Cognitive impairment, motor function and learning deficit are present in all Down's syndrome (DS) individuals with biological basis remaining unknown. The striatum plays important role in cognitive and motor function. It contains medium spiny neurons that are GABA ergic in nature and a spiny interneurons that are cholinergic. The cholinergic interneurons modulate the function of GABA ergic neurons. As the striatum plays important role in cognitive and motor function and striatal cholinergic interneurons are spared in Ts65Dn experimental mouse model of DS as well as in human DS, the authors assumed that corticostriatal cholinergic neurotransmission may play important role in the same. On the basis of these observations, the authors aim at examining the striatal region in terms of synaptic transmission and plasticity.

doi : 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.2010.170107

Competing interests: None.     Source of Funding: None

Received Date: 22 Oct 2009     Revised Date: 19 Nov 2009     Accepted Date: 27 Nov 2009