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Familial Dyslexia in a Large Swedish Family: A Whole Genome Linkage Scan

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Abstract

There is a compelling body of evidence that developmental dyslexia runs in families and seems to be highly inheritable. Several investigations during the last two decades have shown possible locations of genes that might be involved in dyslexia, including regions of chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 15 and 18. In addition, six candidate genes (KIAA0319, DYX1C1, DCDC2, ROBO1, MRPL19 and C2ORF3) seem to be related to dyslexia. The present study carried out a whole genome scan in a six-generation pedigree. In addition to literacy skills the assessment included cognitive skills and records concerning the history of reading and writing ability. Thirty-five percent were regarded as dyslexic in the family. A linkage analysis using both a quantitative and a qualitative approach has been performed. No evidence was obtained to support the hypothesis that the transmission of dyslexia in this pedigree is due to a highly penetrant major gene, and previous linkage findings were not replicated; however, power in this small study was not adequate to confirm linkage of genes with small to moderate effects. The results were discussed in relation to diagnostic procedures and sample characteristics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Linnæus University, 351-95, Växjö, Sweden

    Idor Svensson

  2. Department of Mathematical Statistic, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Staffan Nilsson

  3. Department of Clinical Genetics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/East, The University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jan Wahlström

  4. Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, The University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Margareta Jernås & Lena M. Carlsson

  5. Department of Psychology, The University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Erland Hjelmquist

Authors
  1. Idor Svensson
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  2. Staffan Nilsson
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  3. Jan Wahlström
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  4. Margareta Jernås
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  5. Lena M. Carlsson
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  6. Erland Hjelmquist
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Correspondence to Idor Svensson.

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Edited by Elena Grigorenko and Brett Miller.

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Svensson, I., Nilsson, S., Wahlström, J. et al. Familial Dyslexia in a Large Swedish Family: A Whole Genome Linkage Scan. Behav Genet 41, 43–49 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-010-9395-4

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