Genetics contributes importantly to learning abilities and disabilities--not just to reading, the target of most genetic research, but also to mathematics and other academic areas as well. One of the most important recent findings from quantitative genetic research such as twin studies is that the same set of genes is largely responsible for…

Despite several decades of research suggesting the importance of both genetic and environmental factors, these findings are not well integrated into the larger educational literature. Following a discussion of quantitative and molecular genetic methods, this article reviews behavioral genetic findings related to cognitive and academic skills. This…

This introductory article briefly describes each of the following eight articles in this special issue on the neurology and genetics of learning related disorders. It notes the greater appreciation of learning disability as a set of complex disorders with broad and intricate neurological bases and of the large individual differences in how these…

As part of a multidisciplinary study, the rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning disability (LD), and brain abnormalities was examined in 20 participants (12 males, 8 females; age range 8mo-17y, mean age 8y 1mo) diagnosed as falling within the oculoauriculovertebral spectrum (OAV). A neuropsychiatric examination was performed, including…

Twin-study research suggests that many (but not all) of the same genes contribute to genetic influence on diverse learning abilities and disabilities, a hypothesis called "generalist genes". This generalist genes hypothesis was tested using a set of 10 DNA markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) found to be associated with early reading…

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.…

The article provides a detailed and critical review of the book, "The Neuropsychology of Learning Disorders" (1976), edited by R. Knights and D. Bakker. (Author/SBH)

Dyslexia may represent the first example of a LD whereby a possible pathway may link the observed behavior to an underlying neurological substrate that has a neurodevelopmental history beginning with an abnormal gene. Similar efforts are being made to link other cognitive disorders of development to a molecular pathway involved in brain…

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

The Child Development & Behavior (CDB) Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) seeks to improve the health and well-being of individuals from infancy through early adulthood by supporting research into healthy growth and development, including all aspects of child development. The study of typical child…

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 offers a historical overview of the neurological aspects of dyslexia (originally seen as related to aphasia) and a review of familial and genetic factors in developmental dyslexia. Psycholinguistic models of dyslexia as they relate to neurological concepts are presented and the evolution of successful remedial methods is summarized.…

Background: Arithmetical skills are essential to the effective exercise of citizenship in a numerate society. How these skills are acquired, or fail to be acquired, is of great importance not only to individual children but to the organisation of formal education and its role in society. Method: The evidence on the normal and abnormal…