A risk to develop a learning disability has been shown to run in families. Having a positive family history of learning disability seems to account for mean differences in achievement outcomes (reading, math) in that children with a positive family history score significantly lower compared to their peers with no such family history. However, the…

Background: To what extent do genetic and environmental influences on reading disability overlap with those on mathematics disability? Multivariate genetic research on the normal range of variation in unselected samples has led to a Generalist Genes Hypothesis which posits that the same genes largely affect individual differences in these…

We report on a case of a 6-year-old female with partial trisomy 8p(21-23) associated with autism, mild dysmorphic features, and moderate learning disability. Although mental retardation is a common finding in patients with mosaic trisomy 8 or partial trisomy of various regions of chromosome 8, only two cases associated with autism have been…

Comparison of twins (40 identical and 23 fraternal) for mathematics deficits (MD), in which at least one member had a mathematics disability, found evidence for a significant genetic etiology. However, tests for the differential etiology of MD as a function of reading performance level were nonsignificant. (Author/DB)

A theory of the development of anomalous dominance and its biological associations is explained and the literature is reviewed in an attempt to apply this theory to the study of autism. The review supported the increased incidence of left-handedness, learning disabilities, and immune disorders postulated by the theory. (Author/DB)

Electroencephalographic studies were done on 25 dyslexic and 25 normal reading children (all between the ages of 8 and 13 years). Results indicated that, of dyslexic Ss showing evidence of unresolved dominance in the EEG recordings, 35 percent of cases were possibly genetically determined with a further 40 percent possibly neurologically impaired.…

Data from 148 identical and 111 fraternal twin pairs in which at least 1 member had a reading disability were statistically analyzed. Results suggest that genetic and shared-environment influences both contribute to the observed covariance between reading and mathematical deficits. (Author/DB)

A constitutional genetic neurochemical dysfunction is posited as the basis of a large number of learning disabilities. (Author/GW)

This study provides support for a potential subclinical marker in the executive function domain of siblings (n=18, ages 8-18) of autistic individuals, compared to learning-disabled controls. No group differences in theory-of-mind abilities were found. The need to develop more sensitive measures is discussed. (Author/JDD)

This paper reviews ongoing research designed to specify the cognitive, behavioral, and neuroanatomical phenotypes of specific genetic etiologies of learning disability. The genetic disorders at the focus of the research include reading disability, neurofibromatosis type 1, Tourette syndrome, and fragile X syndrome. Implications for identifying…

Available from: C. V. Mosby Company 11830 Westline Industrial Drive St. Louis, Missouri 63141 The research review examines evidence suggesting a biochemical basis for minimal brain dysfunction (MBD), which includes both a relationship between MBD and metabolic abnormalities and a significant genetic influence on the disorder in children. (IM)

This review of the male preponderance in the prevalence of learning disabilities examines such factors as gender-related etiology differences and learning style differences; complications of pregnancy and infancy; effects of male hormones on the nervous system; and sex differences in maturity rates. (JDD)

This article reviews recent research in the field of learning disabilities and, in particular, dyslexia. It summarizes findings from numerous studies employing widely divergent methodologies that have attempted to establish the neurobiological correlates of learning disabilities and concludes that it is impossible to deny a neurobiological basis…

Research is reviewed in support of the author's hypothesis that the majority (60 to 80 percent) of learning disabled children are not brain damaged but have above average spatial ability and major deficits in auditory-vocal memory processing which are genetic in nature. Research is reported to support other aspects of his hypothesis such as the…