Simoes de Souza FM, Busquet N, Blatner M, Maclean KN, Restrepo D. Galantamine improves olfactory learning in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome.
Sci Rep 2011;
1:137. [PMID:
22355654 PMCID:
PMC3216618 DOI:
10.1038/srep00137]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2011] [Accepted: 09/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is the most common form of congenital intellectual disability. Although DS involves multiple disturbances in various tissues, there is little doubt that in terms of quality of life cognitive impairment is the most serious facet and there is no effective treatment for this aspect of the syndrome. The Ts65Dn mouse model of DS recapitulates multiple aspects of DS including cognitive impairment. Here the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS was evaluated in an associative learning paradigm based on olfactory cues. In contrast to disomic controls, trisomic mice exhibited significant deficits in olfactory learning. Treatment of trisomic mice with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galantamine resulted in a significant improvement in olfactory learning. Collectively, our study indicates that olfactory learning can be a sensitive tool for evaluating deficits in associative learning in mouse models of DS and that galantamine has therapeutic potential for improving cognitive abilities.
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