The genetics of reading and language abilities

This project aims to understand the biological mechanisms underlying the genetic variation in reading and language abilities. The results will be greatly informative for clinical disorders of reading and language impairment. There are three main themes to this project, 1) the multivariate modelling of genetic covariation between measures of reading and language which are related on a phenotypic level but their genetic correlations are relatively unexplored. This will involve using a classical twin design to disentangle the relative influence of genes and environment on the associations between reading and language measures. 2) Molecular genetic analysis of copy number variants influencing reading and language traits; structural genetic variants influencing normal variation in reading and language traits has not been tested previously, their effect on adolescent and young adult reading and language traits will be quantified and compared with results from structural genetic variants influencing developmental disorders. 3) Do candidate genes influencing dyslexia and reading impairment influence normal variation in adult reading and language traits? Genetic studies of reading and language, to date, focus on children and young adults, this research will test whether the genetic association findings in young samples generalise to older adults. Other themes can be developed within the scope of the PhD, and might include the interaction of genes and environment on the focus traits.