Last month, my colleague Erin Digitale blogged about Down syndrome research being done here and some parents' concerns over the notion that people with the disorder need to be "fixed." Today the New York Times' Motherlode tackled the same issue and discussed the Stanford work. Writer Lisa Belkin describes the research:
By using mice that were genetically engineered to mimic Down syndrome, [the researchers] found that neural memory deficits prevent such children from collecting learned experiences, and that they could improve memory and cognition by medically boosting norepinephrine signaling in the brain.
And the brewing debate:
The announcement of a potential breakthrough (which, it should be noted, is still mostly theoretical and well in the future) has led to some soul-searching among parents of children with Down syndrome who wonder how much the presence of an extra chromosome makes their children who they are.
