Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Building An Adaptive Brain Across Development: Targets For Neurorehabilitation Must Begin In Infancy, Jamie O. Edgin, Caron A. C. Clark, Esha Massand, Annette Karmiloff-Smith

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Much progress has been made toward behavioral and pharmacological intervention in intellectual disability, which was once thought too difficult to treat. Down syndrome (DS) research has shown rapid advances, and clinical trials are currently underway, with more on the horizon. Here, we review the literature on the emergent profile of cognitive development in DS, emphasizing that treatment approaches must consider how some “end state” impairments, such as language deficits, may develop from early alterations in neural systems beginning in infancy. Specifically, we highlight evidence suggesting that there are pre- and early postnatal alterations in brain structure and function in DS, …