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Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people.

ABSTRACT: The use of spoken and written language is a fundamental human capacity. Individual differences in reading- and language-related skills are influenced by genetic variation, with twin-based heritability estimates of 30 to 80% depending on the trait. The genetic architecture is complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial, but investigations of contributions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were thus far underpowered. We present a multicohort genome-wide association study (GWAS) of five traits assessed individually using psychometric measures (word reading, nonword reading, spelling, phoneme awareness, and nonword repetition) in samples of 13,633 to 33,959 participants aged 5 to 26 y. We identified genome-wide significant association with word reading (rs11208009, P = 1.098 × 10^-8) at a locus that has not been associated with intelligence or educational attainment. All five reading-/language-related traits showed robust SNP heritability, accounting for 13 to 26% of trait variability. Genomic structural equation modeling revealed a shared genetic factor explaining most of the variation in word/nonword reading, spelling, and phoneme awareness, which only partially overlapped with genetic variation contributing to nonword repetition, intelligence, and educational attainment. A multivariate GWAS of word/nonword reading, spelling, and phoneme awareness maximized power for follow-up investigation. Genetic correlation analysis with neuroimaging traits identified an association with the surface area of the banks of the left superior temporal sulcus, a brain region linked to the processing of spoken and written language. Heritability was enriched for genomic elements regulating gene expression in the fetal brain and in chromosomal regions that are depleted of Neanderthal variants. Together, these results provide avenues for deciphering the biological underpinnings of uniquely human traits.

SUBMITTER: Eising E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9436320 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people.

Eising Else E Mirza-Schreiber Nazanin N de Zeeuw Eveline L EL Wang Carol A CA Truong Dongnhu T DT Allegrini Andrea G AG Shapland Chin Yang CY Zhu Gu G Wigg Karen G KG Gerritse Margot L ML Molz Barbara B Alagöz Gökberk G Gialluisi Alessandro A Abbondanza Filippo F Rimfeld Kaili K van Donkelaar Marjolein M Liao Zhijie Z Jansen Philip R PR Andlauer Till F M TFM Bates Timothy C TC Bernard Manon M Blokland Kirsten K Bonte Milene M Børglum Anders D AD Bourgeron Thomas T Brandeis Daniel D Ceroni Fabiola F Csépe Valéria V Dale Philip S PS de Jong Peter F PF DeFries John C JC Démonet Jean-François JF Demontis Ditte D Feng Yu Y Gordon Scott D SD Guger Sharon L SL Hayiou-Thomas Marianna E ME Hernández-Cabrera Juan A JA Hottenga Jouke-Jan JJ Hulme Charles C Kere Juha J Kerr Elizabeth N EN Koomar Tanner T Landerl Karin K Leonard Gabriel T GT Lovett Maureen W MW Lyytinen Heikki H Martin Nicholas G NG Martinelli Angela A Maurer Urs U Michaelson Jacob J JJ Moll Kristina K Monaco Anthony P AP Morgan Angela T AT Nöthen Markus M MM Pausova Zdenka Z Pennell Craig E CE Pennington Bruce F BF Price Kaitlyn M KM Rajagopal Veera M VM Ramus Franck F Richer Louis L Simpson Nuala H NH Smith Shelley D SD Snowling Margaret J MJ Stein John J Strug Lisa J LJ Talcott Joel B JB Tiemeier Henning H van der Schroeff Marc P MP Verhoef Ellen E Watkins Kate E KE Wilkinson Margaret M Wright Margaret J MJ Barr Cathy L CL Boomsma Dorret I DI Carreiras Manuel M Franken Marie-Christine J MJ Gruen Jeffrey R JR Luciano Michelle M Müller-Myhsok Bertram B Newbury Dianne F DF Olson Richard K RK Paracchini Silvia S Paus Tomáš T Plomin Robert R Reilly Sheena S Schulte-Körne Gerd G Tomblin J Bruce JB van Bergen Elsje E Whitehouse Andrew J O AJO Willcutt Erik G EG St Pourcain Beate B Francks Clyde C Fisher Simon E SE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20220823 35

The use of spoken and written language is a fundamental human capacity. Individual differences in reading- and language-related skills are influenced by genetic variation, with twin-based heritability estimates of 30 to 80% depending on the trait. The genetic architecture is complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial, but investigations of contributions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were thus far underpowered. We present a multicohort genome-wide association study (GWAS) of five trai ...[more]

PMID: 35998220

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Project description:The current study investigated how individual differences among children affect the added value of social robots for teaching second language (L2) vocabulary to young children. Specifically, we investigated the moderating role of three individual child characteristics deemed relevant for language learning: first language (L1) vocabulary knowledge, phonological memory, and selective attention. We expected children low in these abilities to particularly benefit from being assisted by a robot in a vocabulary training. An L2 English vocabulary training intervention consisting of seven sessions was administered to 193 monolingual Dutch five-year-old children over a three- to four-week period. Children were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: 1) a tablet only, 2) a tablet and a robot that used deictic (pointing) gestures (the no-iconic-gestures condition), or 3) a tablet and a robot that used both deictic and iconic gestures (i.e., gestures depicting the target word; the iconic-gestures condition). There also was a control condition in which children did not receive a vocabulary training, but played dancing games with the robot. L2 word knowledge was measured directly after the training and two to four weeks later. In these post-tests, children in the experimental conditions outperformed children in the control condition on word knowledge, but there were no differences between the three experimental conditions. Several moderation effects were found. The robot's presence particularly benefited children with larger L1 vocabularies or poorer phonological memory, while children with smaller L1 vocabularies or better phonological memory performed better in the tablet-only condition. Children with larger L1 vocabularies and better phonological memory performed better in the no-iconic-gestures condition than in the iconic-gestures condition, while children with better selective attention performed better in the iconic-gestures condition than the no-iconic-gestures condition. Together, the results showed that the effects of the robot and its gestures differ across children, which should be taken into account when designing and evaluating robot-assisted L2 teaching interventions.

Dataset Information

Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people.

Publications

Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people.

Similar Datasets

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