The Neurobiology of Mental Retardation: Fragile X Syndrome Essay

The Neurobiology of moral Retardation little(a) X SyndromeIn my earlier paper, I wrote on the topic of the nature-nurture debate and the ways it related to the brain-equals-behavior dilemma. In this paper, I will continue this investigation into the link between divisors and neurobiology, and I will focus in on a position aspect of the relationship neurological disease caused by genetic aberration. at that place ar many well studied and well documented (thought non necessarily well understood) disorders associated with the X chromosome, and a large number of these piss neurobiological roots and behavioral manifestations. One such disease is soft X syndrome. Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited play of learning disabilities and mental awkwardness known (1). The disease shows an x-linked inheritance manikin and is characterized by a host of symptoms ranging from impaired learning abilities to severe deceleration and autistic behaviors (1). An understanding of the disease is vital on several levels. Fragile X syndrome (FXS) not only bears scientific significance for the fields of molecular(a) genetics, transmission genetics, neurophysiology, and abnormal psychology. It also provides one with a vantage halt from which to view the particular set of behaviors known as mental retardation as well as those afflicted by retardation who are too often stigmatized and marginalized in our society.Before analyzing the neurobiological basis of FXS, it is liable(p) to examine the genetics underlying the disease. As stated before, FXS is known to be x-linked which means that the disease will appear roughly in twice as many male cases as female. This is because males, who have only a single copy of x-linked genes which they inherit on... ... syndrome and Downs Syndrome are also forms of mental retardation, the last mentioned of which is not even an inborn error of metabolism- it is a chromosomal disorder. And tho the particular subset of behaviors in question is all called mental retardation. Thus, more cytological and neuro-imaging research must be conducted to fully elucidate the complexities of FXS. For the time being, I think, it is safe to assume that the link between a single gene and a complex class of behaviors is strong for fragile X syndrome. web Sources1)National Fragil X Foundationhttp//www.fragilex.org/2)Neurosciences on the Internethttp//www.neuroguide.com/cgi-bin/pdistoc.pl?file=fragile3)Genetic Causes of Mental Retardationhttp//specialed.freeyellow.com/YAdaptUse.html4)Online Mendelian Inheritance in Manhttp//www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=309550