The causes of stuttering are still poorly understood. According to a new study, this disorder is linked to genetic variations.
- Men are 3 to 4 times more affected by stuttering.
- A parent who stutters is three times more likely to have a child who also stutters.
- Researchers hope to find treatments capable of acting on stuttering and autism spectrum disorders.
More than 600,000 people are affected by stuttering in France. Generally, this communication disorder appears during early childhood, between 2 and 4 years old. It can have negative consequences during schooling, but also in adulthood, in the professional context. If there are methods to deal with stuttering, it is not possible to overcome it completely, especially since these causes are poorly understood. However, American researchers have discovered that it is linked to genetics. Their results were published in The American Journal of Human Genetics and Human Genetics and Genomics Advances.
Several genes involved
In two articles, Jennifer Below and Shelly Jo Kraft explain that there is a “genetic architecture” for stuttering and genetic variations associated with the disorder. “It is clear that stuttering is polygenic, which means that there are several different genetic factors that contribute to and protect people from the riskexplains Jennifer Below, associate professor of medicine. It was something that hadn’t been clearly demonstrated before.“
A statistical tool to detect stuttering
This study is international: the two American scientists joined forces with researchers based in Ireland, England, Israel, Sweden, Australia and other American states. In total, they collected saliva and blood samples from more than 1,800 people who stutter, including more than 250 families with three generations of stutterers. One of the innovations of this research lies in the constitution of this sample. “Stuttering is a condition that is rarely mentioned or signified by a diagnosis code in the medical record“, recall the researchers. They created an algorithm to detect people with this disorder from confirmed cases. Their statistical model makes it possible to identify 80% of people with stuttering.
Why do men stutter more?
This research also revealed that a gene linked to stuttering is implicated in autism spectrum disorders, and is also associated with genetic variants that affect the regulation of sex hormones. “This latter finding may explain why boys are more likely to stutter and why women who stutter are more likely to successfully quit.“, emphasize the researchers. According to them, these results may have therapeutic implications and help people who stutter to get rid of this disorder.
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