Fragile X Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Fragile X Syndrome, including details on symptoms, treatment, heritability, diagnosis.

Fragile X syndrome: assessment and treatment implications.

Reiss AL, Hall SS

Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5975, USA.

Fragile X syndrome (FraX) is the most common known cause of inherited mental impairment. FMR1 gene mutations, the cause of FraX, lead to reduced expression of FMR1 protein and an increased risk for a particular profile of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dysfunction. The study of individuals with FraX provides a unique window of understanding into important disorders such as autism, social phobia, cognitive disability, and depression. This review highlights the typical phenotypic features of individuals with FraX, discussing the apparent strengths and weaknesses in intellectual functioning, as evidenced from longitudinal follow-up studies. It also discusses recent neuroanatomic findings that may pave the way for more focused disease-specific pharmacologic and behavioral interventions. This article describes the results of recent medication trials designed to target symptoms associated with FraX. It also describes some recent behavioral interventions that were conducted in our laboratory.

Published 12 June 2007 in Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am, 16(3): 663-75.
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