors.
When errors are committed, such as missing a stop sign or running a red light while driving, it s important for our survival to immediately adapt behavior by paying more attention to prevent further errors. This ability to adapt behavior after erroneous actions is one of the key components of human cognitive control.