Ellen M. Wijsman

Research Program:

The long-term goal of this project is to identify genes involved in specific subtypes of dyslexia and dysgraphia. The hypothesis for a genetic contribution to learning disabilities (LD) is supported by four lines of evidence: 1) individuals with dyslexia cluster in families; 2) the concordance for dyslexia is greater in monozygotic than in dizygotic twins; 3) segregation analysis of family pedigree data has found evidence for both major locus and polygenic transmission; 4) genetic linkage analyses have identified regions of the genome that are nonrandomly associated with LD.

We are working with pedigrees in which some individuals have a learning disability. Because learning disabilities involve both orthographic and phonologic processing disabilities, we use a variety of approaches to evaluate which component phenotype(s) show the strongest pattern of inheritance in pedigrees. We then use this information combined with genome scans to identify the genomic locations, and ultimately the genes, that carry variation that contributes to these phenotypes.

Supported by NIH R01 HD 054563 "Genetic contributions to endophenotypes of dyslexia" (W. Raskind, PI) and R01 HD088431 "The genomics of dyslexia and its component phenotypes" (W. Raskind & E Wijsman, co-PIs).