Genomic Investigations of Spoken and Written Language Abilities: A Guide to Advances in Approaches, Technologies, and Discovery.

purposeThe aim of this tutorial is to show how the rise of molecular technologies and analytical methods in human genetics yields exciting new ways to understand the biological foundations of spoken and written language. The focus is on complementary strategies capturing genetic variation of different kinds (rare gene disruptions and common DNA polymorphisms), discussing how these can be associated with developmental speech, language, and reading disorders as well as with interindividual differences in the general population.

resultsThe first half of the tutorial discusses rare variants that are sufficient themselves to cause a severe speech and/or language disorder. This begins with lessons learned from studying

conclusionsThis work demonstrates the dramatic impact genomic innovations are having on the language sciences and how molecular genetic approaches can address long-standing questions about neurobiology and the evolution of distinctive human traits. Potential translational consequences for speech or language pathology vary according to the types of DNA variation and will benefit from enhanced communication about the roles of genomics in clinical contexts.