Brief review of current research in FXS: implications for treatment with psychotropic medication.
Animal work links missing FMRP to wonky brain chemistry in FXS, giving a pill rationale—but you still need behavior data to see if the pills work.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Valdovinos (2007) wrote a story-style review about Fragile X syndrome.
The paper pulls together animal-lab facts on missing FMRP protein.
It lists which brain chemicals go off-track and which pills might calm them.
What they found
The review found no new trial data.
Instead it maps out why doctors might try certain psychotropic drugs for aggression or mood swings in FXS.
How this fits with other research
Weeden et al. (2010) extends the same drug theme to all developmental disabilities and tells BCBAs exactly how to collect behavior data before and after each med change.
Gürkan et al. (2012) acts as a successor: it keeps the FXS drug story but adds autism without FXS, showing the idea keeps growing.
Fahmie et al. (2013) looks at a different piece—emotion recognition deficits—so it sits alongside, not against, the drug focus.
Why it matters
You now have a ready map of which neurotransmitters are off in FXS and which meds target them. Use it when you talk with the prescriber. Track problem behaviors before any pill change and again two weeks later. Your data turn this 2007 theory into real-world dose decisions.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of current research in fragile X syndrome (FXS) with regards to the morphology and behavioral phenotype associated with FXS and the use of psychotropic medication for the treatment of behavior problems (e.g., aggression) often seen in FXS (full mutation). The lack of production of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is associated with FXS and has been found to result in various neuronal changes such as altered dendritic morphology and function as well as altered neurotransmitter functions. A review of the basic literature on animal models and the relevance of these findings for the use of psychotropic treatment of problem behaviors in FXS will be discussed. Future research directions will be presented.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2007 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2006.09.001