Gene May Be Linked to Dyslexia
Gene May Be Linked to Dyslexia
Gap in Gene May Hinder the Brain's Normal Pathways for Reading
Oct. 28, 2005 -- Researchers have found a gene that may be linked to dyslexia, a reading disability that affects millions of children and adults.
The gene is called "DCDC2." Scientists have found a gap in that gene in about 17% to 20% of people with dyslexia who were studied.
"The message is really crystal clear," researcher Jeffrey Gruen, MD, tells WebMD.
"We confirmed yet again that dyslexia is genetic," says Gruen. He's an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale Child Health Research Center at Yale University's medical school.
Gruen and colleagues worked on the study, which appears in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study was also presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Gruen says gene testing -- plus educational programs that address dyslexia -- could "make a huge difference" in the lives of people with dyslexia.
"That's what makes this paper so exciting," he says. "We find a very robust player in dyslexia, one that we can easily diagnose and identify, and it seems to have a very important effect on how one reads."
The gene test could help identify children who are susceptible to dyslexia "even before they start school," says Gruen. He predicts that the test may become available (not from him) "sometime within the next year... I don't know that for a fact," he says.
He recommends putting educational policies in place first.
"I think it would be not very efficient and heartbreaking, maybe, to identify a child [with the gene gap] and then not have a policy set in place to do the early intervention," says Gruen.
The gap in the DCDC2 gene may hamper the development of brain pathways that are important for reading, says Gruen.
The brains of people with dyslexia structurally look just like those of people without reading problems, he says.
"Anatomically, the brains look just fine, but these circuits are disrupted, which will lead to dyslexia," Gruen explains.
People with dyslexia can learn to read, he adds. People with dyslexia have to develop alternative routes in their brains for reading. That's often a struggle, says Gruen.
People with dyslexia are "intelligent, smart, and talented," Gruen says. Dyslexia is "no fault of their own," he adds. "They learn to read differently, and we just need to accommodate them."
Gene May Be Linked to Dyslexia
Gap in Gene May Hinder the Brain's Normal Pathways for Reading
Oct. 28, 2005 -- Researchers have found a gene that may be linked to dyslexia, a reading disability that affects millions of children and adults.
The gene is called "DCDC2." Scientists have found a gap in that gene in about 17% to 20% of people with dyslexia who were studied.
"The message is really crystal clear," researcher Jeffrey Gruen, MD, tells WebMD.
"We confirmed yet again that dyslexia is genetic," says Gruen. He's an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale Child Health Research Center at Yale University's medical school.
Gruen and colleagues worked on the study, which appears in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study was also presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Gene Testing
Gruen says gene testing -- plus educational programs that address dyslexia -- could "make a huge difference" in the lives of people with dyslexia.
"That's what makes this paper so exciting," he says. "We find a very robust player in dyslexia, one that we can easily diagnose and identify, and it seems to have a very important effect on how one reads."
The gene test could help identify children who are susceptible to dyslexia "even before they start school," says Gruen. He predicts that the test may become available (not from him) "sometime within the next year... I don't know that for a fact," he says.
He recommends putting educational policies in place first.
"I think it would be not very efficient and heartbreaking, maybe, to identify a child [with the gene gap] and then not have a policy set in place to do the early intervention," says Gruen.
Gene's Role
The gap in the DCDC2 gene may hamper the development of brain pathways that are important for reading, says Gruen.
The brains of people with dyslexia structurally look just like those of people without reading problems, he says.
"Anatomically, the brains look just fine, but these circuits are disrupted, which will lead to dyslexia," Gruen explains.
People with dyslexia can learn to read, he adds. People with dyslexia have to develop alternative routes in their brains for reading. That's often a struggle, says Gruen.
People with dyslexia are "intelligent, smart, and talented," Gruen says. Dyslexia is "no fault of their own," he adds. "They learn to read differently, and we just need to accommodate them."
Source...