NEWS

Fragile X Syndrome is focus of new study center at UNC

CHAPEL HILL -- The department of psychiatry and the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have received a $3.5-million grant to study brain development in very young children with Fragile X Syndrome.

The five-year grant is from the National Institute of Mental Health, a component of the National Institutes of Health.

Fragile X Syndrome is the most common inherited cause of mental retardation. The study involves researchers from both UNC and Duke University, through the Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, and represents a collaboration with researchers at Stanford University, who have been awarded an identical grant to conduct this joint study.

Dr. Joseph Piven, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and director of the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center in UNC’s School of Medicine, is the principal investigator. Other researchers include Drs. Guido Gerig, Heather Cody-Hazlett, Sarang Joshi, Stephan Reznick, Deborah Hatton, Michelle Poe and Margaret Burchinal from UNC, and Drs. James MacFall, James Provenzale and Allison Ross from Duke University. MacFall is principal investigator of the Duke site.

"There are only a few neurodevelopmental, behavioral disorders for which we actually have identified a causative gene," said Piven. "Fragile X is one of those disorders. Our multidisciplinary team of researchers at UNC, Duke and Stanford is in an ideal position to study the effects of this genetic abnormality on very early brain development and cognition in children. Prior to the identification of this gene and current neuroimaging techniques, this type of study into gene, brain and behavioral relationships during early development was not possible."

This study examines the brain structure of very young children with Fragile X Syndrome on MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scans at 2 and 4 years of age. The combined Fragile X project will study 60 Fragile X, 60 developmentally delayed and 30 typically developing males between 18 and 42 months of age, with follow-up brain scans 24 months later.

"Fragile X offers an important model for understanding the developmental relationships between cognitive and behavioral abnormalities, brain structure and function and gene function," said Piven. "Our long-term hope in studying this model of gene-brain-behavior relationships is to provide insights into the brain abnormalities and resulting cognitive and behavioral deficits in individuals affected with this disorder to ultimately identify rational treatments for this condition."

The grant will be conducted through 2006 and will be a collaborative effort between the researchers at UNC and Duke working with a Stanford University team directed by Dr. Allan Reiss.

The Fragile X grant is one of the largest research awards granted to the department of psychiatry in 2002 to study children’s development disorders. The department ranks seventh among psychiatry programs awarded funding from the NIH, receiving $18 million in 2001. Overall, the UNC School of Medicine ranks 14th and the university ranks 12th.

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Department of psychiatry contact: Crystal Hinson, (919) 966-9115