Speech-language pathology insights into genetics and neuroscience: Beyond surface behaviour

Abstract

For almost a century, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have worked at refining communication disorder phenotypes. Yet a hundred years of mastering the characterization of surface behaviours has provided only limited understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of communication disorder. Arguably, the most momentous aetiological findings in speech-language pathology have been made relatively recently and by cross-disciplinary colleagues in the fields of molecular genetics and neuroimaging. Such findings include discovery of FOXP2, for example, the first gene found to be associated with a primary speech disorder. New gene-brain-behaviour discoveries in communication disorder are occurring on an almost weekly basis and it is challenging for clinical SLPs to engage with, interpret, and keep abreast of this literature. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of genetic and neuroimaging approaches to the study of communication disorders. Further examples of key findings in these fields are presented, with a discussion of the impacts on core SLP practice. Future research directions for further illuminating gene-brain-behaviour relationships in communication disorder are identified.

Keywords::

• Speech sound disorder
• language disorder
• genetics
• brain
• magnetic resonance imaging

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the Speech Pathology Australia 2012 Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture Award. Personal (607315) and Centre of Research Excellence grants in Child Language (1023493) and Moving Ahead Communication after Traumatic Brain Injury (1023043) support provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council and Project Grant support from the Australian Research Council (DP120100285) is also acknowledged. Sincere thanks to Dr Michael Hildebrand, Epilepsy Research Centre, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia for valuable input on the genetic methods section of this manuscript.

Declaration of Interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.