Mice that carry additional copies of genes comparable to those present on human chromosome 21 have been
shown to perform better on memory tests when treated with drugs that target brain function. Could this be an
important break-through in the search for pharmacological therapies to assist people with Down syndrome?
Being physically active can have a number of benefits – having fun, meeting with friends, keeping healthy and experiencing success. For children with Down syndrome the foundations need to be laid early if they are to keep
active in school, teenage and adult years and parents ask for more help in this area from professionals.
There is a higher incidence of oral health problems among individuals with Down syndrome, particulary after 10 years of age, indicating a need for better teaching of teeth brushing and more regular visits to the dentist. Do these oral health problems affect their quality of life?
Teeth grinding turns out to be no more common in children with Down syndrome than it is in other children and it reduces with age. These are reassuring findings as teeth grinding can be quite an annoying problem at home and at school.
Clear speech can often be challenging for people with Down syndrome.
The shape of the hard palate in the top of the mouth influences speech
production. A new paper reports detailed measures of the shape and size of
the hard palate among children with Down syndrome.
Understanding number concepts and basic mathematical skills is important for many everyday activities in modern societies. Little is understood about the numeracy abilities of people with Down syndrome. At present, it appears that numeracy is an area of relative difficulty and that progress with more complex mathematical understanding is slow. However, some teaching approaches that seek to utilise certain relative strengths to communicate number concepts seem to be useful in practice. Further research is needed to define the precise difficulties experienced by children with Down syndrome and to evaluate teaching strategies.