Genetic Variants Linked to Dyslexia
A study by the University of Edinburgh has pinpointed various genes reliably associated with dyslexia. Previously around one-third of the 42 genetic variants identified had been linked to educational attainment and cognitive abilities. Published in Nature Genetics journal, the University’s latest findings provide compelling evidence and understanding of why some children struggle to read and spell.
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty affecting phonological awareness, verbal memory, and verbal processing speed. It occurs across a range of intellectual abilities and is estimated to affect up to 1 in every 10 people in the UK.
Dyslexia is known to be hereditary, but until now, there was little known knowledge about specific genes relating to the risk of its development. The University of Edinburgh’s study is the most extensive genetic study of the condition to date. Previous research has been limited to a small number of families, producing unclear results.
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The University of Edinburgh’s study recruited over 50,000 adults diagnosed with dyslexia and more than one million without the condition. Researchers investigated the link between millions of genetic variants and dyslexia. Overall, 42 significant variants were found.
Whilst some of these associated variants indicated neurodevelopmental conditions, such as language and cognitive delay, many were identified as novel. This means they could represent genes more specifically relating to the neurological processes essential for learning to read.
Other connections were found between genes associated with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity. There was also an overlap between genes associated with dyslexia and some psychiatric, lifestyle, and health conditions.
"Our findings show that common genetic differences have very similar effects in boys and girls, and that there is a genetic link between dyslexia and ambidexterity”
Within the Chinese-speaking sample of participants, results also showed significant associative links. This suggests that general cognitive processes in reading are not dependent on the type of language. Researchers were able to use genetic information collected from the study to predict the reading and spelling ability of children and adults from four other research studies. However, this did not coincide with the accuracy needed for diagnostic use.
Michelle Luciano, lead researcher and Reader of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, explained how the study provided numerous unanswered questions about dyslexia. “Our findings show that common genetic differences have very similar effects in boys and girls, and that there is a genetic link between dyslexia and ambidexterity,” she said.
“Previous work suggested some brain structures may be altered in people with dyslexia, but we did not find evidence that genes explain this. Our results also suggest that dyslexia is very closely genetically related to performance on reading and spelling tests reinforcing the importance of standardised testing in identifying dyslexia.”
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