Brain, Vol. 125, No. 3, 449-451,
March 2002
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Editorial |
Towards the elucidation of the genetic and brain bases of developmental speech and language disorders
1 Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Australia 2 MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and University Neurology Unit, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
Two papers in this issue of Brain by Watkins and colleagues (Watkins et al., 2002a
, b) provide fascinating and important new data about the core behavioural features and neural basis of an inherited form of speech and language disorder. This work is particularly relevant in the light of recent discoveries about the genetic basis of the same developmental disorder.
Individuals affected by developmental speech and language disorders have major difficulties acquiring expressive and/or receptive language despite adequate intelligence and opportunity, and in the absence of any profound sensory or neurological impairment (Bishop et al., 1995). Although twin studies consistently show a significant genetic component, the majority of families show a complex pattern of inheritance. The present studies concern the unique three-generation pedigree, the KE family, in whom a severe speech and language disorder is transmitted as an autosomal-dominant monogenetic trait. Speech in affected individuals
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