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Dyslexia: new study on genetic variants

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In Italy, dyslexia affects 2-4% of the population. A genome-wide study of 1.1 million European adults was conducted at the University of Edinburgh. Of these, about 51,000 were dyslexic. In practice, the DNA of healthy people was compared with those suffering from dyslexia.

The research made it possible to obtain 42 genetic variants that differentiate dyslexics from healthy ones. The higher the number of these variants in our DNA, the greater the risk of dyslexia. They don’t cause dyslexia, but those who have them are more likely to have dyslexia.

 

A complex condition that as such is influenced by many genes, each of which alone has a very small effect on increasing genetic predisposition to the disease. When one thinks of genetics, the first thing one might believe is that it is something immutable, fixed, while we know it is not. Genes operate within the environment, and therefore the environment is a very important factor to consider.

Michelle Luciano, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, conducted an association study

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One third of the genetic variants found are linked to ADHD , Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder. It concerns attention and concentration problems and impulse control. Furthermore, one theory predicts that these genetic variants have a neurodevelopmental alteration that could affect the neural connection causing dyslexia. However, this type of research is still in its infancy. In the future, perhaps this kind of discoveries could be useful to carry out genetic tests that identify people predisposed to develop it and allow its prevention.

  • There is a new important study on the genetics of dyslexia (focus.it)

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