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Scientists pinpoint a large number of genes linked to dyslexia
For the first time, scientists have identified a large number of genes that are reliably linked to dyslexia. About a third of the 42 genetic variants identified have previously been linked to general cognitive ability and educational attainment. The researchers say their findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, support our understanding of the biology behind why some children have difficulty reading or spelling. Dyslexia is known to run in families - partly due to genetic factors - but until now little was known about the specific genes associated with the risk of its development. …
Scientists pinpoint a large number of genes linked to dyslexia
For the first time, scientists have identified a large number of genes that are reliably linked to dyslexia.
About a third of the 42 genetic variants identified have previously been linked to general cognitive ability and educational attainment.
The researchers say their findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, support our understanding of the biology behind why some children have difficulty reading or spelling.
Dyslexia is known to run in families - partly due to genetic factors - but until now little was known about the specific genes associated with the risk of its development.
The study, led by the University of Edinburgh, is the largest genetic study of dyslexia to date. Previous studies linking dyslexia to specific genes were conducted on a small number of families, and the evidence was unclear, the research team says.
This latest study involved more than 50,000 adults who were diagnosed with dyslexia and more than a million adults who were not.
Researchers tested the association between millions of genetic variants with dyslexia status and found 42 significant variants.
Some of these are linked to other neurodevelopmental conditions such as language delay and to thinking skills and academic performance. However, many are new and may represent genes more specifically associated with processes essential to learning to read.
Many of the genes associated with dyslexia are also associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Much less overlap in genes associated with dyslexia was found for psychiatric, lifestyle and health problems.
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Several of the associated genetic variants were also significant in a Chinese-speaking sample, suggesting that there are general cognitive processes involved in learning to read that are not dependent on the type of language.
Researchers say they were able to use genetic information from the study to predict how well children and adults can read and spell from four other research studies, but not with the accuracy needed for diagnostic purposes.
Other key researchers in the study came from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands, the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia and the US company 23andMe, Inc.
Lead researcher Michelle Luciano, from the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, says the study sheds light on many unanswered questions surrounding dyslexia.
Our results show that common genetic differences have very similar effects in boys and girls and that there is a genetic link between dyslexia and ambidexterity. Previous work suggested that some brain structures might be altered in people with dyslexia, but we found no evidence that genes could explain this.
Our results also suggest that dyslexia is genetically very closely related to performance on reading and spelling tests, underscoring the importance of standardized tests to identify dyslexia.”
Dr. Michelle Luciano, Faculty of Philosophy, Psychology and Linguistics, University of Edinburgh
Source:
Reference:
Doust, C., et al. (2022) Discovery of 42 genome-wide significant loci associated with dyslexia. Natural genetics. doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01192-y.
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