Scientists Discover Genetic Origins of Dyslexia and Language Impairment

Genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia and language impairment, increasing the likelihood of earlier diagnosis and more effective interventions have been discovered by researchers.

Genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia and language impairment, increasing the likelihood of earlier diagnosis and more effective interventions have been discovered by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective.

Dyslexia - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Dyslexia is a reading disability that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols.

Senior author Jeffrey R. Gruen, M.D., professor of pediatrics, genetics, and investigative medicine at Yale, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 10,000 children born in 1991-1992 who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) conducted by investigators at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Dyslexia and language impairment are common learning disabilities that make reading and verbal language skills difficult. Both disorders have a substantial genetic component, but despite years of study, determining the root cause had been difficult.

In previous studies, Gruen and his team found that dopamine-related genes ANKK1 and DRD2 are involved in language processing. In further non-genetic studies, they found that prenatal exposure to nicotine has a strong negative affect on both reading and language processing. They had also previously found that a gene called DCDC2 was linked to dyslexia.

Dyslexia's Effect on Brain Differs With Gender
Dyslexia may affect different parts of the brain in males and females according to a new study.

In this new study, Gruen and colleagues looked deeper within the DCDC2 gene to pinpoint the specific parts of the gene that are responsible for dyslexia and language impairment. They found that some variants of a gene regulator called READ1 (regulatory element associated with dyslexia1) within the DCDC2 gene are associated with problems in reading performance while other variants are strongly associated with problems in verbal language performance.

Gruen said these variants interact with a second dyslexia risk gene called KIAA0319.

Researchers Identify a Biological Marker of Dyslexia
Learning to read proceeds smoothly for most children, but some suffer from dyslexia, a constellation of impairments unrelated to intelligence, hearing or vision that make learning to read a struggle.

"When you have risk variants in both READ1 and KIAA0319, it can have a multiplier effect on measures of reading, language, and IQ. People who have these variants have a substantially increased likelihood of developing dyslexia or language impairment," he said.

Gruen hopes that the finding will allow them to offer a pre-symptomatic diagnostic panel, so they can identify children at risk before they get into trouble at school.

Phonetic System may be the Cause of Dyslexia
According to a research published in the open access journal PLOS ONE, dyslexia may result from impairment of a different linguistic system.

The study is published online and in the July print issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Source-ANI