Michelle Luciano
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh
What has genetics done for reading research lately?
Tremendous progress has been made in the last decade in identifying genetic variants and biological pathways involved in reading development and dyslexia. In this talk, I will summarise the most recent key findings from genome-wide association studies which are centred on common genetic variants in the population. I will then outline the ways in which these findings can be used to inform our understanding of genetic overlap among cognitive processes assumed to underlie reading skill and among traits that tend to co-occur with dyslexia. This will include some of our recent findings using genomicSEM and polygenic prediction methods, and notably, a study that triangulates data from genetics, brain imaging, and reading behavioural phenotypes (highlighting the way in which genetics can bridge to behaviour). To end, I will discuss current directions in complex trait genetics and where this might lead reading research.
