Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated that biogenic amines have a function of facilitating
formation and maintenance of synapses in diverse regions of the central nervous system
in developing and adult animals. The normal number of synapses maintained by biogenic
amines are crucial to acquire learning and memory. The level of biogenic amines was
reported to decrease in the brain by several neurodevelopmental disorders associated
with mental retardation and developmental disabilities such as Rett syndrome, autism
and Down syndrome. Taken into consideration this fact together with the function of
biogenic amines for synapses, the density of synapses appears to decrease considerably
in the brains of patients suffered from the neurodevelopmental disorders. The synaptic
overproduction during the critical period of development especially 1 year after birth
has been considered as a background mechanism to provide plasticity for the developing
brain. Synaptic overproduction does not appear to occur in the brains of patients
suffered from the neurodevelopmental disorders, which they are observed mental retardation
occurring in the first 1 year after birth. Along with the neurodevelopmental disorders,
environmental factors (stress, drugs and nutrition) during pre- and post-natal critical
developmental periods are known to change levels of biogenic amines in the brain.
In fact, maternal stress has been shown to decrease the levels of serotonin and the
density of synapses in the hippocampus of the offspring, and they showed developmental
disabilities in the spatial learning and memory. A cascade appears to exist from either
the child neurological disorders or the environmental factors to mental retardation
and developmental disabilities by decreases in the levels of biogenic amines and synaptic
density.
Keywords
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© 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
