Family patterns of developmental dyslexia, part II: Behavioral phenotypes

P. H. Wolff*, I. Melngailis, M. Obregon, M. Bedrosian

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    26 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The motor control of bimanual coordination and motor speech was compared between first degree relatives from families with at least 2 dyslexic family members, and families where probands were the only affected family members. Half of affected relatives had motor coordination deficits; and they came from families in which probands also showed impaired motor coordination. By contrast, affected relatives without motor deficits came from dyslexia families where probands did not have motor deficits. Motor coordination deficits were more common and more severe among affected offspring in families where both parents were affected than among affected offspring in families where only one parent was affected. However, motor coordination deficits were also more common and more severe in affected parents when both parents were affected than among affected parents in families where only one parent was affected. We conclude that impaired temporal resolution in motor action identifies a behavioral phenotype in some subtypes of developmental dyslexia. The observed pattern of transmission for motor deficits and reading impairment in about half of dyslexia families was most congruent with a genetic model of dyslexia in which 2 codominant major genes cosegregate in dyslexia pedigrees where the proband is also motorically impaired.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)494-505
    Number of pages12
    JournalAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
    Volume60
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 18 Dec 1995

    Keywords

    • behavioral phenotype
    • familial dyslexia
    • impaired temporal resolution

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Genetics(clinical)
    • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
    • Neuroscience(all)

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